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wasteofo2
- FB Fan -
43 Posts |
 Posted - 07/01/2004 : 20:40:35
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Anyone have any sort of insight as to what Monkey Gone To Heaven is about, or is it just random stuff? Is there any sort of website out there which has the members of the Pixies talking about the meanings of their songs?
Thanks,
Jacob
I don't worry about a thing, cause I know nothing's going to be alright.
- Mose Allison
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TheCroutonFuton
- Mr. Setlists -
USA
1728 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2004 : 21:33:21
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Monkey Gone to Heaven is just random stuff, quite literally.
What the Pixies did when they rehearsed a new song was to throw together random sentences to sing the voice harmony to. They never got around to writing actual lyrics and liked the way it sounded. That is all.
"Freedom is a state of mind and the condition and position of your ass. Free your mind and your ass will follow." - Funkadelic |
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jefry
- FB Fan -
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2004 : 22:52:45
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hello
D=RxT |
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Skatealex1
* Dog in the Sand *
1670 Posts |
Posted - 07/01/2004 : 23:31:31
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LOL YOUR FUCKING SAYING HELLO EVERYWHERE
The Truth Is Out There |
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benji
> Teenager of the Year <
New Zealand
3426 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2004 : 01:03:48
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taken fron alec eifel:
MONKEY GONE TO HEAVEN
"There was no monkey in Monkey Gone To Heaven. It was just a phrase that Thompson used for the hook at first. It sounded so good he left it that way." (article)
Monkey Gone To Heaven plays on Hebrew scriptures - Man is 5, the Devil is 6, and God is 7. 'It's a reference from what I understand to be Hebrew numerology, and I don't know a lot about it or any of it really. I just remember someone telling me of the supposed fact that in the Hebrew language, especially in the Bible, you can find lots of references to man in the 5th and Satan in the 6th and God in the 7th. I don't know if there is a spiritual hierarchy or not. But it's a neat little fact, if it is a fact. I didn't go to the library and figure it out.' The stark repetition of 'Monkey', embellished by a string section, which Charles insisted on rather than using synthesizers, parallels the harsh thruths about man in nature." (Alternative Press article citing BF)
"In an interview eight months later [the release of the single], Charles spoke of his frustration over the dumping of garbage 100 miles out to sea off New Jersey. 'There's tons and tons of sludge, and the fishermen bring up fish with sores on them and fins rotting away,' he said. Somehow this frustration translated into a Green anthem which had Man, God and the Devil at sixes and seven." (Melody Maker)
"Monkey Gone To Heaven was interpreted as a green anthem with Man, God and the Devil at sixes and sevens over ozone layers" (Record Collector)
"Yeah, it mentions the hole in the ozone and the sea pollution. And, y'know, heaven's always a nice thing to slip in and then you have some Biblical numerology - 'And if man is five... and the devil is six... and God is seven.' It just seemed to fit." (Frank Black in SELECT, October 1997)
"'This monkey's gone to heaven' is not connected to the rest of the song at all, it was the working lyric and we couldn't come up with anything better. I'm not really trying to address any issue: the sky and the ocean are both very ancient, spiritual and mythological places. And I'm just trying to talk about them in surreal kinds of ways: there's a hole in the ozone layer scientifically, but the unreal side is that there's a hole in the sky and the sky means alot of things and has alot of implications to lots of people in different cultures in past, present and future, right? Like the man dying from the sludge in the water in New Jersey, is just me getting mythological again. It's Neptune I picture dying from the pollution." (Black Francis in the NME, April 1989)
 You Know You Want To! |
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Carl
- A 'Fifth' Catholic -
Ireland
11546 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2004 : 09:26:53
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| well, it's definetely about the destruction of mother nature, but I remember years ago my brother suggesting that it's kinda like scientists sending a monkey up in a rocket, but it goes too far, like science going too far...!!!!! Okay, that's a bit far-fetched. But it kinda conects as a metaphor. Or whatever. |
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PixieSteve
> Teenager of the Year <
Poland
4698 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2004 : 10:01:19
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| man is closer the devil than he is to god :O |
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KimStanleyRobinson
* Dog in the Sand *
1972 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2004 : 12:35:10
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Its the only song that gives even an inkling of FB's political leanings...which if we read this into the song appear to be a bit left...at least back then.
Yay!
"So many words, so many ideas. You can sing about anything."
-Frank Black, 1993 |
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2004 : 15:41:33
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Does being opposed to dumping sludge in the ocean necessarily imply left-leaning politics?
Cattle in Korea / They can really moo. |
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Robert_Eiffel
- FB Fan -
Canada
58 Posts |
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apl4eris
~ Abstract Brain ~
USA
4800 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2004 : 06:53:06
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Hehe, some funny stuff on there.
An excerpt from the site, of a particularly humorous numerological "interpretation":
by deddatlas on 04-30-2003 @ 09:16:35 PM
"First, you must take in to account a "trilogy of songs" on Doolittle, tracks 5,6,7, which then culminates in track 13, "Hey." Now, looking at the lyrics, "Man in 5 [x3]...":
man is 5 (x3) = 15. 15 songs after "Here comes your man" would be "here comes" again. Does this indicate that examining man is a circular process? does that make it meaningless, or more profound? maybe it means that looking at man means looking at oneself, and looking at oneself is the key to understanding man as a whole.
devil is 6 (x5) = 30. 30 songs after "Dead" is "dead" AGAIN. there is so much meaning and complexity here that i don't even think that i should try and attempt it at this juncture.
god is 7 (x3) = 21. 21 songs after "Monkey" is "Hey". Only God permits an escape from endless circularity. And Hey is the next level of understanding!
There is only one song on all of doolittle that features guest musicians: "Monkey Gone To Heaven." The cello is present throughout the song playing a pattern that mirrors the parts of the other instruments. The violin also appears plucking out a similar part. Because these parts are all mirrored in the parts of the other instruments they do not stand out very much from the fabric of the music, but the cello part does break away from this pattern on "God is 7" where it soars briefly and beautifully. The last sound we hear on "Monkey" is also a note held by the cello. If this isn't an appearance of God on this cd I don't know what is."
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VoVat
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
USA
9168 Posts |
Posted - 07/03/2004 : 12:47:04
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So God plays the cello? He doesn't play dice, though!
I tend to think numerology is a crock, because a number can represent just about ANYTHING.
Cattle in Korea / They can really moo. |
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Monkey Gone To Heaven meaning?
