The solo is poignant on its own merits, but the three additional elements that made it such a sledgehammer back in the day are:
1). It's an imaginary solo...they've already taken away Joe's means of playing real music,
2). It's his last solo...he won't even be imagining solos after this, and
3). The Central Scrutinizer's obvious glee that Joe has been beaten and broken.
Zappa really understood politics...whether they came from Washington or behind closed doors in a record company.
I remember reading an interview with Zappa at the time of the Part II & III release, and he played "Watermelon" for the writer conducting the interview. At the end of the track, he was obviously pleased with his work and made a comment to that effect, a very rare statement from a man who seldom, if ever, "rated" his own efforts. He just put them out into the marketplace. But with "Watermelon," he knew he'd hit a new level.
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