Tired of monkeying around －もうサルみたいにふざけた暮らしには飽き飽きしたのさ－

Recently I listened again to the songs from the Disney animated film, “The Jungle Book”.  It reminded me how great the music and the film are.  The song, “I wanna be like you”, is a particularly good one, and contains some interesting ideas and English phrases.

In the Jungle Book, a human child called Mowgli is raised by animals in the jungle.  One of his friends who appears in this scene and sings in the song is Baloo the bear.

At this point in the story, however, Mowgli the human child has been kidnapped by the apes and their king, Louis the orangutan, is talking to him.  Louis wants to become as smart as a human.  He wants to learn the secret of how to make fire, and tries to make Mowgli teach him.  He tries to charm and befriend Mowgli, calling him “cousin”.  Then Baloo the bear appears in disguise to rescue the boy.

What a marvellous story!  So many children’s stories are just about a prince saving a princess, or a simple tale of good versus evil.  This Disney movie, based on the book by Rudyard Kipling, teaches children about evolution, about humans’ relationship to apes.  It examines the use of technology in separating man from animals and asks whether we should accept that there are natural limits to our achievements or always push to know more like Louis the king of the apes, who says, “I’ve reached the top and had to stop.  And that’s what’s bothering me.”

The song is also brilliant musically.  Louis is played by the great jazz singer, Louis Prima.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

 

I wanna be like you (From the Disney film The Jungle Book, 1967)

{Louis, the king of the apes}

Now, I’m the king of the swingers,

Oh, the jungle VIP.
I’ve reached the top, and had to stop,
And that’s what’s bothering me.

I wanna be a man, man-cub, And stroll right into town
And be just like the other men.
I’m tired of monkeying around.

I wanna be like you
I wanna walk like you,
Talk like you.
You see it’s true.
An ape like me can learn to be human too.

{Mowgli the human child} Gee, cousin Louis!  You’re doing real good!
{Louis}
Now here’s your part of the deal, cous’:
Lay the secret on me,
Of man’s red fire.

{Mowgli} But I don’t know how to make fire.
{Louis}
Now don’t try to kid me, man-cub.
I made a deal with you.
What I desire is man’s red fire
To make my dream come true.

Now give me the secret, man-cub.
Come on, clue me what to do.
Give me the power of man’s red flower,
So I can be like you.

{Baloo the bear and Louis together} {animal noises}
You, I wanna be like you.
I wanna walk like you, talk like you too.
{etc.}

 

Vocabulary:

to monkey around – To behave in a foolish, joking way that is not at all serious.  For example, a teacher might say to his students who are playing in class, “Hey!  Stop monkeying around and get back to work!”

particularly good – especially good

an ape – A group of animals, including monkeys, gorillas and orangutans.

to be smart – To be intelligent

to charm someone – To make someone like you.

to be marvellous – To be wonderful; amazing.

versus – Against.

evolution – The slow process of change over time.

“the king of the swingers” – Apes swing from tree to tree.  But in the 1960s, swinger was used to describe a cool person.  The 1960s are sometimes called the “Swinging Sixties”.  So Louis is both the king of the apes and very cool.

a cub – The young of many animals are called cubs.  For example, a young bear is called a bear cub.  It is not, of course, usually used to describe human children.

to stroll – To walk slowly or casually.

cous’ – This is short for “cousin”.

“Lay the secret on me” – “Tell me the secret”.  This is slang.

to kid someone – To lie to someone, especially as a joke.

“Clue me what to do” – “Tell me what to do.”  This is quite unusual slang.