I think this song has a character who works in a restaurant and who happens to have a monkey on his back. Painkillers or Heroin. Tilting and sliding seems to be a reference to the high of those drugs, and users are indeed tranquil and serene until they run out of supplies.
Someone else commented that this was a reference to a Vietnam vet, which makes less sense to me, but many did wind up with addictions to medications from treatments for injuries and from the psychological trauma of the war.
I think this song has a character who works in a restaurant and who happens to have a monkey on his back. Painkillers or Heroin. Tilting and sliding seems to be a reference to the high of those drugs, and users are indeed tranquil and serene until they run out of supplies.
Someone else commented that this was a reference to a Vietnam vet, which makes less sense to me, but many did wind up with addictions to medications from treatments for injuries and from the psychological trauma of the war.