We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Monkey Comfort

from Monkey Comfort by Penelope Swales

/

lyrics

Monkey Comfort
© Penelope Swales

Some people seek comfort in religion
Some use money
Some like power
Others prefer intoxication
Adrenalin, oblivion
A whisky sour
But the analgesic of my preference
Would have to be my own insignifigance
And I’ll tell you how

My world is magnified
I’m wrapped around you in the night
And I’m terrified, terrified
Of losing you
Your bones so breakable
Your flesh so bruisable
Your skull so crushable
Your precious fingers so losable
The mysterious, curious
Workings of your interior, all
The things that could go wrong in there
Devour you from within, yeah
Your old age so unstoppable
Each day tricklin’ away

And I’m knowing
That you will die
And take your place in eternity
Just one more monkey that lived
On a rock where 10 billion monkeys lived
No more important
No less essential
Than any other snake, bird,
Insect or bacteria
And when you go
Oh, it’ll be just a handful
Of us monkeys that grieve
Oooh.

And so what if more noticed?
What if the death of you or I
Was lamented with the same hue and cry
As Elvis, or Lennon
Or Princess Di?
Just a few more eddies and swirls
In a race intent on destroying itself
On the third rock from some star in some
Infinite universe

Can you see, my friends
Why I don’t find my insignifigance frightening?
Oh, no! I find it comforting
It steadies me
When I’m hounded by fear, grief or loss
Frightened by my death or yours
It grants me some serenity

Coz I’m knowing
That I will die
And take my place in eternity
Ah, just one more monkey that lived
On a rock where 10 trillion monkeys lived
No more important
Nor less essential
Than any other
Bat, Bear, sea-lion
Or Monsteria
And when I go, it’ll be
A compliment to me
If some other monkeys grieve
Ohhhhh


Some people seek comfort in religion
Some use money
Some like power
Others prefer intoxication
Adrenalin, oblivion
A whisky sour
So if to dwell on my own insignifigance
Might seem like a strange preference
Well it don[t seem any stranger to me
Than the other monkeys around here
Other monkeys around here
Lotta other monkeys around here
Pretty strange monkeys around here.

credits

from Monkey Comfort, released July 7, 2003
Vocals, rhythm and lead guitars, stomp box, beatbox, loop pedal - Penelope Swales

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Penelope Swales image

Penelope Swales Boolarra, Australia

Penelope Swales has been articulating the human condition with passion and humour for 30+ years. She sings about politics, love, friendship, the unbreakable bond between us and dogs and the impact of the Internet on society. She won the 2019 Alistair Hulett Songs for Social Justice Award with “Cambridge Analytica”. “The Ides of March in Christchurch" was short-listed for the same award in 2020. ... more

contact / help

Contact Penelope Swales

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Penelope Swales, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now