It's a Jungle Out There (song)

"It's a Jungle Out There" is a song written by Randy Newman, and used as the theme song for the TV series Monk starting in its second season. In 2004, it won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music.

The lyrics allude to Monk's plethora of fears and warn that some degree of cautiousness and attention is necessary to stay alive, given everyday life's many dangers.

Snoop Dogg covered this song for the season 6 episode "Mr. Monk and the Rapper," in which he also played a guest role as a rapper accused of murder, Murderuss.

Although the track remained consistent, the clips used in the title sequence changed over the course of the series. There are hence three different versions of "It's a Jungle Out There":

• The first version, used from "Mr. Monk Goes Back to School" at the start of season 2 through "Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine" halfway through season 3. This version was used in approximately 25 episodes.
• The shorter second version, used in the second half of season 3 and all of season 4, from "Mr. Monk and the Red Herring" (season 3) through "Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty" (season 4). This version was introduced because Bitty Schram quit her role as Sharona Fleming and was replaced by Traylor Howard as Natalie Teeger, necessitating the removal of the title sequence's clips featuring Sharona. This version was used in approximately 23 episodes and replaced several season 1 and season 2 clips with clips from other season 2 and season 3 episodes.
• The third and final version was used starting in season 5 with the episode "Mr. Monk and the Actor" and through the series finale. This version was used for approximately 64 episodes, and brought in clips from season 4 and season 5 episodes.

Randy Newman also wrote a new song for the final episode, "Mr. Monk and the End", entitled "When I'm Gone". The song won the 2010 Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.

The song has yet to be released on CD or to download.