Going to Shock the Monkey

Peter Gabriel recorded ‘Shock The Monkey’ for his 1982 fourth studio album Security, and the single charted #58 in the UK and it went to #29 in the US, and this was his first single to chart higher in America than in his native UK.  Gabriel developed the idea of WOMAD (World Of Music, Arts And Dance) and he debuted this song at that festival, but even though he lent considerable time, support and his own performing presence to WOMAD, that first festival was a financial calamity, losing so much money that Gabriel, had to stage a Genesis reunion concert to pay off creditors.  The first festival took place in Britain in 1982.  Gabriel and Thomas Brooman came up with an idea for a concert involving an African group, which then evolved into a much larger event with music from all over the world.  The NME hailed it as ‘a week-long musical orgasm’, The Times rather more cautiously praised it as ‘a courageous endeavor’, but The Observer came closest by describing it as ‘exciting but surreal.’

Many people think that this song is about shock therapy, but Gabriel said it is about jealousy, where jealousy is a trigger for an animal nature to surface.  In 1986, Gabriel recorded ‘We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37)’, which was about a social psychology experiment where subjects administered shocks to others to test obedience to authority figures.  The 1961 Milgram experiment was conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram.  The person being shocked was an actor and he was never in any pain, but people were told to shock him if he answered a question wrong.  37 out of 40 of the subjects administered the maximum shock in these experiments, watching the actor as he writhed in pain.  These test subjects continued to administer higher and higher shocks when they were instructed to do so.

Feelings of jealousy are complex to understand, but they can be evoked when you see another person who you feel is better off than you are.  Jealousy can breed envious resentment of another person’s achievements, possessions, or perceived advantages, because of your desire to have it.  Peter Gabriel described ‘Shock the Monkey’ as a love song that examines how jealousy can release one’s basic instincts.  Jealousy is part of human nature, and certain triggers will make us jealous as this behavior is found in people all over the world.  Nobody is overjoyed when their partner cheats on them and they probably feel like they have had their hearts ripped out, that is unless you are an Inuit and you have offered up your wife for the night.  In this song, the monkey is not a literal monkey, but a metaphor for one’s feelings of jealousy.  Gabriel has mentioned that the song’s lyrical motif was inspired by King Kong’s lightning powers in the 1962 film King Kong vs. Godzilla.  Godzilla is bigger than King Kong, and its tail is a lethal weapon, but Kong is more comfortable on land, and he is faster and more agile and since nobody wants to route for a lizard, Kong won the battle.  ‘Shock The Monkey’ uses imagery of a primate to describe personal anxieties.

Peter Hammill a member of the band Van Der Graaf Generator sang backup on this.  Gabriel used a number of cutting-edge electronic devices to create the backing track on this song, including Fairlight CMI (Computer Musical Instrument) which is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation, along with Prophet 5 synthesizers and a LM-1 drum machine.  This was an innovative approach that resulted in a sound that could never be replicated.  This song features a relentlessly repeated hook that sounded nothing like anything else on the radio at the time.  Larry Fast played the Prophet 5 synthesizer and he also played with Foreigner, Bonnie Tyler and Hall and Oates.  David Rhodes played guitars, Tony Levin played the Chapman Stick which is like a weird looking skinny guitar and Jerry Marotta was the drummer.

Peter Gabriel is 72 years old now and he rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis.  He left Genesis in 1975 and launched his solo career.  Peter Gabriel was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010, but he didn’t go to the induction ceremony because he was in the middle of a tour.  He was inducted again in 2014 as a solo artist and that time he went.  Gabriel received several Grammy Awards and he is set to release his first new album in 20 years later in 2022 with a tour to follow.

Cover me, when I run
Cover me, through the fire
Something knocked me out the trees
Now I’m on my knees
Cover me, darling please
Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don’t you know you’re going to shock the monkey?
Hey, hey

Fox the fox
Rat on the rat
You can ape the ape
I know about that

There is one thing you must be sure of
I can’t take any more
Darling, don’t you monkey with the monkey!
Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don’t you know you’re going to shock the monkey?
Hey, hey
Shock the monkey
Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Monkey
Wheels keep turning
Monkey
Something’s burning
Monkey
Don’t like it but I guess I’m learning

Shock!
Shock!
Shock!
Watch the monkey get hurt
Monkey
Shock!
Shock!
Shock!
Watch the monkey get hurt
Monkey

Cover me, when I sleep
Cover me, when I breathe
You throw your pearls before the swine
Make the monkey blind
Cover me, darling please
Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Monkey, monkey, monkey
Don’t you know you’re going to shock the monkey?
Hey, hey
Shock the monkey
Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Monkey
Too much at stake
Oh monkey
Ground beneath me shake
Monkey
And the news is breaking…

Shock!
Shock!
Shock!
Watch the monkey get hurt, monkey
Shock!
Shock!
Shock!
Watch the monkey get hurt, monkey

Shock the monkey!
Shock the monkey!
Shock the monkey!
Hey, hey
Shock the monkey!
(Shock the monkey to life)
(Shock the monkey to life)
(Shock the monkey to life)
(Shock the monkey to life)
(Shock the monkey to life)
Huh, huh, huh
(Shock the monkey to life)
(Shock the monkey to life)
Huh, huh, huh shock the monkey!
(Shock the monkey to life)
Huh, huh, huh shock the monkey!
Huh, huh, huh shock the monkey!
Huh, huh, huh shock the monkey!
Huh, huh, huh shock the monkey!

Shock the monkey!
Shock the monkey!

Shock the monkey!
Shock the monkey!

Written for Song Lyric Sunday where the theme is Amaze, Astonish, Curious, Shock, Surprise, Wonder suggested by Melanie aka Sparky.