The Kinks "Apeman"

The lyrics in their entirety...

I think I'm sophisticated

'Cos I'm living my life like a good homosapien

But all around me everybody's multiplying

Till they're walking round like flies man

So I'm no better than the animals sitting in their cages

in the zoo man

'Cos compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees

I am an ape man

I think I'm so educated and I'm so civilized

'Cos I'm a strict vegetarian

But with the over-population and inflation and starvation

And the crazy politicians

I don't feel safe in this world no more

I don't want to die in a nuclear war

I want to sail away to a distant shore and make like an ape man

I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man

I'm an ape man I'm a King Kong man I'm ape ape man

I'm an ape man

'Cos compared to the sun that sits in the sky

compared to the clouds as they roll by

Compared to the bugs and the spiders and flies

I am an ape man

In man's evolution he has created the cities and

the motor traffic rumble, but give me half a chance

and I'd be taking off my clothes and living in the jungle

'Cos the only time that I feel at ease

Is swinging up and down in a coconut tree

Oh what a life of luxury to be like an ape man

I'm an ape, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man

I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voo-doo man

I'm an ape man

I look out my window, but I can't see the sky

'Cos the air pollution is fogging up my eyes

I want to get out of this city alive

And make like an ape man

Come and love me, be my ape man girl

And we will be so happy in my ape man world

I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man

I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voo-doo man

I'm an ape man

I'll be your Tarzan, you'll be my Jane

I'll keep you warm and you'll keep me sane

and we'll sit in the trees and eat bananas all day

Just like an ape man

I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man

I'm a King Kong man, I'm a voo-doo man

I'm an ape man.

I don't feel safe in this world no more

I don't want to die in a nuclear war

I want to sail away to a distant shore

And make like an ape man.

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I have chosen a famous Kinks song called “Apeman” for my cultural reading. It is one of many songs to emerge from the tumultuous 1970s dripping in heavy social and/or political overtones.

In “Apeman”, lead singer Ray Davies tells a tale of man’s struggle to find peace in the seemingly overpopulated and polluted cities. His words, in splendid contrast with the song’s joyful instrumentation, argue that the world has gotten too complicated, too busy, too crowded, and that he (or anyone) would be better off living the simple life of the primitive ape.

The song does not give a detailed historical timeline of how our culture came to be so overloaded, but the cultural rhetoric of the lyrics suggests that our culture, the subject, and all of its complexity, has become too much for man, the object, to handle. Thirty some years after the song’s release, “Apeman” is more significant now than ever before. Our modern culture (the hypothetical sum of all cultures) has become denser than we can possibly recognize.

I think this song argues to all of us. We all have moments in which we wonder, “Where did it all go wrong?” or “Why must life be so complicated”. But as with all items of culture, this song is more meaningful to those in position to fully relate to the subject. By this, I mean that those of us living in the city might appreciate “Apeman” more than those living out in the country. Regardless, this song is loaded with cultural significance, from the opening traffic sounds to the final catchy chorus.