Porcelain Monkey

Warren Zevon · Life'll Kill Ya

He was an accident waiting to happen

Most accidents happen at home

Maybe he should've gone out more often

Maybe he should've answered the phone



Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold [Incomprehensible]

That's how he earned his regal sobriquet

Then he threw it all away

For a porcelain monkey



He threw it away for a porcelain monkey

Gave it all up for a figurine

He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas

And his face on velveteen



From a shotgun shack singing Pentecostal hymns

Through the wrought iron gates to the TV room

He had a little world, it was smaller than your hand

It's a rockabilly ride from the glitter to the gloom



Left behind by the latest trends

Eating fried chicken with his regicidal friends

That's how the story ends

With a porcelain monkey



He threw it away for a porcelain monkey

Gave it all up for a figurine

He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas

And his face on velveteen

Porcelain monkey, oh



Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold [Incomprehensible]

That's how he earned his regal sobriquet

Then he threw it all away

For a porcelain monkey



He threw it away for a porcelain monkey

Gave it all up for a figurine

He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas

And his face on velveteen



Porcelain monkey

Porcelain monkey

Porcelain monkey