Ray Davies wrote this song about a man who is unhappy with the modern world. Looking to escape the problems caused by his fellow humans, he plans a journey away from home, where he can live like an "apeman." Escape from modern-day society is a theme prevalent in many of Ray Davies' other songs, both solo and with The Kinks.
Ray Davies had to re-dub the line "the air pollution is a-fogging up my eyes" for the radio, and for their November 1970 performance on Top Of The Pops, because it sounded too much like "the air pollution is 'a f---ing' up my eyes." The Kinks had the same situation with their previous single, "Lola" where Ray had to replace the line "Where you drink champagne and it tastes just Coca-Cola" with "Cherry cola" for airplay.
John Gosling (aka "The Baptist") wore a gorilla outfit while sitting behind his keyboards during the Kinks' Top of the Pops performance of this song.
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