I am very impressed by the discussion here! I have learned a lot about this song from reading. I will here just attempt a synthesis of some of the more salient points below, and add a few ideas of my own.
It seems as though there are at least three ways to read this song: first, based on the interview Whitey666 posted; second, based on the explicit meaning of the lyrics; and third, as an analogy for human society.
First, based on the interview, it seems as though Propagadhi is highlighting the disparity between how society treats animals who save humans (from fires, drowning, etc.) and how society treats humans who try to save animals (from factory farming, slaughter, etc.). The animals are "rewarded" for their acts while the humans are seen as terrorists who should be punished. While these treatments are different, they are both produced by the needs of the status quo: animals saving humans reaffirms humans' superior status (or at least perpetuates the survival of the human species) while the animal liberator must be punished for disrupting business, destroying property, and causing disorder.
Second, based on the lyrics: I generally agree with Whitey666 on this one. I even agree with the interpretation of the solo, except I would like to add one thing. Guitar solos, as they made their way into rock from blues/jazz, worked as an expressions of spontaneity - unpredictable, free, and in a sense, chaotic. This particular rippin' solo, I think, expresses the chaos caused by the bomb going off (or to widen the reading, the disorder caused by radical social action). [The ending to this song is the ending of the album, and it seems somewhat optimistic. Propagandhi ends their next album, Potemkin City Limits, with the song "Iteration", which seems to be a much more pessimistic ending. For my interpretation of that ending, see http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858565166/].
Third, reading the song as a metaphor for human society (at least North American/European society). Much of what has already been said can be imported here, but one difference is how Purina as a corporation works: it doles out trivial prizes to obedient, loyal subjects (the pets who save humans), while at the same time mass producing animals in factory farms purely for the purpose of slaughter. Purina praises with one hand and murders with the other, just like the capitalists/the state/colonial power/insert your preferred oppressor. Furthermore, honoring pets creates the illusion that Purina is a "good company" and distracts from their true business model - slaughter.And Todd points out in that interview that "Purina is a company that feed animal parts to other animals." I think the same can be said of the US government (and probably others), that its acts of praise masks its acts of cruelty, and that those in power use people against others to maintain the system (war, wage labor, racism, sexism, neocolonialism, homophobia, etc.). So it is not necessarily the song that is a metaphor for human society, but the description of Purina in the song that is the metaphor (on this reading).
I am very impressed by the discussion here! I have learned a lot about this song from reading. I will here just attempt a synthesis of some of the more salient points below, and add a few ideas of my own.
It seems as though there are at least three ways to read this song: first, based on the interview Whitey666 posted; second, based on the explicit meaning of the lyrics; and third, as an analogy for human society.
First, based on the interview, it seems as though Propagadhi is highlighting the disparity between how society treats animals who save humans (from fires, drowning, etc.) and how society treats humans who try to save animals (from factory farming, slaughter, etc.). The animals are "rewarded" for their acts while the humans are seen as terrorists who should be punished. While these treatments are different, they are both produced by the needs of the status quo: animals saving humans reaffirms humans' superior status (or at least perpetuates the survival of the human species) while the animal liberator must be punished for disrupting business, destroying property, and causing disorder.
Second, based on the lyrics: I generally agree with Whitey666 on this one. I even agree with the interpretation of the solo, except I would like to add one thing. Guitar solos, as they made their way into rock from blues/jazz, worked as an expressions of spontaneity - unpredictable, free, and in a sense, chaotic. This particular rippin' solo, I think, expresses the chaos caused by the bomb going off (or to widen the reading, the disorder caused by radical social action). [The ending to this song is the ending of the album, and it seems somewhat optimistic. Propagandhi ends their next album, Potemkin City Limits, with the song "Iteration", which seems to be a much more pessimistic ending. For my interpretation of that ending, see http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858565166/].
Third, reading the song as a metaphor for human society (at least North American/European society). Much of what has already been said can be imported here, but one difference is how Purina as a corporation works: it doles out trivial prizes to obedient, loyal subjects (the pets who save humans), while at the same time mass producing animals in factory farms purely for the purpose of slaughter. Purina praises with one hand and murders with the other, just like the capitalists/the state/colonial power/insert your preferred oppressor. Furthermore, honoring pets creates the illusion that Purina is a "good company" and distracts from their true business model - slaughter.And Todd points out in that interview that "Purina is a company that feed animal parts to other animals." I think the same can be said of the US government (and probably others), that its acts of praise masks its acts of cruelty, and that those in power use people against others to maintain the system (war, wage labor, racism, sexism, neocolonialism, homophobia, etc.). So it is not necessarily the song that is a metaphor for human society, but the description of Purina in the song that is the metaphor (on this reading).