Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash
They stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash
To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan
For reasons unexplained she loved the Monkey Man

Tweeter was a boy scout before she went to Vietnam
And found out the hard way nobody gives a damn
They knew that they found freedom just across the Jersey Line
So they hopped into a stolen car took Highway 99

(Chorus)
And the walls came down all the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man
Even back in childhood he wanted to see him in the can
Jan got married at fourteen to a rackateer named Bill
She made secret calls to the Monkey Man from a mansion on the hill

It was out on thunder road - Tweeter at the wheel
They crashed into paradise - they could hear them tires squeal
The undercover cop pulled up and said "Everyone of you's a liar
If you don't surrender now it's gonna go down to the wire

An ambulance rolled up - a state trooper close behind
Tweeter took his gun away and messed up his mind
The undercover cop was left tied up to a tree
Near the souvenir stand by the old abandoned factory

Next day the undercover cop was hot in pursuit
He was taking the whole thing personal
He didn't care about the loot
Jan had told him many times it was you to me who taught
In Jersey anything's legal as long as you don't get caught

Someplace by Rahway prison they ran out of gas
The undercover cop had cornered them said "Boy, you didn't
think that this could last"
Jan jumped out of bed said "There's someplace I gotta go"
She took a gun out of the drawer and said "It's best if you dont' know"

The undercover cop was found face down in a field
The monkey man was on the river bridge using Tweeter as a shield
Jan said to the Monkey Man "I'm not fooled by Tweeter's curl
I knew him long before he ever became a Jersey girl"

Now the town of Jersey City is quieting down again
I'm sitting in a gambling club called the Lion's Den
The TV set been blown up, every bit of it is gone
Ever since the nightly news show that the Monkey Man was on

I guess I'll to to Florida and get myself some sun
There ain't no more opportunity here, everything's been done
Sometime I think of Tweeter, sometime I think of Jan
Sometime I don't think about nothing but the Monkey Man



Lyrics submitted by Dorthonion

Track duration: 05:29


Tweeter And The Monkey Man song meanings
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27 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I too listened to this as a kids on long family road trips. Tonight I shared the song with my kids. I always make a big explosion sound after the walls fell down and then I do a cool waynes worlds dudaloot dudaloot dudaloot with hands like rain after all the way to hell. They liked that! Try is it's fun. But now to the meaning... Maybe the narrated was an unmentioned partner of the under cover cop. Someone close enough to know details yet still alive. I think they should make a movie about I know I'd pay to watch it! Of course it probably wouldn't match the one in my head and then I'd be disappointed.
    Flag noodleheadon February 07, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I used to listen to this song with my Dad as a little kid, and I always thought that the narrator of the song was the undercover cop. It was only recently that I realised the undercover cop was dead (found face down in a field). It got me wondering who the narrator was. In the end, I decided that the Monkeyman was the narrator - which is why he blew up the TV in The Lion's Den when it showed him on the nightly news. Maybe I'm wrong, though. Maybe the narrator is Jan. Either way, I love this song. My favourite part is the delivery of the line "The Monkeyman was on the river bridge using Tweeter as a shield!" Tune!
    Flag Monkeyman82on August 16, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Sometimes I don't think about nothing but the Monkey Man ... me and my bro use to lisen to this all the time before he died ... i always wandered was it the Monkey Man who broke the damn tv..
    Flag monkeyman88on August 05, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:what is a jersey girl? how does one become one? does one want to become one?
    Flag jessiesgirlon February 04, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:any ear that hears bob and thinks tom, and visa versa, is music deaf. i love bob and tom, don't insult either or the other.
    Flag asmasseyon August 01, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:tweeter=the ass du jour; monkeyman=obama. monkeyman uses everyone as a shield. i got blond on blond, so i ain't no newby.
    Flag asmasseyon August 01, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i don't think the undercover cop has a 'sister' named jan as these lyrics indicate. i always thought he said he had an 'assistant' named jan which makes more sense. is anyone with me on this?
    Flag hoboraton May 24, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Hey Mullet rain, it's Dylan singing. It's not Tom Petty. I like 'em both, but if you can't tell 'em apart, you really shouldn't be telling people that "If they were great fans they would know that dylan isn't singing this its tom petty".
    Flag roblandon February 23, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:Me and my friends listened to this song all day every day for years and drank beer with a psssion . We analyzed the lyrics for years and still wonder about this , who actually wrote this song?
    Flag muletrainhoeon January 04, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:Me and my friends listened to this song all day every day for years and drank beer with a psssion . We analyzed the lyrics for years and still wonder about this , who actually wrote this song?
    Flagged muletrainhoeon January 04, 2010   Link

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