Proudest Monkey - Live at Whittemore Center Arena, Durham, NH, 02.19.96

So, um, when I first—
This is a sort of a three chord song or more like a one chord song
But I—when I first wrote this song I was kinda thinkin' about
How at one stage, uh
You and me or like, or
At least our grandparents were running around in the woods
And climbin' up trees and doin' stuff like that
So, it was kinda about that and how we ended up in the city
And then the—the cars, and then the house
And then as it turns out it's kind of sort of a little autobiographical too
'Cause it's about a singing monkey
This is called "Proudest Monkey"
It's a real quiet song

Swing in this tree
Me, I am, oh, bounce around so well
Branch to branch, limb to limb you see
All in a day's dream, I'm stuck
Like the other monkeys here
Me, I am a humble monkey
Sitting up in here again

But then came the day
I climbed out of these safe limbs
Ventured away
Walking tall, head high up and singing
I went to the city
Car horns, corners, and gritty
Now I am the proudest monkey you've ever seen
Monkey see, monkey do, yeah

Then came the day
Staring at myself, I turned to question me
I wonder do I want the simple, simple life that I once lived in well
Well, things, they were quiet then
In a way those were my better days
But now I am the proudest monkey you've ever seen, oh
Monkey see, monkey do, yeah

Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do, yeah
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do-do-do-do-do
Monkey see, monkey do-do-do-do-do
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkey see, monkey do