The Pixies - Monkey Gone to Heaven

The Pixies are an American alternative rock band that formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1986. The group consists of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass guitar, vocals), and David Lovering (drums).Combining jagged, roaring guitars and stop-start dynamics with melodic pop hooks, intertwining male-female harmonies and evocative, cryptic lyrics, the Pixies were one of the most influential rock bands of the late '80s.

While the Pixies found only modest success in their home country, they were significantly more successful in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe, although never achieving prolonged mainstream success with their studio albums. The group disbanded in 1993 in acrimonious circumstances but reunited in 2004.

The band's style of music contains elements including indie rock and surf rock. Francis is the Pixies' primary songwriter and singer who has been noted for his yowling delivery. He has typically written about offbeat subjects, such as extraterrestrials, surrealism and Biblical violence.

The group has been described as a big influence on the alternative rock boom of the 1990s, though they disbanded before reaping any of the benefits this might have brought them. In a January 1994 interview with Rolling Stone, he said, "I was trying to write the ultimate pop song. I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies. I have to admit it [smiles]. When I heard the Pixies for the first time, I connected with that band so heavily I should have been in that band—or at least in a Pixies cover band. We used their sense of dynamics, being soft and quiet and then loud and hard."

Avowed fan Kurt Cobain's acknowledgement of the debt his band Nirvana owed to the Pixies, along with similar tributes by other alternative bands, helped the Pixies' legacy and popularity grow in the years following their break-up, leading to sold-out tours following their reunion in 2004.

"Monkey Gone to Heaven" is a song on their 1989 album Doolittle. The song was written and sung by frontman Black Francis and was produced by Gil Norton. Referencing environmentalism and biblical numerology, the song's lyrics mirrored themes that were explored in Doolittle. "Monkey Gone to Heaven"'s main theme is environmentalism. The song mainly deals with man's destruction of the ocean and "confusion of man's place in the universe".

This was the first Pixies song to feature guest musicians: two cellists, Arthur Fiacco and Ann Rorich, and two violinists, Karen Karlsrud and Corine Metter.
It was critically well-received. The critical success of "Monkey Gone to Heaven" was also reflected commercially; the song reached number five on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, marking the Pixies' debut in the American charts. However, the song did not perform as well in the British charts, reaching a peak position of number 60 and falling off the charts after three weeks.

In the years since its release, the song has received several accolades from music publications.