Ever Since the World Began

It’s a delicate thing, to be flabbergasted, dismissive, and awed by the ambition of our species, all at the same time. 

But then, to quote Han Solo, it’s all true. All of it. Humanity really is that vain, brilliant, insecure, imaginative, and foolish. 

“Monkey To Man” definitely puts its fingers on the scale when it comes to those attributes–it calls out the worst of us more than it celebrates the best of us. But it’s all there. Collapsing the Scopes trial, a Dave Bartholomew B-side from 1957, and the dichotomy of mankind’s potential and reality, it’s a heady stew. But it’s got a beat, and you can dance to it. 

Where that thumb falls most strongly is on religion, framed as Homer Simpson might describe alcohol–the cause of, and solution to, all life’s problems. Maybe “solution” belongs in quotes. As he sums it up in the opening lines of the second verse:  

Every time man struggles and fails 
He makes up some kind of fairy tales

Here’s how EC himself described it in an October 2009 interview with British GQ: 

There’s a line about man constantly seeking to dress up his vile instincts. I think that defines all of art. It’s either in the service of God, or ego, or desire.

It’s a song, or a novel, or a movie, or a painting–it’s self expression but it’s also a shield, a cop-out. The best offense is a good defense and maybe that’s part of what’s percolating here in “Monkey to Man,” how the things we create make sense of who we are and what we do, but can never really capture the full picture. 

“Monkey to Man” might be one of the more densely packed lyrics Costello has written in his career. At the same time, the chorus captures his thesis precisely: 

It’s been headed this way since the world began
When a vicious creature took the jump 
From monkey to man

We can run from the beasts that birthed humanity, but we can never escape them. The monkey is always lurking within, a half-breath away from taking the reins. 

Listen to “Monkey to Man” on the streaming service of your choice.