Toots and tha Maytals - Monkey Man

[culture]

been meaning to ask this for a while. Is this recording meant in part to be about evolution (monkey man)? music is usually how the listener interprets the music he/her self to create significant meaning. This is how I perceived this recording, but if it's about something else please explain.

[lenroy]

I do believe that it was about the attitude that black americans displayed to jamaican workers that went to the states to work. The lyrics seem to indicate that the americans weren't too forward vocally about their plight of apartheid, but were quite vocal to deride west indians, who weren't prepared to tolerate that attitude.

[culture]

ok that's another angle, would never of looked at this recording like that. thanks

[Musitronics]

When I was a kid, I didn't understand any of the political comentary that was going on in tracks like this track, I thought that they were singing "Waking up the big monkey man" imagening him to be a mythical ape creature, that if you woke him up you'd be in big trouble are they really singng "Working up"? thats completly destoyed the inocence for me now

It was the same with "Train tour to rainbow city" I used to think, what's this train tour guide got against black women, what an a'hole lol, not realising it was, satire? Is that the right word?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCy1xJgln_U

[ital kemar]

monkey man lyrics can be seen at
www.jah-lyrics.com

ital k

[Visitor]

This song is about girl cheats Toots with another guy. Toots insults this other guy calling him Monkey Man because he looks so big and dumb.

Something like that.

[Jumbo]

vistitor is right, Toots is just namecalling the man that f*#&s his girl:

Aye, aye, aye, aye, aye, aye
Tell you baby
You're hugging up the big monkey man
I see no sign of you, I only heard that you
Hugging up the big monkey man
It's not lies, it's not lies
Them a tell me
Hugging up the big monkey man
Now I know that
Now I understand
You're turning a monkey on me

all other cojntributors should get an english dictionary, and stop live in them luuuu

[suzifan]

Like Jumbo seh, easy to imagine all manner of things in a tune like this. Reality is somewhat different.

Forget the meaning then, let's enjoy the riddim! So, I ask: Anyone know of some more versions of it?
I have
Annie Pama, Lee's Allstars (Pama) - this may be the same as High Voltage, Beverly's All Stars on beverlys/Trojan, but I dont kno.
Some Jackie Mittoo thing on a Studio 1 white label which I think is called Dark Moon or something
Mama Look Deh, Pioneers (same riddim but probably earlier)
Mama Look Deh (Monkey Man), Upsetters (not Lee Perry but his band (Dark!) Moonlighting)
What A Cute Man, Max Romeo (this is actually not an answer to Monkey Man but an answer to The Maytones' Funny Man, on UK Unity)
I think there's some other vocal cuts but I don't know what they are. Anybody got any to add...

Ay yi-yi!

[ico4498]

some of you are working the connective tissue overtime ...

ugly guy got his girl. end story.

[suzifan]

This riddim connected to the hip bone,
That riddim connected to the knee bone
And that riddim connected to the ankle bone
Now we skanking in the name of the Lord!