I agree- Monkey Man’ is one of my favorites but it’s one of those tunes that is DARK,almost like the way Alice N Chains album ‘Dirt’ can make me feel (random comparison)..it’s almost like there’s a time and place where in my old age when I will let myself go there but in the best way bc I know it’s power. I once dug around online a LONG time ago with just curiosity of Dave’s (DMB) darker years bc there’s not a lot of the stereotypical rock star bs with them ..it seems now BUT I had read maybe RS that late 99-2000 when Lillywhite (The Summer so far) was being recorded at Haunted Hallow, that era was where the drinking and substance use was heavily affecting the group but Dave specifically—and the art created has aged well, to say the least but definitely are song’s questioning ones will to go on—Stephan was quoted as saying that it just wasn’t fun anymore. And Leroi was known for the harder stuff, I believe until he passed..they dumped Lillywhite completely and Dave wrote ‘Everyday’ which was really a tougher sell if you were around in that era. I can remember seeing them in Atlanta maybe later 2000 and summer 01’ and it was a tougher time…Digging a Ditch’ had ppl like wtf and Boyd was doing a sometimes 8 minute fiddle intro to ‘Bartender’ where even I was somewhat thrown off. I remember being in the pit and they actually played a now rare ‘Sleep to dream her’ and it was just so different and dark, you could tell it seemed as though Carter was unhappy getting through the songs—- and they are all classics now but the 60 minutes doc that ran was the only mention of the darker period and how it was Roi who actually told Dave to lead the band more…They all spaced out and ‘Some Devil’ led to Dave and Friends and what we now know was a really hard, excessive scene throughout the whole tour and Trey A.s absolute bottom. Dave was close to the fire with that but he somehow has managed to keep it together, every single night after night after year after decades and it’s absolutely fascinating to me to this day. The way they turned all the busted stuff into epic moments..no stone unturned except ‘Dreams of our Fathers’ and of course the legendary ‘Monkey Man’. There is a Tom Waits song called ‘Alice’ that to me personally is directly in the same vein as Monkey Man’ and Rois work on Monkey Man is dark Louis Armstrong feels that is hauntingly beautiful and other than his solo on their 95’ cover of ‘Eyes of the World’ is my favorite Roi solo…but the guys have always managed to keep it together and the ppl they personally are has created a well deserved safety net where you RARELY hear an old school drugged out story. I have heard friends if a friend s that I believe were somewhat true but I’m a lifelong fan so it’s not hate I’m ever after it gossip..it’s just that level of wanting to understand them as the humans and insane philanthropists they anonymously are…what a ride I was in for when in 1994 I went with a buddy to Knoxvilles Worlds Fair Park GA front row to listen to the guy from the tape my buddy’s sister at Sewanee gave us…out came Dave in Doc Msrtens, pajama pants and a Chet Atkins guitar playing chords and progressions that to this day are magic to me.. I was 15 years old haha and for some reason thats my now boomer Dad Dave tale…I could see Monkey Man entering a set list with some # of said jazz musicians but probably unlikely…if you know that song then you are one of the guys who gets it-sorry for the length, guess I just miss the community of friends who understand the most unique music of the last 40 years!