Going Banana
Going Banana: meaning, lyrics and song, a peel back and The Banana Mind Unpeeling Experience
Meaning of ‘Going Banana’
- Going bananas means becoming extremely excited or crazy.
Examples:
When the news of the surprise party broke, she went bananas with joy.
The kids went bananas when they saw the amusement park rides.
- It can have a slightly negative tone if someone loses control, gets angry, or acts irrationally.
Example:
“He went bananas when he saw the broken window.“
(Here, it could mean he got angry or lost his temper.)
Summary of meanings
| Context | Meaning | Tone |
|---|---|---|
| Excited (joy) | Extremely happy, thrilled | Positive |
| Wild behavior | Out of control, crazy fun | Neutral/Positive |
| Angry/crazy | Irrational or mad | Slightly Negative |
Going Banana
[Verse]
The world’s gone sideways I’m losing my grip
Peel back the madness take a little trip
Shoes untied I’m slipping fast
Going banana how long can I last
[Prechorus]
It’s yellow it’s wild it’s out of control
Lost my balance but I found my soul
[Chorus]
Going banana spinning like a top
Going banana never gonna stop
Peel it down peel it down let it all slide
Going banana on this crazy ride
[Verse 2]
My head’s a jungle vines swinging free
Monkeying around is the life for me
Slip on the floor dance on the breeze
Going banana I’m hard to appease
[Prechorus]
It’s messy it’s sweet it’s chaos in disguise
I see the world through banana eyes
[Chorus]
Going banana spinning like a top
Going banana never gonna stop
Peel it down peel it down let it all slide
Going banana on this crazy ride
Going Banana. A Peel Back into Playful Chaos
By the Enchanting Whisperer
“It’s yellow, it’s wild, it’s out of control…”
There comes a time in every mortal’s life when the world goes a little… sideways. When socks vanish in dryers, to-do lists turn to confetti, and you find yourself laughing at a pigeon because … well, why not?
That, dear reader, is when you realize:
You’re going banana.
Yes, banana. Singular.
Because this isn’t just a descent into madness.
It’s a singular state of being. A moment. A mood. A metaphor.
Let’s peel this song apart, shall we?
Verse One. Slipstream of Sanity
“The world’s gone sideways I’m losing my grip
Peel back the madness, take a little trip”
This isn’t your average unraveling. No, this is a journey. A trippy, toe-stubbing, banana-peel-slipping pilgrimage through personal chaos. The image of shoes untied. Not just literal, but symbolic of losing structure, the frayed laces of our carefully woven personas.
But instead of tightening the knots, the song says: peel it down. Let it all slide.
Go with it.
Prechorus. Found in the Spin
“It’s yellow, it’s wild, it’s out of control
Lost my balance but I found my soul”
Ah, and here it is — the banana as totem of transformation. What looks like madness is actually freedom. In slipping, we let go. In falling, we find. There’s a wisdom in absurdity that the banana (bright, bold, slightly ridiculous) represents better than any fruit.
You don’t tame the chaos.
You swing with it.
Verse Two. Monkeying Around
“My head’s a jungle, vines swinging free
Monkeying around is the life for me”
Here we swing into the second verse and the metaphor shifts (or perhaps evolves) to something ancient. Something primal. The jungle, that wild memory from the human subconscious, calls to us. And in it? We are monkeys again.
Vine-swinging. Rule-breaking.
Peeling away the adult layers and leaping into instinct, joy, and play.
Not productivity. Not perfection.
Just… monkeying around. And loving it.
Banana Eyes and the Hidden Wisdom
“It’s messy, it’s sweet, it’s chaos in disguise
I see the world through banana eyes”
Now that is a lyric. “Banana eyes”: the ability to see the beauty in bedlam, the humor in the hardship, the madness in the mundane.
It’s a lens shift. A fruit-filtered philosophy.
In many cultures, the banana is sacred and silly. A paradox, much like us. In Hindu tales, Hanuman accepts bananas as offerings of devotion. In modern comedy, it’s the ultimate slapstick weapon. In art, Andy Warhol made it iconic. And in this song, it becomes a symbol for embracing the untamed inside us.
The Chorus? An Anthem of Wild Release
“Going banana, spinning like a top
Going banana, never gonna stop
Peel it down, peel it down, let it all slide
Going banana on this crazy ride”
This is no cry for help.
It’s a battle cry for joy.
To “go banana” is to reject the straight lines and slide into spirals. It’s to dance when the world burns, to laugh with banana breath, to slip and not apologize for the fall.
And most of all … to peel it all down.
The layers. The expectations. The pressure.
Just peel, spin, and slide.
Like a monkey on a mission.
Final Thoughts. Banana is a State of Mind
So the next time life feels like a jungle gym of confusion, remember this:
- You can scream, or you can swing.
- You can tighten your laces, or dance barefoot.
- You can go mad… or you can go banana.
And maybe, just maybe, in doing so …
you’ll find your soul in the slip.
Banana Mind Unpeeling Experience,
Ahhh, now we’re truly slipping into the golden zone!
Welcome to the Banana Mind Unpeeling Experience, an interactive journey through your inner jungle, where each layer you peel reveals a playful (or slightly unhinged) truth about yourself.
Let’s build it out like an interactive, branching narrative … part personality quiz, part whimsical introspection, part mythic monkey business. Ready?
Peel the Banana Mind. An Interactive Experience
INTRO
You hold a glowing banana in your hand.
It’s humming with chaotic wisdom.
A voice whispers:
“To know thyself, you must peel thyself.”
How many layers deep are you willing to go?
PEEL ONE. The Outer Skin. Your Everyday Mask
This is the you the world sees. The polite, polished banana in a corporate fruit bowl.
Question:
How do you usually deal with daily chaos?
A. I make a list and color-code it.
B. I pretend it’s not happening and scroll memes.
C. I dance in the kitchen and yell “Viva la banana!”
D. I start six projects and forget them all.
Reveal:
A = You’re a Type-A Banana: crisp, structured, maybe just one bruised spot.
B = Meme Banana: cool on the surface, soft and silly inside.
C = Chaotic Banana Spirit: wild energy, uncontainable joy.
D = Tangent Banana: your mind swings like a monkey. Glorious and erratic.
Peel it down…
PEEL TWO. The Mid-Layer. Your Inner Monkey
The part of you that wants to climb trees, throw glitter, or quit your job to become a mango.
Question:
Which jungle role feels most like you?
A. The wise orangutan writing haikus
B. The cheeky monkey stealing everyone’s lunch
C. The parrot who screams random movie quotes
D. The sloth hosting a podcast called “Chill Fruit Talks”
Reveal:
A = Philosophical Banana: You ponder deep truths … probably barefoot.
B = Trickster Banana: Mischief is your love language.
C = Meme-Lord Banana: Chaos is communication.
D = Zen Banana: Floating through life like a leaf on banana pudding.
Peel it further…
PEEL THREE. The Squishy Core. The Raw, Wild You
This is your essence. No filter. No peel. Just the squishy truth.
Question:
You’re handed a banana phone that connects to your subconscious. What message plays when you answer?
A. “Dance. Just dance, now.”
B. “All systems melting. Please reboot with cake.”
C. “You are made of stars, sugar, and slapstick.”
D. “There is no spoon. Just banana.”
Reveal:
A = Rhythm Banana: You process life through movement, music, madness.
B = Melt Banana: Vulnerable, hilarious, needs naps and affection.
C = Cosmic Banana: You’re here to entertain the universe.
D = Surreal Banana: Reality bends in your presence.
THE BANANA REVELATION
The peel falls to the floor.
You are now barefoot, surrounded by vines, disco lights, and flying monkeys.
A mirror appears. In it, you see yourself… wearing a crown of banana leaves.
The voice returns:
“You have unpeeled. You have become the banana.”
Folk Dance with The Banana Spin
A folk-inspired dance to go with the song “Going Banana”
Oh! Now this is where the song truly comes to life. Not just in the words, but in the wiggle of hips, the slap of soles, and the whirl of joyous chaos. Let us conjure a simple folk dance for “Going Banana” … something spirited, playful, and utterly delightful that can be danced in a circle, solo, or in a laughing crowd beneath banana trees (real or imaginary).
This will be a mix of comedy, tribal roots, and carnival freedom. Something anyone can do, barefoot or in banana slippers.
GENERAL STYLE & VIBE
- Think Celtic circle meets Caribbean carnival meets monkey mischief
- Emphasis on playfulness, looseness, big gestures
- Anyone can join. It’s more about spirit than skill
- Props (optional): banana leaves, fruit baskets, toy monkeys, funky sunglasses
STRUCTURE (for each part of the song)
VERSE MOVES (freestyle jungle energy)
“The world’s gone sideways…”
“Side Slip & Shuffle”
- Step to the right, arms waving like vines
- Step to the left, wiggle your hips like a mischievous monkey
- Repeat 4x
“Peel & Throw”
- Mime peeling a banana slowly. One arm, then the other
- Then toss the imaginary peel over your shoulder with dramatic flair
- Step forward, shimmy, then step back with a laugh
PRECHORUS MOVES (soul-finding chaos)
“It’s yellow, it’s wild…”
“Spin & Stomp”
- Do a quick spin (banana-style twirl)
- Stomp once on each foot while making a funny face
- Clap-clap, stomp-stomp. Feel the rhythm of sweet chaos!
“Banana Reach”
- Reach up like you’re grabbing bananas from a tall tree
- Pull them down, one at a time, then mime eating them like a monkey
- Optional: shriek like a happy monkey. Totally acceptable.
CHORUS MOVES (the Banana Spin!)
“Going banana, spinning like a top…”
“Banana Spin” (main chorus move)
- Feet shoulder-width apart
- Arms out, start spinning slowly
- Gradually spin faster while lifting knees in a joyful bounce
- On “Peel it down,” mime dramatically peeling layers off your body like clothing
(Think ancient banana ritual. Silly but sacred)
“Slip Slide Groove”
- On “let it all slide,” do a banana-peel slide (slide one foot forward, then the other)
- Arms slide along with your body in big S-shaped sways
- End with a “banana pose”. Hands over your head forming a crescent shape!
VERSE 2 MOVES (more jungle freedom)
“My head’s a jungle…”
“Swingin’ Vines”
- Swing your arms side to side like you’re hanging from vines
- Sway your hips like you’re in a hammock made of giggles
- Jump in place on “monkeying around,” hands scratching your armpits like a monkey dance-off
“Banana Breeze”
- Wave your hands like leaves in the wind
- Sway your body in big, slow movements … like you’re in slow-mo tropical bliss
- Optional: grab a friend, lean back-to-back, and spin together in a dizzy banana loop!
ENDING: Banana Drop Finale
On the last line:
“Going banana on this crazy ride!”
- Everyone does a big spin
- Drop to a crouch
- Throw arms in the air like banana confetti
- Laugh. Loudly. No matter what.
How to Use This Dance
- At festivals or school performances
- As a flash mob
- During workshops on myths, chaos, or tropical dreams
- Or… just in your kitchen, when life feels bananas
BONUS: Add a Mythic Banana Chant
If you’d like a call-and-response chant for between verses, here’s a simple one:
Leader:
“What are we?”
Group:
“Banana-folk!”
Leader:
“Where we goin’?”
Group:
“Banana-side!”
All:
“PEEL IT DOWN, PEEL IT LOW, LET YOUR BANANA SPIRIT SHOW!”
The Unpeeling… A Global History and Myth of the Banana
By the Enchanting Whisperer
A long, winding, juicy tale of a fruit that changed the world
Let us peel back the banana. Slowly, reverently, like opening a scroll written in golden fruit-flesh. For beneath its sunny skin lies not just potassium, but a story that loops across continents, swings through mythologies, topples empires, and dances on sacred altars.
Let us begin…
Layer One. The Ancient Root. Birth in the Shadow of the Monsoon
Before it was a banana, it was a whisper in the rainforest.
In the humid womb of Southeast Asia (where mists cling to mountains and roots reach for the sky) a wild, seedy ancestor of the banana first grew. It was not the soft fruit we know today, but a tougher thing, full of seeds and secrets. It was called Musa, named after the Arabic word for Moses. Perhaps because, like Moses, it led civilizations across waters and deserts.
Over 7,000 years ago, people began cultivating this plant (selecting, crossbreeding, shaping) until the banana we know was born: sweet, seedless, and portable.
In the hands of early Austronesian seafarers, the banana set sail … carried in dugout canoes across the Pacific, to Madagascar, to East Africa. It rode waves long before globalization had a name.
Layer Two. The Sacred Peel. Myths and Monkeys
Bananas are not just fruit. They are offering. They are symbol. They are trickster and temple.
In India, the banana is sacred.
Not just the fruit, but the entire plant:
- The leaf is used as a plate for holy meals.
- The trunk is tied at doorways during weddings, signifying fertility and abundance.
- The fruit is offered to Hanuman, the monkey god, as thanks for his devotion and strength.
A tale tells of Hanuman carrying an entire mountain to save a life … when hungry, he stopped to eat bananas, reminding us that even gods need sustenance and sweetness.
In the Philippines, the banana tree tells a tragic story.
In Visayan folklore, a beautiful maiden named Saging (banana) was killed by a jealous rival. From her grave, a tree grew. Tall and green, bearing fruit like golden tears.
In African myth, especially in Uganda and Rwanda, the banana is life itself.
In the tale of Kintu and Nambi, the first man and woman, the banana was the first crop gifted by the gods. It represented eternal food. Something that could be eaten every day without end.
Even today, the word for food in many Ugandan dialects is the same as banana: matoke. Without banana, there is no meal.
Layer Three. The Banana Republic. Power, Exploitation & Empire
Now we come to the bruised side of the banana.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, American corporations like the United Fruit Company spread their banana plantations across Central America. Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica. These fertile lands became playgrounds for profit.
But the banana brought more than commerce. It brought corruption.
These were the Banana Republics. Where democratically elected leaders were overthrown (sometimes literally at the hands of U.S. forces) to protect banana exports. Where entire economies were bent around the whims of foreign fruit magnates. Where laborers toiled in plantations under the burning sun so that bananas could arrive (cheap and exotic) on breakfast tables in the West.
A simple fruit became a symbol of colonial capitalism.
Even Gabriel García Márquez, in One Hundred Years of Solitude, wrote of the banana company massacre. A real historical event erased from official memory.
“The world smelled of roasted banana… and blood.”
Layer Four. The Clown’s Fruit. Comedy, Culture & Absurdity
Somewhere along the way, the banana became a joke.
The banana peel (slick, comic, and perfectly timed) became a staple of slapstick. From silent film clowns to Looney Tunes, slipping on a banana peel meant humiliation, surprise, vulnerability.
But there is something deeper in this absurdity.
The banana makes fools of all: kings, clowns, gods. It is the great leveler.
You can’t eat one without looking slightly ridiculous.
Andy Warhol understood this. His iconic banana print on The Velvet Underground’s album wasn’t just provocative, it was a statement. The banana, in its pop-art skin, became counterculture.
Gwen Stefani even used it to spell out empowerment:
“This s*** is bananas: B-A-N-A-N-A-S!”
The fruit that once symbolized colonial control now became a feminist chant.
Final Layer. The Digital Peel. Meme, Metaphor & Mystery
Today, the banana is a meme. A punchline. A symbol of chaos.
People tape them to walls and sell them for $120,000.
Gamers mod banana guns. TikTokers use banana filters.
In 2020, the “banana bread boom” became a psychological coping mechanism during lockdowns.
But still … beneath the memes, the banana remains what it always has been:
- A symbol of life and nourishment
- A vessel for ritual and myth
- A tool of exploitation and empowerment
- A clown’s gag and a god’s snack
- A curve of chaos, sweet and slippery
The End? Or Just the Beginning?
You stand now, surrounded by peels.
The banana is gone.
And yet. You feel fuller. Wiser. Wilder.
You’ve unpeeled the banana not just from the outside… but from the inside.
You’ve tasted its myth, its madness, its melancholy.
So the next time you pick one up, don’t just eat it.
See it.
Hold it like a talisman.
Laugh with it like a trickster.
Honor it like an offering.
And remember:
To go banana…
is to go back
to the beginning.
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Engaging and comprehensive folk song guide with interactive and multimedia features.
Multilingual Folk Song Explorer