Monkey Business Top Ten: Porcelain Monkey (#5)

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Have you gone bananas yet with this countdown of songs with “monkey” in the title? I hope not! I’m having fun with this, and it seems that @DocAndersen , who suggested the theme, is enjoying it as well! Here’s someone you knew would show up sooner or later on this list….. #5: Porcelain Monkey - Warren Zevon The problem was, with three songs that have “monkey” in the title (the other two being “Monkey Wash, Donkey Rinse” and “Leave My Monkey Alone”), which Zevon song would I choose? I went with Elvis, of course. While this song has hilarious lines in it (“he was an accident waiting to happen, most accidents happen at home;” “eating fried chicken with his regicidal friends;” “he traded it in for a night in Las Vegas and his face on velveteen”), it’s pretty sad if you look at the deeper meaning. The young Elvis Presley really became a tragic rock and roll figure, living in “a little world, it was smaller than your hand” and dying way, way too young (with unintended help from the “regicidal” yes-men around him). But, as Zevon sang in this song, Presley ”earned his regal sobriquet.” Indeed he did. Long live the king of rock and roll. Porcelain Monkey Written by Warren Zevon and Jorge Calderón Recorded by Warren Zevon From Life’ll Kill Ya, 2000 Maybe he should have answered the phone: