Film: Monkey on My Back (1954): "This unflinching biopic stars Cameron Mitchell as professional boxer Barney Ross, who earned the moniker "Pride of the Ghetto" after being crowned world champion three times and became a...
Here come the sidewalk boss again
Telling me how I can't cave in
That I'm a study in black
Need a pat on the back
I look up and smile
A picture of dissatisfaction
That he can only see as a junkie
Though I might be straight as an arrow
He's busy shaking hands with my monkey
Busy shaking hands with my monkey well I go in the car
Straight to the bar
Where my sweetie pours the beer
For the millions of fans ignoring the bands
He's in my ear
Wants me to live in denial
Says you've gotta settle for something
Though it might not be really living
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing
No actor action man gonna move in to take my place
I'll be pumping out the product
Just a total waste.
Look at your hands unoccupied
Look at the lengths you'll go to hide
You're under the veil
Pretending to fail
Gotta whole lot of empty time left to go
Now you've gotta fill it with something
I know what you can do don't you know
Anything is better than nothing.
No actor action man gonna move in to take my place
I'll be pumping out the product
Just a total waste
I'm here with my cup
Afraid to look up
This is how I spend my time
Lazying around, head hanging down
Stuck inside my imagination
Busy making something from nothing
Pictures of hope and depression
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing
Telling me how I can't cave in
That I'm a study in black
Need a pat on the back
I look up and smile
A picture of dissatisfaction
That he can only see as a junkie
Though I might be straight as an arrow
He's busy shaking hands with my monkey
Busy shaking hands with my monkey well I go in the car
Straight to the bar
Where my sweetie pours the beer
For the millions of fans ignoring the bands
He's in my ear
Wants me to live in denial
Says you've gotta settle for something
Though it might not be really living
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing
No actor action man gonna move in to take my place
I'll be pumping out the product
Just a total waste.
Look at your hands unoccupied
Look at the lengths you'll go to hide
You're under the veil
Pretending to fail
Gotta whole lot of empty time left to go
Now you've gotta fill it with something
I know what you can do don't you know
Anything is better than nothing.
No actor action man gonna move in to take my place
I'll be pumping out the product
Just a total waste
I'm here with my cup
Afraid to look up
This is how I spend my time
Lazying around, head hanging down
Stuck inside my imagination
Busy making something from nothing
Pictures of hope and depression
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing
Lyrics submitted by better_than_nothing
Track duration: 03:13
"New Monkey" as written by Steven P. Smith
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I'd like to add, he could be conversing with himself. He knows what he's doing, and he knows that he has nothing, and what he should do.
His "sweetie" is the girl he's been dating, he doesn't really care about her, he's making himself believe that he does, he's "settling" because he knows that anything is better than nothing.
From "I better be quiet now":
"If I didn't know the difference, living alone would probably be okay. It wouldn't be lonely". Loneliness is despair, he'd rather be with someone, anyone.
He's hiding himself, hiding what he wants, who he wants. Even if it means doing things/being with people he doesn't like.
He has nothing to do. He is a wasting away. He knows he could do something better. But he doesn't want to, he'd rather spend his time by himself. His head, his "imagination" is the only place where he doesn't have to pretend or face reality and everyone he knows (and kept the truth from). He refuses to get what he wants because he's afraid it would make it all obvious for whoever he's hiding from. He's drinking until he finally gets over whatever is holding him back. He's spending his time doing nothing about it, settling for anything and hoping for something.
He�s in my ear
Wants me to live in denial
Says, "You�ve got to settle for something
Though it might not be really living
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing"
It's not simply his addiction reasoning in for getting another fix. It's the side-walk boss, again. His stepfather, or the other people telling him what they think he's doing wrong. They see him as just living for nothing, because he's so depressed. They want him to "live in denial" of all the things that are making him unhappy. Though that might not be really living (AKA living in denial of everything shitty going on isn't really living, because you're lying to yourself), but hey you got to settle for something. As if they're telling him "Hey, look. I know you think the world sucks. But you can't keep letting yourself think that. It's better to pretend it's not true, and live at least a better life, than it is to remember everything that is terrible and live doing nothing with your life."
His answer to this is:
"This is how I spend my time
Lazying around, head hanging down
Stuck inside my imagination
Busy making something from nothing
Pictures of hope and depression""
He's saying, "look asshole. You have no idea. I'm stuck in my own mind, with all the things I hate about my life and the world, there's no getting away from that. But I'm not doing nothing. I'm trying to make something. I'm trying to make something that will show myself and everyone around me that there is still hope, even inside this terrible depression."
After that, he turns the phrase that was first uttered by the "side-walk boss" into his own. "Anything is better than nothing" no longer means living in denial, he's changed the meaning of the phrase and repeated it back to the original speaker, saying "At least I'm doing SOMETHING to try to change the horrible situation. I might not be some happy action man, but at least I'm doing what I can to make the world a better place, and make others happier."
This is what I have always loved about Elliott. He may appear on the surface like a "sad-sack," but most of his songs are not just complaining about the world, but guaranteeing himself and his listeners that it's only temporary, and that things WILL get better, because they HAVE to.
It's that paradoxical existence of being a junky; on the one hand you have the machinistic fix chasing existence of the habit, and the other crushing depression and stark boredom of life without herion. Heroin defines your life, gives it purpose, the purpose of getting the next hit, however twisted and morbid that appears to most of us. For addicts the reality of life without the habit is similar in some respects to living a life without purpose, hence lines like:
You've got to settle for something
Though it might not be really living
Anything is better than nothing
Check out Burrough's 'Junky' for a full colour litery version of this song.
"That he can only see as a junkie
Though I might be straight as an arrow"
Therefore he's saying he's not a junkie. I think by his monkey he means the fake personality he puts up to deal with other people. Inside his head he's a completely different person than to people meeting him. The person talking to him might be this false persona he's created trying to turn him into something more like it.
"He�s in my ear
Wants me to live in denial
Says, "You�ve got to settle for something
Though it might not be really living
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing"
I've just discovered this song and it's now easily one my all time favorites. I cant stop listening to it. Here's my take on it, which I believe is about depression and drug addiction... and yes I know not all of his songs are about it, but this one definitely is (in my mind).
"Here come the sidewalk boss again
Telling me how I can't cave in
That I’m a study in black
Need a pat on the back
I look up and smile
A picture of dissatisfaction"
People who don't know or understand him are are patting him on the back saying "It's all going to be ok, hang in there" and all he can do is give them a fake smile.
"That he can only see as a junkie
Though I might be straight as an arrow
He’s busy shaking hands with my monkey
Busy shaking hands with my monkey"
He believes people are just pigeon-holing him as a depressive drug addict, even when he might be straight and not on drugs, that's all they see. They're shaking hands with his 'monkey' as in a drug problem is usually called 'a monkey on your back'.
"I go in my car
Straight to the bar
Where my sweetie pours the beer
For the millions of fans ignoring the bands"
Pretty straight forward and literal in my opinion.
"He’s in my ear
Wants me to live in denial
Says, 'You’ve gotta settle for something'"
His 'addiction' is constantly telling him 'you're fine, you don't have a problem. Just be happy with what you've got'.
"Though it might not be really living
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing"
Here he's trying to tell himself that even though he's depressed and addicted to drugs, he's still living... Which is better than being dead.
"No happy action man gonna to move in and take my place
I’ll be pumping up the product
Just a total waste"
He's never going to be a happy go-lucky person, he's resigned to being depressed and 'pumping up the product' (injecting heroin) even though he knows he could do much more with his life.
"Look at your hands unoccupied
Look at the lengths you’ll go to hide
You’re under the veil
Pretending to fail"
He's a shy person who evades the spotlight.
"Got a whole lot of empty time left to go
Now you’ve got to fill it with something
I know what you can do, don’t you know?
Anything is better than nothing"
His addiction is again creeping up and coaxing him into having another fix.
"No happy action man gonna to move in and take my place
I’ll be pumping up the product
Just a total waste"
Again, reiterating he's never going to be a happy go-lucky person, he's resigned to being depressed and using drugs even though he knows he could do much more.
"I’m here with my cup
Afraid to look up
This is how I spend my time
Lazying around, head hanging down
Stuck inside my imagination
Busy making something from nothing
Pictures of hope and depression"
How obvious does it have to be? He's heavily depressed and can't escape it unless he is using.
"Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing
Anything is better than nothing"
He's still trying to convince himself that 'anything is better than nothing'... having a miserable life is better than having no life at all.