There are two bands with this name:

1. The Monks (US) are a rock n r… Read Full Bio ↴There are two bands with this name:

1. The Monks (US) are a rock n roll band, primarily active in Germany in the mid to late sixties. They reunited in 1999 and have continued to play concerts, although no new studio recordings have been made. The Monks stood out from the music of the time, and have developed a cult following amongst many musicians and music fans.

Artists to have acknowledged the Monks as an influence include Henry Rollins, the Beastie Boys and Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, as well as The Fall. The latter covered both I Hate You and Oh, How to Do Now on their 1990 album Extricate (under the titles Black Monk Theme Part I and Black Monk Theme Part II, respectively), as well as the song Shut Up! on their 1994 album Middle Class Revolt. The Fall have also covered "Higgledy-Piggledy" for the Monks tribute CD Silver Monk Time.

All the members were American GIs stationed in Germany in the mid-sixties. They began playing together in 1964, calling themselves the Torquays. The Torquays differed little from stinctive name and image to go with it. At the beginning of 1965, Dave Day and Roger Johnston, on a whim, got their heads shaved into monks' tonsures. The rest of the band followed their lead, and to complete the image, the band took to wearing a uniform - all black, sometimes in cassocks, with nooses worn as neckties. Eddie Shaw later claimed in his band autobiography "Black Monk Time" that the nooses were symbolic of the metaphorical nooses that all humanity wear. His explanation of the symbolism is unclear and confusing, but regardless, dressed as black monks, The Monks undoubtedly made a shocking visual impression.

Official Website: http://www.the-monks.com/

2. The Monks (UK) : After a four-year stint as the rhythm section for respected English trad rockers the Strawbs and a subsequent four-album run as Hudson-Ford, John Ford and Richard Hudson emerged in this utterly unexpected incarnation.As the '70s closed with punk at its apex, the Monks changed with the times. Unlike truly ticked-off punkers such as the Sex Pistols, they played it for a lark on their debut Bad Habits, which featured a leggy, cigarette-smoking, stocking-revealing nun on the cover. Revelling in their Englishness, they jabbed mirthfully at headbangers and ska-fanciers alike with spot-on spoofs including "Drugs in My Pocket," "Spotty Face" and of course "Johnny B. Rotten." Likely surprising even themselves, they watched as "Nice Legs Shame About Her Face" climbed to No. 19, borrowing the rhythmic strum Lou Reed perfected with Velvet Underground. Former drummer Hudson was playing bass by now, allowing one-time bassist Ford to be the band's guitarist. Terry Cassidy had full band member status as the writer or co-writer of half of the album's 12 tracks. Chris Pearce allowed Hudson to get out from behind the drum kit. Perhaps realizing the punk spoof concept didn't have much longevity, they had a fling with 1930s-style music as High Society in 1980. They returned to the ersatz punk of the Monks with Suspended Animation, an only-in-Canada release that didn't chart.

Love Came Tumblin' Down
The Monks Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
Love came tumblin' down.
Whoa whoa whoa
I'm not so glad I found
Someone to love me.
When you left you took my love
But I guess I'll never learn
In your arms I must return.

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
I wanted you before.
Whoa, whoa, whoa,

I didn't know what was in store.
Your love came tumblin' down.

Overall Meaning

The Monks’ “Love Came Tumblin' Down” is a song about a person who is reflecting upon a past love relationship. The first verse begins with “Love came tumblin' down”, which can be interpreted as the person feeling overwhelmed by this love that they once had, but lost. They continue to express their feeling of regret, stating “I'm not so glad I found someone to love me”. The chorus repeats “Whoa, whoa, whoa” followed by “Your love came tumblin’ down”. This repetition of sound and phrase creates a sense of urgency, as if the person cannot shake off this feeling of loss and heartbreak.

The second verse starts with “When you left, you took my love, but I guess I'll never learn, in your arms I must return”. It is evident that the person still has strong feelings for their past love, despite knowing that this relationship ended in heartbreak before. The line “I wanted you before, I didn't know what was in store” shows a sense of naivety on the part of the person, suggesting that they were unaware of the potential consequences of pursuing a relationship with this person.

Overall, “Love Came Tumblin' Down” by The Monks is a song that expresses a complex mix of emotions: regret, heartbreak, longing, and even a hint of hope that this past love could potentially be rekindled. The repetition of certain phrases creates a sense of urgency, adding to the emotional weight of the song.

Line by Line Meaning

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
Expression of surprise and heightened emotion.

Love came tumblin' down.
Love fell apart suddenly.

Whoa whoa whoa
Expression of surprise and heightened emotion.

I'm not so glad I found
I am not happy that I found someone.

Someone to love me.
Someone loves me.

When you left you took my love
You took my love when you left.

But I guess I'll never learn
I guess I will never understand.

In your arms I must return.
I must return to your arms.

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
Expression of surprise and heightened emotion.

I wanted you before.
I desired you in the past.

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
Expression of surprise and heightened emotion.

I didn't know what was in store.
I didn't know what to expect.

Your love came tumblin' down.
Your love fell apart suddenly.

Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: DAVE HAVLICEK, GARY BURGER, LARRY CLARK, ROGER JOHNSTON, THOMAS SHAW

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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