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There was a guy
An under water guy who controlled the sea
Got killed by ten million pounds of sludge
From New York and New Jersey
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
The creature in the sky
Got sucked in a hole
Now there's a hole in the sky
And the ground's not cold
And if the ground's not cold
Everything is gonna burn
We'll all take turns, I'll get mine too
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
Rock me Joseph, Alberto, Santiago
If Man is five, if Man is five, if Man is five
Then the Devil is six, then the Devil is six
The Devil is six, the Devil is six and if the Devil is six
Then God is seven , then God is seven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
An under water guy who controlled the sea
Got killed by ten million pounds of sludge
From New York and New Jersey
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
The creature in the sky
Got sucked in a hole
Now there's a hole in the sky
And the ground's not cold
And if the ground's not cold
Everything is gonna burn
We'll all take turns, I'll get mine too
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
Rock me Joseph, Alberto, Santiago
If Man is five, if Man is five, if Man is five
Then the Devil is six, then the Devil is six
The Devil is six, the Devil is six and if the Devil is six
Then God is seven , then God is seven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
This monkey's gone to Heaven
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The "10 million pounds of sludge from New York and New Jersey" refers to what became known as "Syringe Tide." Medical waste that was dumped illegally in the Atlantic and escaped from a landfill on Staten island. It then washed up all in various places around New York and New Jersey, particularly the Jersey Shore. A 50 mile slick made it way to NJ shore towns in the summers of 1997 and 1998, ruining both vacation seasons. Hypodermic needles, blood vials and discarded medicine was found among the debris.
As for the Creature in the Sky verse, it refers only to the hole in the ozone layer. That hole, which was found in the stratosphere over the Antarctic, was confirmed in 1985. There was widespread awareness of the hole and the effect if it spread to populated areas. The ozone layer absorbs UVB ultraviolet light from the sun. The cause was CFCs, which reacted with the sun to deplete the ozone. Without the layer, life on earth would be impossible. After the hole was discovered, many feared it could not be reversed, and that life on earth was under threat. A worldwide CFC ban was enacted in 1987. The Antarctic hole still develops every spring, and atmopsheric ozone levels aren't expected to return to pre-1980 levels till as late as 2075.
As for this verse also being a warning about climate change, back in the late 80s, the consensus on the threat posed by rising temperatures was just beginning to form. The possibility that carbon emissions could unnaturally raise the earth's temperatures was first discovered in 1896. It was not until 2001 that scientific debate on the existence of climate change and that it was caused by man ended. Knowledge of the threat posed by climate change in the late 80s was out there, but not widespread.
And if the ground's not cold
Everything is gonna burn
We'll all take turns, I'll get mine too
I feel like 'and the grounds not cold' is something a lot of people just agree because its ''normal'', like religion, the majority of people believe in god because many people are born into religion.
and, 'if the grounds not cold everything is going to burn', which means if you dont believe you will go to hell, or you are judged as a wrong or indecent human being. but, in reality 'we'll all take turns, i'll get mine too' means everyone does wrong things, including himself.
I have no idea if this is correct, it was just my first thought after hearing this song once.
The first stanza refers to the Roman god Neptune. Neptune has been feebly killed by man’s waste and pollution. Notice how Neptune is referred to as “a guy.” In the next stanza, the chorus, Neptune’s death is referred to as a “monkey gone to heaven.” These traits – mortality, weakness, insignificance, and the ability to go to a heaven – are not usually assigned to gods. In fact, these traits are usually assigned to men; the mortals who are usually everything gods are not.
The “creature in the sky” again refers to the gods. Whether one sticks with Roman gods, as the first verse establishes, or interprets “the creature” as the Christian god doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the god/s are being killed.
So far, two gods have been killed. I interpret this as meaning that man no longer finds meaning or power in the concept of worshiping gods. I don’t interpret this killing as the faltering of faith and triumph of reason, however. More so, man has deliberately killed the gods, or, rather, finds them insignificant and unpowerful in relation to himself. Either way, he intends to take their place now that they are gone.
The next stanza informs us that man himself is now a god. The reference to the “ground not being cold” means the physical emergence of a once metaphorical hell. Man himself has become godly, or thinks himself as such, and now must deal with the problems of being a god. And for gods, hell is not just a concept. Heavy lies the crown.
The chorus takes on new meaning after that stanza. I interpret it as the “monkey,” man, has now “gone to heaven,” meaning he has elevated himself to the positions that the gods once formerly inhabited. And if you are familiar with Roman and Greek mythology, you’d know that when there are a lot of gods there is a lot of death and destruction. Actually, even when there’s one god, and I’m referencing Christian theology now, there is massive destruction: the flood, the rapture, the countless wars fought in the bible, etc. Hence the line “everything is gonna burn, we’ll all take turns.”
The next stanza simply re-states the main point. In Christian theology, the god and his angels are assigned numbers. God is seven and the devil is six. Man now has a number among these gods because he himself is a god. One could also interpret man’s placement in the numerical order as relevant. God is five, which is even below Satan. Of all the gods, man is the worst.
The chorus’s meaning sticks with what it was beforehand: that man the monkey is now a god in his own heaven.
In a sentence, this song is about how man has stopped worshiping the gods but, instead of abandoning the concept of worship, instead worships himself and thinks himself godly.
Think about this:
The creature in the sky
Got sucked in a hole
Now there's a hole in the sky
Doesn't that sound like losing your faith in God?
I believe the remark on the first line being written about Neptune is spot on, but what he was referencing was that we're no longer polytheists because all of our intelligent religion has lead us to another religion (that he thinks is garbage).
The "hole in the sky" is heaven, he's trying to show how ridiculous the prospect is.
The "ground's not cold" implies hell, which again is a sarcasm about "everything's gonna burn, we'll all take turns. I'll get mine too" (everyone burns in hell, right?)
The line "if man is 5, then the devil is 6, then god is 7" is the implication that there are beings beyond us, which again is a sarcasm, that because we're 5 clearly evil is greater, but good is greater than that. the alliteration in the bible of the 6 being the number of the devil and 7 being the number of god is clear, it's to suggest that good is greater than evil in a very primitive sense.
The obvious chorus "monkey gone to heaven" is a sarcasm which in itself alludes to evolution but suggests we still believe we're going to go to heaven.
That's how I see it all anyway. :)
5=the Pentagram
the pentagram is the vehicle for making spiritual energy physical.
we are pentagrams (head, arms, legs)
thus man is 5, devil 6, the Eternal 7,
that's basic numerology, ancient ideas really...
Man submits to evil, but good conquers evil.
Man IS the monkey,
doing dirty things, but dreaming of heaven.