Lyrics:

(Warren Zevon and Jorge Calderon) He was an accident waiting to happen Most accidents happen at home Maybe he should've gone out more often Maybe he should've answered the phone Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame' That's how he earned his regal sobriquet Then he threw it all away For a porcelain monkey He threw it away for a porcelain monkey Gave it all up for a figurine He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas And his face on velveteen From a shotgun shack singing Pentecostal hymns Through the wrought iron gates to the TV room He had a little world, it was smaller than your hand It's a rockabilly ride from the glitter to the gloom Left behind by the latest trends Eating fried chicken with his regicidal friends That's how the story ends With a porcelain monkey He threw it away for a porcelain monkey Gave it all up for a figurine He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas And his face on velveteen Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame' That's how he earned his regal sobriquet Then he threw it all away For a porcelain monkey He threw it away for a porcelain monkey Gave it all up for a figurine He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas And his face on velveteen