| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| faulkndj |
Posted - 04/19/2004 : 20:21:36
I am doing a presentation on the Pixies for my music class. I need to do a lyrical analysis of a song, and I picked This Monkey's Gone to Heaven. Does anyone have any ideas or insights as to the lyrics in this song?? any help would be appreciated.. |
| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| sob |
Posted - 04/27/2004 : 04:21:26
Franks lyrics kick ass... Except the christian shit... fuckin hate that
_________________
SOB - The Meanest Fucker Alive |
| the thing |
Posted - 04/26/2004 : 01:31:59
I heard that Monkey Gone to Heaven was originally "This monkey's name is Steven" (seriously)
My head was feeling scared, but my heart was feeling free |
| IceCream |
Posted - 04/23/2004 : 23:39:17
quote:
Originally posted by Dave Noisy
If you chose an FB song you'd have a good go with our Song DB. =)
 Join the Cult of the Flying Pigxies - I'm A Believer!
I still have no idea what the lyrics to "Living on Soul" mean? They're gonna atomize you? Who's "they"? And what does a "peculiar troll" have to do with a "bikini atoll"? And "your person"? Who owns a person? Is that like a spouse? ...I have no idea.
 Join the Cult of Pi - It's just 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097.... |
| Alpha Soixante |
Posted - 04/23/2004 : 06:41:20
quote:
There are plenty of ways to interpret the rest of the song, but I wouldn't look too deep into the meaning of that line.
Well, Frank claims _all_ of his Pixies lyrics are pretty meaningless, so there's no reason to single out that line.
Really, given his often dismissive comments about the meaning of Pixies lyrics, and given his expressed debt to surrealism, there's really no point at all in trying to find his _intended_ meaning. If we hold him to the surrealism connection, then we can look at his lyrics as word association that is unintentionally meaningful. |
| prozacrat |
Posted - 04/22/2004 : 19:24:37
Kim once talked about the lyrics to Monkey Gone To Heaven. She said that when they're working on a new song Frank ususally doesn't have the words down yet. Eventually he'll start just saying syllables to get a melody, and sometimes words. The line "This monkey's gone to heaven," was just something he started saying. She said it didn't mean anything, but it sounded fine. He wrote words for the rest of the song, but never wound up writing real words for that line, so they kept "This monkey's gone to heaven." There are plenty of ways to interpret the rest of the song, but I wouldn't look too deep into the meaning of that line.
 |
| Alpha Soixante |
Posted - 04/21/2004 : 14:03:04
If Man, the Devil, and God are 5 through 7, then does that make the monkey 4?
Some random thoughts on the topic. Very random, but that should be okay, since Frank claims his lyrics are pretty arbitrary anyway.
There's an interesting link between the theological and environmental themes. Somewhere in Genesis, there's the infamous bit where God announces human beings should have dominion over nature. The environmental theme highlights the ugly outcome of this idea of a hierarchy of man over nature, of putting humankind up their near the top with God and the angels—as opposed to the evolutionary tradition in which man is just part of nature, in other words, where man is the monkey.
But it’s not completely at odds with the theological tradition. It seems to have a lot of links to the old habit of worrying about human beings getting too smart and uppity for their own good and trying to take over God’s job. E.g., the account in Genesis where God forbids Adam and Eve from eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Also, the Biblical story of the tower of Babel—a city builds a tower that’s supposed to reach heaven, God decides to put a stop to such hubris. And the romantic tradition’s interpretation of Greek mythology, especially in the story of Prometheus (picked up by Byron and Mary Shelley). Prometheus steals fire from Zeus and gives it to humanity—along with it comes potentially dangerous wisdom. (There’s even an explicit strain of this man deposing gods theme in the lyrics—the underwater guy who controls the sea, Poseidon?, is killed by pollution.)
So maybe the title of the song should be interpreted ironically: man gets to heaven by destroying himself rather than through his attempt to become a god—-punishment, basically, for pride, for not realizing he’s just a monkey.
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| klikger |
Posted - 04/20/2004 : 23:54:40
Wow, nice story. I think I have some reading to do if there is similar information for a lot of songs on that site. |
| ShakeyShake |
Posted - 04/20/2004 : 11:35:40
The guy doesn't need good luck now,you've just written it for him
"I joined the Cult of this guy / 'cause they took my other picture away |
| pixie punk |
Posted - 04/20/2004 : 10:46:37
Visit www.aleceiffel.net and check the titles link where all the song titles are explained usually using a quote from the band.Also read the article session and look for Doolitle era ones.Charles said if he had to ally himself to some political cause it'd be with the GREEN(meaning nature lovers and conservationists).The hole in the sky he mentions in the song is about the ozone layer degradation and the greenhouse effect which is is gradually raising the Earth's temperature.That how he explains it"The Ground's not cold,and if the ground's not cold everything is gonna burn,we will all take turns,I'll get mine too"...The guy killed was a true story he heard in the news if I'm correct which was indeed killed when a Cargo full of waste crushed him in his car.His religious upbringing is present(he frequently draw inspiration from the bible,Old Testament, for some of his songs) in the numbers given to the man5 the devil 6(666),and God 7.Well good luck with your presentation!!! |
| Homers_pet_monkey |
Posted - 04/20/2004 : 10:39:02
Yeah, it's about King Kong!!!
Hansel and Gretel have formed a band, .....And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Breadcrumbs!!! |
| Perk |
Posted - 04/19/2004 : 22:39:59
metaphor's about greek gods.
Nosie pollution about pollution.
Like the song !
Don't sweat the petty things
and don't pet the sweaty things |
| Manny |
Posted - 04/19/2004 : 21:36:06
You could relate the lyrics to Saint Anselm's concept of God as "that than which nothing greater can exist".
 |
| Dave Noisy |
Posted - 04/19/2004 : 21:10:33
If you chose an FB song you'd have a good go with our Song DB. =)
Join the Cult of the Flying Pigxies - I'm A Believer! |
