Tweeter and the Monkey Man, were hard up for cash. They stayed up all night, selling cocaine and hash. To an undercover cop, who had a sister named Jan. For reasons unexplained, she loved the Monkey Man. Tweeter was a Boy Scout, before she went to Vietnam, and found out the hard way, nobody gives a damn. They knew that they'd find freedom, just across the Jersey Line, so they hopped into a stolen car, took Highway 99.
[Chorus]: And the walls came down, All the way to hell, Never saw them when they're standing, Never saw them when they fell.
The undercover cop, never liked the Monkey Man. Even back in childhood, he wanted to see him in the can. Jan got married at 14, to a racketeer named Bill. She made secret calls to the Monkey Man, from a mansion on the hill. It was out on Thunder Road, Tweeter at the wheel. They crashed into paradise, they could hear them tires squeal. The undercover cop pulled up and said, "Every one of you is a liar. If you don't surrender now, it's gonna go down to the wire".
[Chorus]
An ambulance rolled up, a state trooper close behind, Tweeter took his gun away, and messed up his mind. The undercover cop was left, tied up to a tree, near the souvenir stand by the old abandoned factory. Next day, the undercover cop, was hot in pursuit, he was taking the whole thing personal, he didn't care about the loot. Jan had told him many times, "It was you to me who taught, in Jersey, anything's legal as long as you don't get caught".
[Chorus]
Some place by Rahway Prison, they ran out of gas, the undercover cop had cornered them, said,"Boy, you didn't think that this could last"? Jan jumped out of bed, said "There's someplace I gotta go", she took a gun out of the drawer, said "It's best that you don't know". The undercover cop was found, face down in a field, the Monkey Man was on the river bridge, using Tweeter as a shield. Jan said to the Monkey Man, "I'm not fooled by Tweeter's curl, I knew him long before, he ever became a Jersey girl."
[Chorus]
Now the town of Jersey City, is quieting down again, I'm sitting in a gambling club, called The Lion's Den. The TV set was blown up, every bit of it is gone, ever since the nightly news showed, that the Monkey Man was on. I guess I'll go to Florida, and get myself some sun, there ain't no more opportunity here, everything's been done. Sometimes, I think of Tweeter, sometimes, I think of Jan, sometimes, I don't think, about nothing but the Monkey Man.
[Chorus]
Lyrics via
[ed. See also: Bob Dylan’s “Tweeter and The Monkey Man”; the origins, the music and the meaning (Songfacts).
