VLVL2 (15): "Like a Meat Loaf" (Lyric Analysis)

[Tim Strzechowski]

The song lyrics span pp. 363 - 64 of Vineland.

Are they absurdist lyrics a la "I Am The Walrus," or is there something to be understood from this song?  More importantly, how does this song enhance our understanding of the scene?

The first verse establishes the two primary similes that will be developed throughout the rest of the song: "Like a meat loaf, in a lunch-box, / Like monkeys in, a grave" the speaker (an army grunt?) relates events of his tour of duty in Vietnam. In this stanza the speaker suggests a somewhat spiritual reason behind his military presence ("We went among the Vietnamese, / Some souls for us to save. . . ."), yet the souls are equated with the "scufflin' " monkeys whose irratic behavior is caused by hunger.

Question: to whom does "your" refer in the final line of the first verse (p. 363.24)?

The second verse continues the tale, although the speaker indicates that in the process "most times, the things, we seen, we didt- / 'N want to see much more than once," suggesting the horrors of the military search.  Interestingly, while he "Sometimes [finds] a bunch of them" (monkeys? Vietnamese?), he states that "Sometimes, we missed a few."  "Missed" can carry a double meaning -- both visual and combative -- and is perhaps the reason why they didn't want to see things "much more than once."  Yet the verse concludes with the inversion of the original simile: "Like the graveyard full of meat loaf, / And monkeys for your lunch. . . ."  The twisting of the original comparison further enhances the frustrated efforts and horrific scenes suggested by the speaker in this verse.

By the final verse, time has become blurred in this search process (is it 'sixty-eight or 'sixty-nine?), and "sometimes it felt like neither one, and other / Times it felt like both."  The purpose of the mission (to "save souls" among the Vietnamese) has led to extensive travel yet frustrated efforts, and the further convolution of the similes at the conclusion of the verse parallel how this mission has come to naught (mixing food with animal with graveyard once more).

In the final verse, note the insertion of lively Thanatoid response after two sexual references (applause and cheers).  Why?

Can this be considered, in any way, a protest song?  Do the lyrics support that interpretation, despite their absurdity and humor?  Does the Appalachian melody and instrumentation (very traditional and harmonious) add to the irony of this song?

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