Monkey's Uncle [The Falling Wallendas featuring Todd Sucherman]

Monkey's Uncle
Written by Allen Keller and Scott Bennett

Lead Vocals by Scott Bennett

It was late I asked where you'd been
Felt like I was accusing Mary Magdalene
You looked hurt so I apologized
Didn't even ask about those bruises 'round your eyes

Everyone knew you as we passed through the bar
They sent you drinks as I sent for the car
The attendant leered at you like a Kennedy
You pled mistaken identity
Mistaken identity

You struck a match but you had no Slim
You struck a match to hid the scent of him
You had no match so you struck up a conversation

Oh
I'll be a monkey's uncle
I'll be a monkey's uncle

You were to meet me at work today
After you met with your CPA
Arriving late you looked so relaxed
You looked anything but taxed
Anything but taxed

You struck a match but you had no Slim
You struck a match to hide the scent of him
You had no match so you struck up a conversation
With the guy next to you
While I wore the monkey suit

I'll be a monkey's uncle
I'll be a monkey's uncle

She sat and ordered a smart drink
But you're never as smart as you think
It's hard to cover all of your tracks
When lovers scratch their names on your back

I'll be (I'll be) a monkey's uncle
I'll be (I'll be) a monkey's uncle
I'll be (I'll be) a monkey's uncle
I'll be (I'll be)

Interpretation

Let's go through this verse by verse:

It was late I asked where you'd been
Felt like I was accusing Mary Magdalene
You looked hurt so I apologized
Didn't even ask about those bruises 'round your eyes

As the first person to discover Jesus risen from the dead, Mary Magdalene's witness was proven to be true by the many other witnesses to follow, even though at the time she would not have been considered to be reliable as a woman or as one formerly possessed by demons.  To ask a woman why she was late and see the look of hurt in her eyes (as if you had accused her of wrongdoing) would elicit an apology from any many with a heart.  Why are her eyes bruised?  Perhaps its from staying out late, drinking too much or taking drugs.

Everyone knew you as we passed through the bar
They sent you drinks as I sent for the car
The attendant leered at you like a Kennedy
You pled mistaken identity
Mistaken identity

Looking like a Kennedy would be a way of saying attractive as well as looking like a celebrity. To have the parking attendant leer at you would be unsettling, but she might just be uncomfortable and claim she doesn't know him because he recognizes her from other times she's been to the same hotel with other men.

You struck a match but you had no Slim
You struck a match to hide the scent of him
You had no match so you struck up a conversation

Under stress, some people might light a cigarette, but she has no "Slim" (a Virginia Slims, cigarette popular among women). Striking a match to hid the scent of "him" implies a secret lover.  There's a clever play on words, as striking a match to light it is turned into a striking up a conversation.

You were to meet me at work today
After you met with your CPA
Arriving late you looked so relaxed
You looked anything but taxed
Anything but taxed

When he meets her at work after she met with her CPA, she's late but is strangely relaxed.  Another clever play on words, as people usually meet with a person to advise on their taxes, but then he notices she is not "taxed" (worn out) the way you would expect.

You struck a match but you had no Slim
You struck a match to hid the scent of him
You had no match so you struck up a conversation
With the guy next to you
While I wore the monkey suit

She's striking a conversation with another guy, ignoring him, so he feels like a fool in an monkey suit (another clever play on words, since in this relationship he feels like a monkey's uncle).

She sat and ordered a smart drink
But you're never as smart as you think
It's hard to cover all of your tracks
When lovers scratch their names on your back

She's drinking so-called "smart drinks" at the party instead of alcohol, but she's not as smart as she might think because she can't cover the evidence of all her lovers from the scratches left on her back during sex.

I'll be a monkey's uncle

He is surprised to discover that the possible is true, that she's been cheating on him.  He now realizes for sure that is is, in fact, a monkey's uncle.