Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey

Album: The White Album (1968)
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Songfacts®:

  • John Lennon described this song as, "About me and Yoko. Everybody seemed to be paranoid except for us two, who were in the glow of love." According to Mojo magazine, Lennon had recently been piqued by a cartoon that portrayed Yoko as a monkey clinging to her Beatle lover's back and took 'monkey' as his pet name for Ono.
  • This has the longest title of any Beatles song.
  • The backing track was sped up to give a frantic pace.
  • The line, "Come on, Come on, its such a joy" was something the Maharishi said while The Beatles were in India in 1967. The original title of this was "Come On, Come On."
  • This was covered by Fats Domino. Lennon really loved his cover.
  • John Lennon played lead guitar on this one. George Harrison is playing rhythm guitar.

Comments: 46

  • Olderbudweiser from PimientaIsn’t this song about heroin? The monkey is heroin and the deeper you go, the higher you fly...your inside is out when your outside is in, etc.
  • Jeffrey Boe from Campbell, Caperhaps it means that of the beatle's john was the only one who didn't have a pierced penis, the prince albert, a 'p.a' as they are called. 'everybody's got something to hide, 'cept for me and my monkey'
  • James from Valley Stream, NyThe actual lyric as I remember from the white album picture sleeve was "C'mon IS such a joy", and C'mon IS take it easy. Doesn't make sense grammatically right? But ahhhh - back then in my Rosedale Queens NY neighborhood it was rumored that "come on" was a reference to heroin - as it was sometimes referred to as "come on". Well the song may not be about heroin use according to previous comments here, but if it were - then at least the lyrics are grammatically correct, and make more sense to me in a quirky peculiar perverted Beatle's sense of humor sort of way......
  • Martha from New York City, NyMaybe they were mocking the Maharishi?
  • Given from Los Angeles, CaMaster-Marco......come on, get real man.
  • K from Nowhere, OnI really love the ridiculous "comeoncomeoncomeon" stuff at the end. Sometimes, it actually makes me laugh.
  • Chloe from St. Louis, Mowhats wrong with you people?! its about LOVE. "come on, its such a joy". he's happy because he has yoko. okay? thats IT.
  • Steven from Snow Camp, NcHey my band's name is Me & My Monkey, came from this song...
    Check us out at
    www.myspace.com/monkeymusicband

    Everyone seems to think its either a perverted name or they ask which one is the monkey, which reminds me of Pink Floyd's "Have a Cigar" lyrics - "Oh and by the way, which one's Pink?" which supposedly everyone used to ask them, thinking they had a lead singer name Pink.
  • M from Lennonland, NyCome on, it's such a joy.
  • Todd from Bloomfield, NjEven though I've read this song is not about drugs, it sounds quite like a reference to heroin, which John was using at the time. "The deeper you go, the higher you fly; the higher you fly, the deeper you go" sounds like a needle reference. The "monkey" sounds like a monkey on his back. The "circus-like atmosphere" of the backing sound is similar to that of "Cold Turkey," which is the song about him quitting heroin (the guitars represent the need for a "fix"). One of MANY songs of theirs with multiple double entendres.
  • Peter Griffin from Quahog, RiAdrian, I don't think this song sounds like Communication Breakdown at all. Communication Breakdown was inspired by something else, not this song.
  • Mark from Austin, TxYeah, the "monkey" is Yoko. A lot of people were calling her "the monkey on John's back" at the time.
  • Michael from Oxford, EnglandKrista, I think the monkey represents Yoko. I'm not too sure about that though!
  • Bryan from New York, NyThis song is beast. Best song title ever.
  • Sal from Bardonia , NyA great primal scream rocker that actually sounds a bit like early Led Zeppelin and it has a great bass sound.
    Sal, Bardonia, NY
  • Kevin from Quebec, Canadait was george that played the firebell throughout the song i have the exact same one in my studio ive tried to recreate the sound its not that easy!
  • Zoloft from Milton, WvOne of the Beatles' best rockers, in my most humble opinion. The line, "The deeper you go the higher you fly", simply means that skin popping heroin does not get one as high as tapping into the vein. John had a lot to hide at that point in his life. He felt that everyone else did, too, but everyone else was in denial. "Who me? No, of course not, I have nothing to hide. Well, except for maybe..." The song became both a raucous celebration of drug abuse and a caustic commentary on hypocrites with more skeletons in their closets than a graveyard.
  • Stefanie from Rock Hill, ScLee Adrian's right. "Communication Breakdown" is a great song. It's on Led Zeppelin's first album, which is self-titled.
  • Greg from New York City, NyI do not agree that this a throw away song, I think it's a great song and Why Don't We Do It in the Road is just as good, can you imagine the white album without it.
  • Stacey from Someplace, Australiarocko's modern life is the worst show ever put on tv
  • Steve from Fenton, MoCompared to the standard the Beatles set, this was a throwaway song, but it is better than Paul's equivalent, Why Don't We Do It in the Road. Even the Beatles throwaway songs were as good as...say The Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy.
  • Jonathan from Johnstown, PaThe title is never used in this song, they use "Everybody's got something to hide exept
    FOR me & my monkey.
    The title was also pairoded on a Rocko's Modern Life epsiode Rocko says to Heffer(or any body, I can't remember)"Everybody's got to something to hide exept my meat and my monkey."I can't remember which episode.
  • Lee from Clearwater, FlAdrian, I agree with the second half of what you wrote, but I never heard "Communication Breakdown", but I do like hard rock, and will try and corrolate the two when I do hear the song.
  • James from Belmont, MiThe Monkey is a reference to a cartoon done in a London music magazine. The cartoon depicted Yoko as a monkey on John's back with inference she that was sucking the talent out of John's back. Hence the monkey is Yoko, not masterbation or drugs. The rest of the lyric's are positive reinforcement statements the Mahirshi used in his lectures to the Beatles while they were in India in 1968.
  • Lee from Clearwater, FlOn the Beatles Anthology, Paul said that John got the idea from the Mahirshi, who said that everyone had something to hide. John added the part about the monkey.

    So yeah, it could be about masturbation, but not specifically. It could be maturbation, fornication, shoplifting, alcohol abuse, etc etc etc etc. When you think about it, doesnt everyone have something to hide? I dont care if it is a hole in their underwear, every body most certainly does.
    Not everything the group wrote about had to do with drugs, or even sex for that matter.
  • Bill from Southeastern Part Of, FlListen closely at the end of the song. The firebell rings, then stops, so you can just hear the guitars, then the firebell starts again with the C'mon lyrics and then fades out. During that part without the firebell ringing and with just the guitars, you can hear Lennon screaming AHHHHH, AHHHHH, AHHHH at the top of his lungs. The volume of his screams, however, are so low, you will need to have your volume up rather high or use headphones to hear it. This is my most favorite part of the song.
  • Kika from Nyc, NyThis is such a great song, and doesn't it seem like a lennon thing to do, to name such a great song such a long title just to irritate people when they're talking about it?
  • Takashi from Tokyo, JapanMarco, that's the stupidest and most f--ked up thing I ever heard. It has nothing to do with Masturbation.
  • Nathan from Defiance, OhI think this was written about the same time the Beatles were contemplating a breakup. It might have been John's way of saying his bandmates was hiding their true feelings.
  • Sophia from Mesquite, TxThis song is great.. but LSD galore.
  • Stefanie Magura from Rock Hill, ScMasturbation song? O c'mon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Nessie from Sapporo, Japan"Love the way the intro beat got turned around - sets my ear on end!" (Ryco) Yes, that's the key. Good call.
  • Sandy from London, EnglandThis song was covered by US band The Feelies in the late 1970s.
  • Sandy from London, EnglandRe Brittanie's comments about the Beatles not doing speed. In their Hamburg years (1960-62) they regularly took prescription amphetamines to stay awake for the long nights that they played.
  • Ryco from Port Orford, OrLove the way the intro beat got turned around - sets my ear on end! I always heard the lyric as "Come on it's such a joy" refering to the rush one gets when shooting smack. Imho - total drug song saying you can hide anything from anybody except your own self.
  • A-baum from Dallas, TxMan I never saw that eppisode Im gonna go look for it. and has any one ever seen that eppisode of power puff girls lol. They get all the bad guys together and they make a gang called the beat-alls and john is supposed to be the monkey mojo then this girl monkey comes named like moko hoho or something and ruins every thing just like yoko.
  • Joe from Stoughton, MaHeffer: I mean, why are your hands in THAT ham and THAT monkey?

    Rocko: Everybody's got something to hide except meat and my monkey!

    Rockos Modern Life was amazing.
  • Mike from London, EnglandThe "monkey" is Yoko, but only because John had seen a cartoon in the Times, or Daily Mail or whatever depicting her as a monkey chained to John.
  • Nick from San Francisco, CaThe monkey is Yoko Ono. Pretty accurate description, dontcha think?
  • Dave from Philadelphia, PaI believe some of the lyrics (ie. "Come on is such a joy") come from some of the Maharishi's lectures. Not sure about the "Monkey" part.

    The driving cowbell on the verses is similar to Aerosmith's "Walk This Way".
  • Sarah from Santa Rosa, CaIt makes me think of all the people who are fakey- everybody's got something to hide except for me and my monkey!!!
  • Mia from Elk River, MnI'm sure this song was meant to be interpreted as somewhat dirty, but that's what makes it fun!
  • Adrian from Wilmington, DeThis song kind of reminds me of "Communication Breakdown" by Led Zeppelin which was recorded a few months after this and is almost exactly the same length. They are both awesome hard rock numbers and I think John's raw rock n' roll energy really broke through on the White Album and especially on this track. Great song!
  • Catherine from Glasgow, EnglandThey did just about everything Brittanie but i like to tell myself they only smoked Pot and took acid.
    It was that Yoko Ono who got John on Heroin anyway.
  • Brittanie from Liverpool, EnglandHa, I love this song. I don't know why. But I don't think it's about anything disturbed. I'm not too sure what it's about. But not ah-uh, sick stuff. Although that end part where they are saying C'mon really fast somewhat frightens me. I don't know, they sounded sorta off in the head. Maybe they were high, maybe not. We may never know. The end sounds like they were on speed. But I'm sure they weren't. I don't think they did speed.
  • Marco from Los Angeles, Cai believe its a masturbation song
see more comments

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