Music Makes the Monkey Jump Around

It’s his song, and it’s as much a part of this World Series as peanuts and Cracker Jack. As 45,000 people jump around at Edison Field, wildly saluting the arrival of the rally monkey on the video board, it’s his catchy music that accompanies the monkey business.

The song: “Jump Around,” performed by House of Pain, a top-10 single in 1992. Everlast, now a noted solo artist, wrote the song during his days with the group.

An artist could not buy better publicity for a song, especially a decade-old song. But Everlast, born in New York, is a lifelong fan of the Yankees. The Angels whipped the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs, and every time Everlast saw the monkey -- and heard his song -- he got hopping mad.

“During that series, I hated the rally monkey,” he said. “I wanted to strangle him.”

With the Yankees dismissed from the playoffs, Everlast can now admit he finds the monkey shtick “hilarious.” He lives in Los Angeles and hopes to attend one of the games in Anaheim this weekend, laughing that a silly old song has become a soundtrack in the World Series.

“I was lucky to write one of those songs that sticks around forever,” he said. “It’s not an emotionally deep song. It’s just good for making people go nutty.”