Bernie Taupin - Monkey On My Back Lyrics

There's moonlight on the crystals
Laid on the back of my hand
Temptation lies in the ocean
And I'm laid out in the sand

There's blood on my rear view mirror
And a siren in the street
There's a fog out here in Malibu
And a needle at my feet

There's a mobile home in Carmel
Stranded in a trailer park
A teenage mother hides herself
From the eyes of the loan shark

She's beggin' me, "Honey, don't go
It's not worth the pain
You can't go on playin'
This dangerous game"

This monkey on my back
Left me stranded in L.A.
With a busted truck and a chewed up arm
And a cravin' in my veins

There's a chopper with a searchlight
Whirlin' overhead
The L.A.P.D.'s on the beach
And this bust's been put to bed

Buried deep the white fire heats
The slug stuck in my side
Runnin' bags for crooked cash
Took me one too many miles

It's gotta be over, poor boy
Their sights were set on me
Never figured sand turned red at night
Don't want no sheet over me

They chased me clear down from Monterey
But I lost them on the freeway
I ran a speedtrap and hell I almost got away
So I took Ventura through the mountains

And sunset to the sea
They winged me out in the Palisades
When I stopped off to get some change
But I never got to use the phone
They was like Apaches round a wagon train