He was an accident waiting to happen
Most accidents happen at home
Maybe he should have gone out more often
Maybe he should have answered the phone

Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame
That's how he earned his regal sobriquet
Then he threw it all away
For a porcelain monkey

He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figureine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face of velveteen

From a shotgun shack singing Pentacostal hymns
Through the wrought iron gate to the TV room
He had a little world, it was smaller than your hand
It's a rockabilly ride from the glitter to the gloom

Left behind by the latest trends
Eatin' friend chicking with his regicidal friends
That's how the story ends
With a porcelain monkey

He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figureine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face of velveteen

Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame
That's how he earned his regal sobriquet
Then he threw it all away
For a porcelain monkey

He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figureine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face of velveteen

Copyright: Universal Music Publishing Group, Wixen Music Publishing
Writer(s): JORGE CALDERON, WARREN WILLIAM ZEVON