Monkey Business Top Ten: The Monkey That Became President (#8)

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It’s Monday, and I’m not monkeying around! There’s also less than two weeks until daylight savings time ends. But for good news, @DocAndersen asked for songs that have “monkey” in the title, and I’m here to go ape over that idea! Here’s the next song on the list. #8: The Monkey That Became President - Tom T. Hall This song will show you just what we lost with the death of Tom T. Hall earlier this year. What other songwriter could turn a dream into a brilliant, nonpartisan social commentary song like this? Simple plot: a monkey born in a zoo becomes educated, political, and finally the president. This was from the Nixon years, which might explain the sarcasm and the name-dropping of David Brinkley and Johnny Carson. (If you’re wondering, Hall also recorded a more pointed song about Nixon’s Watergate scandal a year later.) Hall finishes the song with an explanation that’s become more and more true over the past 50 years since this song was recorded: Would you rather have a monkey up in Washington DC? Or have those people making monkeys out of you and me? This song is funny, and yet it isn’t. It doesn’t matter if it’s Democrat, Republican, or Independent. We’ve chosen the latter. The Monkey That Became President Written by Tom T. Hall Recorded by Tom T. Hall From We All Got Together And…., 1972 I witnessed his departure from his mother’s womb: