Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 2, 2026

Code Monkey (song)

"Code Monkey" is a song by Jonathan Coulton, released on 14 April 2006 and part of his album Thing a Week Three released in December 2006.

Last revised
Jun 2, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
188 w
Citations
5
Source
"Code Monkey"
Song by Jonathan Coulton
from the album Thing a Week Three
ReleasedApril 14, 2006 (2006-04-14)
RecordedApril 2006
Length3:10
LabelSelf-released
SongwriterJonathan Coulton
ProducerJonathan Coulton

"Code Monkey" is a song by Jonathan Coulton, released on 14 April 20061 and part of his album Thing a Week Three released in December 2006.

Composition

"Code Monkey" is about a computer programmer who thinks in ape-like terms, and has been described as a "rocking anthem about dead-end programming jobs."2 The song was accidentally mastered and released in mono on the album Thing a Week Three. Jonathan Coulton later released the song in stereo for his compilation album JoCo Looks Back.3

Reception

The song is one of Coulton's most popular songs4 and has since been downloaded over one million times.5

References

References

  1. "Thing a Week 29 – Code Monkey"
  2. Clive Thompson. "Sex, Drugs and Updating Your Blog". The New York Times, 5/13/2011.
  3. Coulton, Jonathan (October 10, 2008). "Funny Story". JonathanCoulton.com. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  4. "Jonathan Coulton Answers Your Questions". Slashdot, 5/31/2011.
  5. (No author.) "Pop songs based on office life are missing from musical history," The Times (United Kingdom), Section: Features, What else happened, pg. 2 – Career, June 7, 2007.