BSPH: Butthole Surfers - The Lord is a Monkey

"The Lord is a Monkey" is a song by seminal American band Butthole Surfers. It was first released in 1995 on a "Beavis and Butt-head do America" soundtrack and then in a slightly different form on their 1996' album "Electric Larryland". It is one of the few highlights of the record.

Unlike many other songs on the album, “The Lord is a Monkey” is a no holds barred uncompromising assault on senses. It has more abrasive sound and much more destructive attitude than the rest of songs on an album. In many ways is a throwback to a classic early 1980’s Butthole Surfers dizzy disaster blasting psych-out as heard on “Rembrandt Pussyhorse” and “Locust Abortion Technician”. 

 “Beavis and Butthead”-version is straightforward stream of intensity and menace. It is wrapped in sleazy mist and steadily stomps to a exhilarating climax gradually adding new and new bits to the mix. There is apocalyptic circus pipe organ in the second verse and then guitar infernal laughing contest than slowly morphs into a strangling after the third verse. 

“Electric Larryland”-version is more operatic with several parts jumping on each other. There are detached out there programmed drums and distinct scratching buzzsaw feedbacks throughout the verses. Its biggest difference is in the vacuum cleaner meat mincing blow out bits that blast out of nowhere and turn things inside out and back again. 

The song is excessively cartoony in its composition. Every instrument in the arrangement is too big to fit the frame - everything is over the top. The pieces don’t fit together neatly, there is always something disruptingly sticking out. 

The song’s instrumentation is exquisite. It has massive overwhelming avalanche of drums that goes a long way down in a nasty shepard tone sequence, bass line that disturbingly erroneously tries to keep its place in the composition while out of breath and desperately gasping for air and finally sprawling hydra of guitars that steadily ties a tight knot around the listener’s neck who’s all into upping the internal tension and adding some redness to the cheeks. All while above this the vocals bear ominous thousand yard stare menace of hapless chaos lurking beneath the sounds. 

The crudeness of the arrangement is imposing and that gives the song gleeful demented intensity. Because of that it occasionally rubs the ears the wrong way and it makes the song quite unsettling listen in the headphones. 

From a lyrical standpoint, the song is very curious. Formally, it is stylized as an anti-religious rant. But it quickly derails and go right through the stratosphere with a stream of consciousness cut-up of mashed together buzzwords namedropping images in an increasingly bizarre combinations.

"The Lord is a Monkey" is a kind of a song that erupts upon listener and leaves an elaborate hollowness inside which rings odd and rather backwards for a long afterwards. The music can be best described as a throwing of a butterball in the air and then ferociously bashing it in a “Street Fighter II” style combo and then throwing it off the very long angular staircase and then pinning it to the floor and thrashing senseless into a pulp puree.