Monkey Man



Monkey Man is a song written by the reggae band Toots & The Maytals and later covered by The Specials. This song was performed by The Wiggles and featured on The Wiggles Go Bananas!. It guest stars Kylie Minogue, a famous ARIA Award Inductee Australian singer. All the profits of this song went to UNICEF Australia, which The Wiggles and Kylie Minogue are both ambassadors for.

This song was rehearsed in late 2008 for "The Wiggles' Big Big Show!".

Music (2009 Version)

 * Reggae

Music (2017 Version)

 * Reggae

Songwriting
The song was originally sung by the reggae band Toots & The Maytals.

Reusing Vocals and Instruments (2017 Version)
The Wiggles reused Simon's backing vocals and Steve's drums and percussion for the 2017 version of this song.

Songwriting
Frederick Hibbert wrote the music and Murray, Jeff, Anthony, Sam, Frederick Hibbert and Kylie Minogue wrote the lyrics.

Arranging (2009 Version)
The Wiggles and Kylie Minogue arranged the music and lyrics for this song.

Arranging (2017 Version)
The Wiggles and Kylie Minogue arranged the music and lyrics for this song.

Recording (2009 Version)
Sam Moran and Kylie Minogue do the lead vocals and Paul Paddick and Simon Pryce do the backing vocals. Murray plays the bass and electric guitars, Jeff plays the organ, and Steve Pace plays the drums and percussion.

Recording (2017 Version)
Lachy, Emma, and Kylie do the lead vocals, Lachy and Simon provide the backing vocals, and Anthony's son Antonio do the dialogue.

2008 Version

 * Music: Frederick Hibbert
 * Lyrics: Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field, Sam Moran, Frederick Hibbert
 * Music and Lyrics Arrangement: Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field, Sam Moran
 * Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group

2009 Version

 * Music: Frederick Hibbert
 * Lyrics: Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field, Sam Moran, Kylie Minogue, Frederick Hibbert
 * Music and Lyrics Arrangement: Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field, Sam Moran, Kylie Minogue
 * Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group

2017 Version

 * Music: Frederick Hibbert
 * Lyrics: Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Emma Watkins, Kylie Minogue, Frederick Hibbert
 * Music and Lyrics Arrangement: Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Emma Watkins
 * Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group

2008 Version

 * Lead Vocals - Sam Moran
 * Additional Vocals - Anthony Field
 * Backing Vocals - Paul Paddick, Simon Pryce
 * Bass: Murray Cook
 * Electric Guitar: Murray Cook
 * Organ - Jeff Fatt
 * Drums/Percussion - Steve Pace

2009 Version

 * Lead Vocals - Sam Moran, Kylie Minogue
 * Backing Vocals - Paul Paddick, Simon Pryce
 * Bass: Murray Cook
 * Electric Guitar: Murray Cook
 * Organ - Jeff Fatt
 * Drums/Percussion - Steve Pace

2017 Version

 * Vocals - Lachlan Gillespie, Kylie Minogue, Simon Pryce, Emma Watkins
 * Backing Vocals - Paul Paddick, Emma Watkins
 * Dialogue - Antonio Field
 * Electric Guitar - Anthony Field
 * Bass Guitar - Alex Keller
 * Keyboard & Piano - Lachlan Gillespie
 * Banjo - Anthony Field
 * Drums - Steve Pace
 * Steel Drum - Lachlan Gillespie
 * Drum Programming - Alex Keller

Song Lyrics
Aye aye aye, aye aye aye

Tell you baby, you huggin up the big monkey man

Aye aye aye, aye aye aye

Tell you baby, you huggin up the big monkey man

I never saw you, I only heard of you

huggin up the big monkey man

I never saw you, I only heard of you

huggin up the big monkey man

It's no lie, it's no lie

Them a tell me, you huggin up the big monkey man

It's no lie, it's no lie

Them a tell me, you huggin up the big monkey man

Now I know that, now I understand

You're turning a monkey on me

Now I know that, now I understand

You're turning a monkey on me

Aye aye aye, aye aye aye

Tell you baby, you huggin up the big monkey man

Aye aye aye, aye aye aye

Tell you baby, you huggin up the big monkey man

I was on my way to Banbury Cross,

Then I see a monkey upon a white horse

With rings on he fingers, bells on him toes

Sing a little song, wherever he be

'Cos he's a monkey, 'cos he's a monkey

'Cos he's a weedy little monkey man

Aye aye aye, aye aye aye

Tell you baby, you huggin up the big monkey man

Aye aye aye, aye aye aye

Tell you baby, you huggin up the big monkey man

Single
"Monkey Man" was likely released in 2009 to promote the full album. Not much about this rare single is known, such as any possible bonus songs or how it was sold (physical CD, iTunes exclusive, etc.) All profit made from the single will go to UNICEF, in which The Wiggles & Kylie Minogue are both goodwill ambassadors for.

Trivia

 * One verse relates to the rhyme: Ride A Cock Horse To Banburry Cross.
 * The Wiggles weren't credited for doing the arrangements for this song.
 * The Wiggles and Kylie Minogue wrote some of the lyrics for this song.