Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash
They stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash
To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan
For reasons unexplained she loved the Monkey Man

Tweeter was a Boy Scout, 'course he went to Viet Nam
Found out the hard way nobody gives a damn
Thought that they'd find freedom just across the Jersey line
Hopped into a stolen car, took Highway 99

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they standin'
Never saw them when they fell

The undercover cop, he never liked the Monkey Man
Even back in high school, wanted to see him in the can
Jan got married at fourteen to a racketeer named Bill
Made secret plans with the Monkey Man from a mansion on the hill

It was out on Thunder Road, Tweeter at the wheel
Pulled into paradise, you could hear the tires squeal
It was Jan who'd told him many times, "It was you to me who'd taught:
In Kingston everything's legal as long as you don't get caught"

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they standin'
Never saw them when they fell

Some place by Rahway prison they ran out of gas
The undercover cop cornered 'em, said, "You didn't think that this could last"
Jan jumped up out of bed, said, "There's some place I gotta go"
She took the gun out of the drawer, and said, "It's best that you don't know"

An ambulance rolled up, State Trooper close behind
Tweeter took his gun away and messed up his mind
The undercover cop was found face down in a field
The Monkey Man was on the bridge, using Tweeter as a shield

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they standin'
Never saw them when they fell

The town of Jersey City is quieting down again
I'm sitting in a gambling club called The Lion's Den
The TV set is blown up, every bit of it is gone
Ever since the night when they showed that the Monkey Man was on

Maybe I'll go to Florida, get myself some sun
There ain't no more opportunity here and everything's been done
Sometimes I think of Tweeter, sometimes I think of Jan
Sometimes I don't think about nothin' but the Monkey Man

And the walls came down
All the way to hell
Never saw them when they standin'
Never saw them when they fell