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Top Songs By The Traveling Wilburys
Credits
PERFORMING ARTISTS
Bob Dylan
Acoustic Guitar
George Harrison
Electric Guitar
Jeff Lynne
Background Vocals
Jim Horn
Saxophone
Jim Keltner
Drums
Ray Cooper
Percussion
Roy Orbison
Background Vocals
Tom Petty
Acoustic Guitar
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Bob Dylan
Songwriter
George Harrison
Songwriter
Jeff Lynne
Songwriter
Roy Orbison
Songwriter
Tom Petty
Songwriter
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Bill Bottrell
Engineer
Don Smith
Engineer
George Harrison
Producer
Jeff Lynne
Producer
Phil McDonald
Engineer
Richard Dodd
Engineer
Lyrics
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
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"
And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell
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"
And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell
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"
And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell
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
And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell
And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell
Writer(s): Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, George Harrison, Roy Kelton Orbison
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