Review

A review of the second theme song for the Monk detective series (2002–2009)

The Monk TV series is generally classified as a Police Procedural, Mystery, Comedy drama. It debuted July 12, 2002 on USA Network and continued for eight seasons. The final season concluded on December 4, 2009. Tony Shalhoub is excellent as the title character, Adrian Monk—a San Francisco Police detective who had to leave the force when his journalist wife was killed by a car bomb and he slid into Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder as a result. The show is now viewable in boxed sets, TV re-runs, and streaming on-line at https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/tv and other sites.

Jeff Beal wrote the incidental music for 122 of the show's 124 series episodes, but Beal’s and Randy Newman’s title theme songs for the show each won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music (2003 and 2004, respectively). Newman's song replaced Beal's after the first season, and there was a brouhaha about which one is better. I have heard both, and each is worthy of its honors, but....

I must say that Newman’s 2004 winner, It's a Jungle Out There, is especially gorgeous as a title theme for its video series. Not only is the jazzy tune memorable, but its edgy, halting tempo suits the title character’s manner. Also, the very nature of that musical genre makes its songs difficult to remember exactly, and that’s part of the point. (Jazz musicians don’t like to play the same song the same way over and over unless that’s what their paying customers insist on.)

Newman’s application of the same jazzy feel to his lyrics makes the theme even more attractive—at least to me. As a series theme song, its words mirror or foreshadow both the title character and the scripts at every turn but without giving the plot away: 

• Disorder and confusion everywhere, which the plot and hero Adrian Monk both point out initially for every show I’ve seen.
• No one seems to care, but Monk does when he sees the first clue that something’s wrong. 
• Who's in charge here? No one listens to him for a while, and things get worse.
• It’s a jungle out there, and Monk starts insisting about the problems he sees. 
• People think he’s crazy, and he worries all the time. Even his second banana side-kick Sharona Fleming, played by Bitty Schram,  (or Natalie Teeger, played by Traylor Howard) may think for a bit that he’s off in the deep end. 
• For a while the authorities who should have paid attention, don’t. So Monk worries something bad will happen or that someone else may die. His side-kick worries about Monk, of course.
• Others start to pay attention when disorder and confusion give way to violence and danger everywhere.
• Despite his paranoia, Monk meets the foes and the crisis. He’s not the one who’s crazy; he’s afraid but not afraid of them. They’re afraid of him. He could be wrong there, but I don’t think so.

It's a Jungle Out There, © Randy Newman, Title song for the Monk detective TV series, lyrics from https://www.randynewman.com/albums/dark-matter/.

It’s a jungle out there

Disorder and confusion everywhere

No one seems to care

Well, I do

Hey! Who’s in charge here?

It’s a jungle out there

Poison in the very air we breathe

You know what’s in the water that you drink?

Well I do

And it’s amazing

People think I’m crazy

‘Cause I worry all the time

If you paid attention, you’d be worried too

You better pay attention or this world we love so much

Might just kill you

I could be wrong now

But I don’t think so

‘Cause it’s a jungle out there

It’s a jungle out there

For the second verse, the musical key bumps up to suggest a more strident, urgent mood:

Its a jungle out there

Violence and danger everywhere

It’s brother against brother

Pounding on each other

Like they were millionaires

It’s a jungle out there

It’s a jungle in here too

They got a tap right on your phone

Got microphones and cаmегаs

Checking out everything you do

Call it paranoia

But as the saying goes

Even paranoids have enemies

I’m not the one who’s crazy

I’m not afraid of them

They’re afraid of you and me

I could be wrong there

But I don’t think so

‘Cause its a jungle out there

It’s a jungle out there

I haven't seen every episode but as far as I know, the show always opens with Beal’s or Newman’s title theme depending on when it first aired. So, Monk plays mostly Newman’s first verse. That’s probably a good thing because the third stanza of his second verse is almost a spoiler. His Dark Matter album’s instrumental bridge between the second and third verses is great, but I’m not musical enough to say why. 

Despite all of that analysis and praise, I’ll say Newman’s third verse is more like a coda with problems. Its lyric does not much mirror or foreshadow characters or scripts, or even give them a good wrap-up. It seems to be almost an afterthought:

It’s a jungle out there

Even the cops are scared today

So if you see a uniform

Do exactly what they say

Or make a run for it

I’m only kidding with you

‘Cause its a jungle out there

It’s a jungle out there 

Cops in the Monk series are not scared, but that is part of its genre: The authorities—especially the regular cops (Captain Leland Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Randy Disher) are concerned, competent, and brave, but actors Ted Levine and Jason Gray-Stanford, respectively, must play their roles as sometimes-confused third bananas to Adrian Monk’s first banana. Clearly, Monk is the one who is scared—until he seizes on a clue and focuses on following where it leads. When that trail hits a snag, though, he eases back into scared until the next clue or insight appears.

I could be wrong there, but I don’t think so.

This series and all of its music are a fine integrated product, but I'd like to replace Newman's coda and fix its problems, so I propose a different final verse which I’ll perfect and post someday. ...I already have the last two lines.