LENNON: "[The title] was just sort of a nice line that I made into a song. It was about me and Yoko. Everybody seemed to be paranoid except for us two, who were in the glow of love." September 1980, All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono
"Monkey" or "monkey on the back" was forties and fifties jazz-musician argot for heroin addiction.
McCARTNEY: "He was getting into harder drugs than we'd been into and so his songs were taking on more references to heroin. Until that point we had made rather mild, rather oblique references to pot or LSD. Now John started to be talking about fixes and monkeys and it was a harder terminology which the rest of us weren't into. We were disappointed that he was getting into heroin because we didn't really see how we could help him. We just hoped it wouldn't go too far. In actual fact, he did end up clean but this was the period when he was on it. It was a tough period for John, but often that adversity and that craziness can lead to good art, as I think it did in this case." Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now
RECORDED
Rehearsed with the tape running June 26, 1968, at Abbey Road, then recorded June 27, with overdubbing July 1 and 23
INSTRUMENTATION
McCARTNEY: bass, backing vocal
LENNON: lead guitar, maracas, lead vocal (double-tracked)
HARRISON: rhythm guitar, firebell
STARR: drums
MISCELLANEOUS
This song has the longest title of any Beatles song.
LENNON: "Fats Domino did a great version of this one." Hit Parader (April 1972)
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