‘Jungle Love’ is a 1977 song by the Steve Miller Band, featured on the album Book of Dreams. It was written by Lonnie Turner (longtime bass player for the Steve Miller Band) and Greg Douglass (a well-known San Francisco sideman who also played with Hot Tuna and Greg Kihn, among many others). It reached No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.
According to Greg Douglass, Turner and Douglass originally wrote the song for Dave Mason. Turner gave a demo of the record to Miller, who liked it, and the Steve Miller Band (with Douglass playing guitar) recorded it in 30 minutes on the last day of recording for Book of Dreams. Steve Miller explained in the book The Guitar Greats: "Lonnie came into the studio and said he'd written this little tune which he and Greg had recorded in a garage, and gave me a tape of it. That was the first time I'd ever heard Greg Douglass play guitar, and I asked Lonnie who he was and whether he was in town. They came to the studio the next day and we recorded the song in 45 minutes. I sang it, and that was it – all on the record, and then Greg joined the band for a couple of years. He's a really good guitar player."
Cash Box called it "a hard-rocking, energetic tune" and said that "the vocal here is delivered with a shout, but carefully orchestrated instruments, especially the organ, make a clear statement of each melodic hook." Record World called it an "up-beat, well-produced single-with a synthesizer opening."
‘Jungle Love’ has been used on multiple occasions in the television series Everybody Loves Raymond. It was featured on the season 6 episode "Snow Day", which aired January 14, 2002: at the end, all the characters, except Marie and Frank, chaotically danced to the song. The song was then used as the opening credits theme music in seasons 7-9.
Label – Capitol
Songwriters – Lonnie Turner, Greg Douglass
Producer – Steve Miller
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]I met you on somebody's island
You thought you had known me before
I brought you a crate of papaya
They waited all night by your door
You probably wouldn't remember
I probably couldn't forget
Jungle love in the surf in the pouring rain
Everything's better when wet
[Chorus]
Jungle love, it's driving me mad
It's making me crazy
Jungle love, it's driving me mad
It's making me crazy
[Verse 2]
But lately, you live in the jungle
I never see you alone
But we need some definite answers
So I thought I would write you a poem
The question to everyone's answer
Is usually asked from within
But the patterns of the rain
And the truth they contain
Have written my life on your skin
[Chorus]
Jungle love, it's driving me mad
It's making me crazy, crazy
Jungle love, it's driving me mad
It's making me crazy
[Verse 3]
You treat me like I was your ocean
You swim in my blood when it's warm
My cycles of circular motion
Protect you and keep you from harm
You live in a world of illusion
Where everything's peaches and cream
We all face a scarlet conclusion
But we spend our time in a dream
[Chorus]
Jungle love, it's driving me mad
It's making me crazy, crazy
Jungle love, it's driving me mad
It's making me crazy, crazy
[Chorus]
Jungle love, it's driving me mad
It's making me crazy, crazy
Jungle love, it's driving me mad
It's making me crazy