Tweeter And The Monkey Man The 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 by the British-American supergroup the Traveling Wilburys 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".

Tweeter And The Monkey Man
Traveling Wilburys
Album: The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1
Released: 1988

Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash
They stayed up all night, selling cocaine and hash
To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan
For reasons unexplained, she loved the Monkey Man

Tweeter was a boy scout 'fore she went to Vietnam
And found out the hard way nobody gives a damn
They knew that they'd find freedom just across the Jersey line
So they hopped into a stolen car, took Highway 99

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man
Even back in childhood, he wanted to see him in the can
Jan got married at 14 to a racketeer named Bill
She made secret calls to the Monkey Man from a mansion on the hill

It was out on Thunder Road, Tweeter at the wheel
They crashed into paradise, they could hear them tires squeal
The undercover cop pulled up and said, "Every one of you's a liar
If you don't surrender now, it's gonna go down to the wire"

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

An ambulance rolled up, a state trooper close behind
Tweeter took his gun away and messed up his mind
The undercover cop was left tied up to a tree
Near the souvenir stand, by the old abandoned factory

Next day the undercover cop was hot in pursuit
He was taking the whole thing personal, he didn't care about the loot
Jan had told him many times, "It was you to me who taught
In Jersey, anything's legal as long as you don't get caught"

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

Some place by Railway Prison, they ran out of gas
The undercover cop had cornered 'em said, "Boy, you didn't think that this could last"
Jan jumped out of bed, said, "There's someplace I gotta go"
She took a gun out of the drawer and said, "It's best if you don't know"

The undercover cop was found face down in a field
The Monkey Man was on the river bridge using Tweeter as a shield
Jan said to the Monkey Man, "I'm not fooled by Tweeter's curl
I knew him long before he ever became a Jersey girl"

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

Now the town of Jersey City is quieting down again
I'm sitting in a gambling club called The Lion's Den
The TV set was blown up, every bit of it was gone
Ever since the nightly news show that the Monkey Man was on

I guess I'll go to Florida and get myself some sun
There ain't no more opportunity here, everything been done
Sometimes I think of Tweeter, sometimes I think of Jan
Sometimes I don't think about nothing but the Monkey Man

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they're standing
Never saw them when they fell