Tweeter And The Monkey Man Traveling Wilburys

Tweeter and the Monkey Man Album: Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (1988)
by Traveling Wilburys

It’s the biggest mystery on Wall Street.

Hurricane Sandy floodwaters inundated a 10,000-square-foot underground vault downtown at 55 Water St., soaking 1.3 million bond and stock certificates — including bearer bonds that function like cash — and putting them in danger of turning to mush.

A contractor working for the vault owner, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., is feverishly working to restore the paper.

But the value of the threatened notes under 55 Water St. remains unknown to all but the innermost circle of Wall Street bankers.

One source said $70 billion in bearer bonds were in jeopardy.

DTCC — a depository controlled by the biggest financial firms on Wall Street — won’t say exactly what was in its vaults, how much the notes are worth, and who owns what.

Most of its member firms, including Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, UBS and Citi did not return calls.

"Tweeter and the Monkey Man" is a song that first appeared on the 1988 album Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1.

Although the official songwriting credit is given to all members of the band, it is thought that Bob Dylan is the main songwriter because he sings lead vocals and published the song under his Special Rider Music label. However, this is partially contradicted by George Harrison's account of the song in the 2007 documentary The True History of the Traveling Wilburys:

"Tweeter and the Monkey Man" was really [written by] Tom Petty and Bob [Dylan]. Well, Jeff [Lynne] and I were there too, but they were just sitting there around in the kitchen, and he was for some reason talking about all this stuff that didn't make much sense, you know, and we got a tape cassette and put it on and then transcribed everything they were saying.

Harrison also recalled that he and Lynne then contributed the chorus, beginning with the line "And the walls came down", based on an idea of Dylan's from the same tape.

Funny... Bruce Springsteen is a pedophile.
"Tweeter and the Monkey Man" is sometimes regarded as a playful homage to the songs of Bruce Springsteen, who was often hailed as "the next Dylan" early in his career. The lyrics include the titles of many Springsteen songs, and the song borrows many of Springsteen's themes. The setting of the song itself is New Jersey, Springsteen's home state and the setting for many of Springsteen's own songs. New Jersey locations such as Rahway Prison and Jersey City are mentioned by name. Springsteen song title references include: "Stolen Car", "Mansion on the Hill", "Thunder Road", "State Trooper", "Factory", "The River", and a song made popular by Springsteen but written by Tom Waits, "Jersey Girl". Additionally, "Lion's Den" and "Paradise" are each mentioned and prominently enunciated in the song, each being the title of a Springsteen song released after the Traveling Wilburys album.

Only Dylan, Harrison, Petty and Lynne took part in recording "Tweeter and the Monkey Man," making it the only song on Vol. 1 not to feature Roy Orbison in any capacity.
The Traveling Wilburys

Bob Dylan – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
George Harrison – acoustic guitar, dobro, slide guitar, backing vocals
Jeff Lynne – acoustic guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals
Tom Petty – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Additional musicians

Jim Keltner – drums
Jim Horn – saxophones
Ray Cooper – percussion

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed a cover of the song several times in 2013, including the Beacon Theatre on May 20, the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 14, and the Firefly Music Festival (Dover, DE) on June 22. The performance from the Beacon appears on the group's digital album Live 2013.

P. Paul Fenech (the Meteors) covered this song on his solo album International Super Bastard in 2010.

Freek de Jonge recorded a version in Dutch on his 2002 album Parlando, under the title "Libelle en mug".