Signifying Monkey Songtext
von Willie Dixon

You call yourself the jungle king
You call yourself the jungle king
You call yourself the jungle king
I found out you ain′t a doggone thing

Said the Monkey to the Lion on the bright summer day,
"There's a big, bad cat livin′ down the way
He talked about your folks in a heck of a way
A lot of other things I'm afraid to say"

The Lion jumps up all full of rage
Like a Harlem cat that's blown his gauge
He meets the Elephant in the front of the tree
He says, "Now big boy it′s you or me"

The Elephant looks him from the corner of his eyes
"You better find someone to fight your size"
The Lion jumps up and makes a fancy pass
But the Elephant knocks him over in the grass


They fought all night and they fought all day
I don′t know how the Lion, well he got away
He come back through the jungle more dead than alive
And that's when the Monkey really started his jive

You call yourself the jungle king
You call yourself the jungle king
You call yourself the jungle king
I found out you ain′t a doggone thing

Well he waked up his temper when he jumpin' up and down
And his foot missed the limb and his head hit the ground
Like a bolt of light′ning and a streak of heat
The Lion was on him with all four feet

But the Monkey looks up from the corner of his eye
Says, "Now Mr. Lion, I apologize"
The Monkey on his back studies up a scheme
He's tryin′ to trick that jungle king

"Be bad with me, I wish you would
I'd tear you up all over the wood"
The Lion jumps up, squares off for a fight
But the Monkey jumped completely out of sight
"So if you bother me again
I'll turn you over to my Elephant friend"


You call yourself the jungle king
You call yourself the jungle king
You call yourself the jungle king
I found out you ain′t a doggone thing