I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade here, but this song is quite definitely NOT about the US-Vietnam War, or at least, I'm sure Ian Anderson never had that idea in mind. For starters, Tull is a British band and the UK were not involved in that war so it seems like an unlikely topic to choose, especially given the Brit-focus of most Tull lyrics. Not everything revolves around the good ol' US of A, folks.
As various commenters have suggested, this is pretty transparently an allegory for nightlife in the big city (the concrete jungle). The monkeys in their dark tents (and probably the kittens mentioned later) are the innocent members of the urban populace who stay at home at night, while the wilder animals (lions and tigers) hang out in pubs or nightclubs (waterholes) lurking in shadows at night in search of a bit of action. These wild ones are "fast but lazy", as they spend their days asleep while the good people of the city work, and come out at night to take what they can.
The singer self-identifies as one of these wild types, part of a gang ("the boys") who are clearly a bit on the scary side ("is it so frightening to have me at your shoulder?"). The song concludes with a reflection on the apparently dichotomous nature of God ("He"), who has made both snakes and kittens (a clear allusion to Blake's "Tyger, Tyger", as somebody else here noted), which in turn is a reflection of the dichotomous nature of the city (pretty and ordered by day, wild and dangerous by night).
And finally, "bungle" is certainly not a made up word, but perhaps it's more common to UK English than US English. It refers to make a clumsy mess of things, and in the song I think it alludes to the clumsy, semi-destructive behaviour of the wild denizens of the urban nightlife, which, according to Mr. Anderson, "is alright by me".
I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade here, but this song is quite definitely NOT about the US-Vietnam War, or at least, I'm sure Ian Anderson never had that idea in mind. For starters, Tull is a British band and the UK were not involved in that war so it seems like an unlikely topic to choose, especially given the Brit-focus of most Tull lyrics. Not everything revolves around the good ol' US of A, folks.
As various commenters have suggested, this is pretty transparently an allegory for nightlife in the big city (the concrete jungle). The monkeys in their dark tents (and probably the kittens mentioned later) are the innocent members of the urban populace who stay at home at night, while the wilder animals (lions and tigers) hang out in pubs or nightclubs (waterholes) lurking in shadows at night in search of a bit of action. These wild ones are "fast but lazy", as they spend their days asleep while the good people of the city work, and come out at night to take what they can.
The singer self-identifies as one of these wild types, part of a gang ("the boys") who are clearly a bit on the scary side ("is it so frightening to have me at your shoulder?"). The song concludes with a reflection on the apparently dichotomous nature of God ("He"), who has made both snakes and kittens (a clear allusion to Blake's "Tyger, Tyger", as somebody else here noted), which in turn is a reflection of the dichotomous nature of the city (pretty and ordered by day, wild and dangerous by night).
And finally, "bungle" is certainly not a made up word, but perhaps it's more common to UK English than US English. It refers to make a clumsy mess of things, and in the song I think it alludes to the clumsy, semi-destructive behaviour of the wild denizens of the urban nightlife, which, according to Mr. Anderson, "is alright by me".