Runin' got my chips cashed in
Keep runin' like the monkey man
Together, more or less in line
Just keep runin' on

Monkeys with wings all flashing overhead on Main Street
Three mile hill, Nine Mile, and Shell Hill, its all the same street
Your typical climb involved in a typical daydream
Hang it up and see what the next turn brings

Yeah, Shell Hill, it will break you down
Your legs screaming will make you frown
Climb on if you've got the ways and means
But the hills just won't let you be

Most of the cats that you meet on the street speak of runnin'
Most of the time they're runnin' and racin' at home
One of these days they know they gotta get going
Out of the door into the hills and the unknown

Runin' got my chips cashed in
Keep runin' like the monkey man
Together, more or less in line
Just keep runin' on

Sometimes the monkeys swoop down on me
Other times I am runnin' free
Lately it occurs to me
What a long strange trip it's been

What in the world ever became of sweet Jane?
She got some blisters you know she isn't the same
Living on gu and vitamin I and gat'rade
All her friends can say is ain't it a shame

Runnin' up to the high plateau
Been thinking you got to go mellow slow
Takes time, you pick a race to go
Just keep runin' on

Sitting and staring out at the aery ridges
Got a tip they're gonna beat my legs down again
Like to get some training before I run them
But if you got registration I guess I'm gonna be in

Runnin up through Monkeyville
Set up like a bowling pin
Knocked down, it gets to wearing thin
The monkeys just won't let you be

You're sick of waiting around, you'd like to Monkey
Get tired of Monkeying and you want to settle down
I guess they can't revoke your soul for trying
Get out of the door, get runnin' and look all around

Yeah. Runin' got my chips cashed in
Keep runin' like the monkey man
Together, more or less to the line
Just keep runin' on

Runin' I'm a going home
Whoa, whoa, baby, back where I belong
Back home, sit down and patch my bones
And get back runin' on

Runin'