(Warren Zevon and Jorge Calderon)

He was an accident waiting to happen

Most accidents happen at home

Maybe he should've gone out more often

Maybe he should've 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 figurine

He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas

And his face on velveteen



From a shotgun shack singing Pentecostal hymns

Through the wrought iron gates 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

Eating fried chicken 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 figurine

He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas

And his face on 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 figurine

He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas

And his face on velveteen