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3.39am
1 November 2012
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The most remarkable thing about this song (other than the fact that it’s a superbly ass-kicking rock song) is the use of the “handbell”. I see that is what is noted under the song section of this site. I am guessing this means a bell, like a small churchbell, perhaps without a clapper inside, or with a string attached to the clapper to facilitate rapid striking.
And rapid striking is putting it mildly. The use of it in this song is brilliant. For years I thought, without listening too closely, that it was the center “bell” part of a cymbal being played with two sticks (only Gene Krupa or Joe Morello could play that tempo with one stick!) and amplified unnaturally with a close mic. But I suppose a handbell makes more sense. (It also sounds like an old-fashioned supper bell being rung by a stark-raving mad housewife…)
Still, I have never heard any other musician or band in any genre — rock, pop, jazz, Latin, African or classical — use a handbell in quite the way the Beatles did on “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide ‘Cept For Me and My Monkey”. And I suspect that the whole thing was Paul’s idea.
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10.14pm
9 May 2012
Offline Why you suspect it is Paul’s idea?
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11.21pm
1 November 2012
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Long John Silver said
Why you suspect it is Paul’s idea?
I don’t know, he seems to be more musically inventive and gimmicky for the sake of it. John tended to be too concerned with “meaning”, and George and Ringo tended to be rather mainstream in that department (despite the former’s sitars).
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8.55am
9 May 2012
Offline So you suspect melody of If I Fell was Pauls, bell in this song is Pauls idea, you think Paul “scream” (if I remember correctly) is better than John. We get it, you prefer Paul but there is no need to open a new topic about it. You think John wasn’t capable of thinking of something like this? A man who wrote Rain , Tomorrow Never Knows , I Am The Walrus , Strawberry Fields Forever etc… those are actually one of the most inventive songs in Beatles catalogue.
I was never that much into “who did what” in each song, and I don’t say that this was or wasn’t Paul’s idea, just not sure what’s with suspicion that John wouldn’t think of something like this.
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11.45am
31 March 2008
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I don’t know who added the bell. There was also another percussion instrument, a chocalho, in some of the verses when the bell wasn’t ringing. I’ve no idea why you’d presume it was McCartney – they all had access to the Abbey Road trap room containing effects and instruments, and raided it every Now And Then when a song needed something new (Yellow Submarine was one).
https://www.beatlesbible.com/1…..-monkey-2/
This is a handbell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handbell – AFAIK they didn’t use a drumstick, and it would have had a clapper inside.
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3.42pm
1 November 2012
Offline Long John Silver said
So you suspect melody of If I Fell was Pauls, bell in this song is Pauls idea, you think Paul “scream” (if I remember correctly) is better than John. We get it, you prefer Paul but there is no need to open a new topic about it. You think John wasn’t capable of thinking of something like this? A man who wrote Rain , Tomorrow Never Knows , I Am The Walrus , Strawberry Fields Forever etc… those are actually one of the most inventive songs in Beatles catalogue.
I was never that much into “who did what” in each song, and I don’t say that this was or wasn’t Paul’s idea, just not sure what’s with suspicion that John wouldn’t think of something like this.
Well, if you take the totality of my OT post, the remark about Paul was parenthetical (and hypothetical). My main point was how cool the use of the handbell is, regardless of who thought of it.
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3.47pm
1 November 2012
Offline Joe said
I don’t know who added the bell. There was also another percussion instrument, a chocalho, in some of the verses when the bell wasn’t ringing. I’ve no idea why you’d presume it was McCartney – they all had access to the Abbey Road trap room containing effects and instruments, and raided it every Now And Then when a song needed something new (Yellow Submarine was one).https://www.beatlesbible.com/1…..-monkey-2/
This is a handbell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handbell – AFAIK they didn’t use a drumstick, and it would have had a clapper inside.
Thanks Joe; from the wiki link I can see a person could manage to play that handbell as rapidly as it sounds on the song by simply wielding the handle and deftly oscillating it side to side.
I don’t know about a chocalho, but the other instrument I hear sounds like maracas.
As for my comment about Paul, it’s not a matter of availability, but the thought occurring to someone. You could have a room full of musicians, in a room full of exotic percussion instruments, but it wouldn’t necessarily occur to all of them to use the same instruments. There’s some je ne sais quoi about Paul where I could imagine him, more than the other three, saying after they’d recorded the song a few times — “Hey, let’s try using the handbell!”
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8.47am
19 January 2017
Offline I’ve noticed that the song hasn’t been discussed very much but it’s definitely one of my favourite songs on the White Album and probably one of the most underrated Beatles songs. Its a great rocker with barely any faults in my mind.
I think lyrically it’s pretty clever even though it’s silly at the same time. I also like the fact that the verses were inspired by the Maharishi’s lectures.
John said that the song was about the scrutiny he experienced early in his relationship with Yoko, whilst Paul has suggested that it’s about heroin.
In this case I think John’s version is correct
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2.34pm
15 May 2015
Offline Yeah, I like “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey ” and would rank it among the top 5 songs on the White Album . The sound of the electric guitars is very satisfying; it almost sounds like they used old worn out strings on purpose. The chord changes are quite cool. As I noted long ago on this forum, the use of a fireman’s bell is creative, and I love how they ring it incessantly. The increasingly chaotic cacophony of “Come ons” at the end is priceless. (If I leave out more accolades — e.g., about the wonderful bass playing by Paul — it’s only because I don’t feel like writing a long post now…)
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5.04pm
24 March 2014
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This track is terrific. Would have been a great opener for the White Album .
The guitars are perfect crunchy crispy. The bass is so cool.
The bell gives a great crazy rythm feeling…
wild honey beatle pie…
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7.22pm
15 March 2017
Offline For years I skipped over this track unless I was listening to The White Album in it’s entirety but as of late it has become one of my favourite songs. It would be in the top ten or fifteen songs from The White Album .
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8.31pm
4 September 2017
Offline I was listening to this song on stereo with headphones, and it has my favorite guitar in any beatles song. Could anyone tell me who played louder the electric guitar that plays in the right side of the headphone. Thank you
9.47pm
25 December 2017
Offline @BummerDrummer My sources are saying George
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8.10am
24 March 2014
Offline To me this song sounds heaviest and dirtiest than Helter Skelter . And wildest.
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1.55am
14 June 2016
Offline Elementary Penguin said
For years I skipped over this track unless I was listening to The White Album in it’s entirety but as of late it has become one of my favourite songs. It would be in the top ten or fifteen songs from The White Album .
I never really considered it to be one of John’s best songs. I don’t think it compares to something like Sexy Sadie . It’s harmless fun, though.
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8.38am
7 November 2022
Offline This family does a cover of this song.
Though the three kids are very young, the two sons especially are quite good — drums and guitar. The girl rings the handbell. The father in the background is great and funny the way he gets so into the screaming!
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11.15am
30 August 2021
Offline Timothy said
Elementary Penguin said
For years I skipped over this track unless I was listening to The White Album in it’s entirety but as of late it has become one of my favourite songs. It would be in the top ten or fifteen songs from The White Album .
I never really considered it to be one of John’s best songs. I don’t think it compares to something like Sexy Sadie . It’s harmless fun, though.
When I learned that it was about the Maharishi, I realised how it and Sadie immediately following form a sort of two-part story: getting caught up in the enthusiasm and then the disillusionment.
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9.14am
26 January 2017
Offline Timothy said
I never really considered it to be one of John’s best songs. I don’t think it compares to something like Sexy Sadie . It’s harmless fun, though.
To be fair nothing compared to Sexy Sadie its the greatest song ever.
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1.19pm
14 June 2016
Offline I do like that the song is grouped next to Sadie though. They’re both upbeat songs and give John good representation on that section of the album. I think Monkey in instrumental form really rocks, and you can see why they wanted it included. The deeper you go, the higher you fly is appropriately trippy too.
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1.43am
4 September 2019
Offline Long John Silver said
I was never that much into “who did what” in each song, and I don’t say that this was or wasn’t Paul’s idea, just not sure what’s with suspicion that John wouldn’t think of something like this.
Well, Paul was more interested in percussion than John, he’s known for wanting to get on the drum kit. Also, Paul is usually more hands on with producing and arranging things. But I would wonder why Ringo couldn’t have come up with it? I do love the song though, and the bells too (the White Album is my favorite album).
I’ve always assumed that George was playing the single note guitar riffs (as opposed to the chord part). And I’ve always thought that was a very original guitar part, I’ve never heard anything else quite like it. And the bells are original too.
Another thing I’ve always assumed was that the song title was a reference to the cover of the Two Virgins album.
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