Structure
"Monkey Gone to Heaven" is written in the key of D major, and opens with Francis' rhythm guitar playing a short chord progression backed by the bass guitar of Kim Deal and drums of David Lovering. The guitar intensity fades as Francis begins to sing, leaving Deal's constant eighth note bassline and Lovering's steady drum-beat. Between each line of the verse, Francis pauses, leaving the drums and bass playing. Joey Santiago's lead guitar does not feature at all during the verses. By the end of the second line of each verse, the cello part joins in, following the bassline closely.
As the first verse finishes, the opening chord progression is repeated. This leads into the chorus (where Francis and Deal repeat "This monkey's gone to heaven") with the lead guitar of Santiago playing two notes repeatedly. The two violins play a melody throughout, accompanied by a piano in the background. There is then a short solo by Santiago, who repeats the melody three times, to bridge the chorus and second verse. The second verse and chorus follow the same format. At the end of the second chorus, Francis shouts "Rock me Joe!"; Santiago then begins a guitar solo lasting seventeen seconds, with backing violins for the second half of the solo.
After the solo, Francis sings "If man is five" several times. There is no backing, apart from the lead guitar, for several seconds, but then the song's chord progression is heard again. This is repeated for "If the devil is six". At the end of the second chord progression, the song's main backing restarts again, with Francis screaming "Then God is seven" as the chorus approaches. The final repeated chorus of "This monkey's gone to heaven" ends the song as the string section becomes more prominent.
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