Porcelain Monkey - Warren Zevon

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 lamé:

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

Hip-shakin', shoutin' in gold lamé:

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