Big Lizard
The Dead Milkmen Lyrics

The Dead Milkmen's song "Big Lizard in my Backyard" tells the story of a man who buys a big lizard for only a dollar fifty. At first, he's excited and thinks it's neat, but he quickly discovers that he can't afford to feed it. The lizard then begins to cause trouble by busting down the neighbor's door, and the man realizes that he needs to get rid of it.

The second verse is where the song takes on a more serious and political tone. The man is woken up by the sound of dynamite and finds an army man who tells him that they have to blow up things they don't understand. This line is a reference to the US military's involvement in Central America in the 1980s, specifically in El Salvador, where the US-backed government was fighting against leftist guerillas. The big lizard in this song is meant to symbolize the US government's involvement in these conflicts and the destruction it caused.

The song ends with the man relieved that the lizard is gone, but the political message is clear. The Dead Milkmen are criticizing US foreign policy and the government's tendency to get involved in conflicts they don't fully understand.