
It was released as a single and peaked at number 29 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart. The song was Gabriel's first Top 40 hit in the US.
In the UK, the song charted at number 58. It was included on Gabriel's fourth self-titled album, issued in the U.S. as Security.
As well as its "relentlessly repeated hook" that "sounded nothing like anything else on the radio at the time", the track is known for its popular and somewhat disturbing music video featuring Gabriel (in white face paint) and a frightened-looking macaque.
Due to its title and the content of the video, the song is frequently assumed to be either an animal rights song or a reference to the famous experiments by Stanley Milgram described in his book Obedience to Authority. It is neither, although another Gabriel song, 'We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)', from his 1986 album So, does deal directly with Milgram.
Gabriel himself has described 'Shock the Monkey' as "a love song" that examines how jealousy can release one's baser instincts; the monkey is not a literal monkey, but a metaphor for one's feelings of jealousy.
Click the link below to download the following:
Video
Single Version
Extended Remixed Version
Soft Dog Instrumental - B-Side
http://www.mediafire.com/?jpbw3x5p05lrq
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