Smiling Swine
I woke alone, put on my coat, ran for the door
Down the stairs, and made it to the second floor
Stopped by the squeaky wheel, a smiling swine
Stunned by the sight and fearing what’s behind
“Hey there,” he pleasantly began
“Good day,” he telescoped his hand
“Is there a service I can possibly propose?
Ms. Leading seems to me to be a proper butterfly”
“Then I suggest you pack your bags and learn to drive”
Tucked in my shirt, and finally made my way outside
He broke the scene, a Machiavellian dandelion
Blissfully plucked from the bloom of another
But all the while
She was still fresh in my mind
And though this might be premature
But ambition strikes just when the mood is right
The mood is right
Now all the while, now all the while
She is still fresh in my mind, she’s fresh in my mind
And though it might sound premature
But ambition strikes just when the mood is right
The mood is right
Oh
Now all the while, now all the while
She is still stuck in my mind, she’s stuck in my mind
And though it might sound premature, oh
But ambition strikes me when the mood is right, the mood is right
And the mood is right, the mood is right
Oh
Now all the while, now all the while
She is still stuck in my mind, she’s stuck in my mind
And though it might sound premature
But ambition strikes me when the mood is right, the mood is right
And the mood is right, oh
Now all the while, now all the while
She is still stuck in my mind, still stuck in my mind
And though it might sound premature, oh
But ambition strikes me when the mood is right, when the mood is right
And the mood is right, and the mood is right
Now all the while, now all the while
She is still stuck in my mind, she’s stuck in my mind
And though it might sound premature, oh
But ambition strikes me when the mood is right, when the mood is right
And the mood is right
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight
One, two, three, four
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight
One, two, three, four
One, two, three, four
🌲🌲🌲
What happens?
Hunter wakes up in Ms Leading’s room the morning after, but Ms Leading is absent. As he goes to depart the Dime, he is intercepted by the Pimp, who offers Hunter a job as Ms Leading’s chauffeur. Understanding that this will help him remain close to Ms Leading, Hunter accepts the job and pursues a relationship with her.
What’s in a name?
‘Smiling Swine’ — this is the Pimp, who happily takes advantage of Hunter’s attachment to Ms Leading. Hunter’s head is in the clouds through this whole song, but the image of the Pimp grinning grounds us, the audience, with the reality that things are not wonderful.
Whose viewpoint?
Hunter.
🌲🌲🌲
>0:00 – 0:12 Instrumental
It’s the morning (day? I get the feeling Hunter slept in) after, and we’re still in Ms Leading’s room at the Dime! Daylight is shining in through the window, rousing Hunter…
>I woke alone, put on my coat, ran for the door / Down the stairs, and made it to the second floor
Hunter wakes up, still in a wonderful mood after his night with Ms Leading. She’s not here, though, and Hunter runs, eager to find where she’s gone.
We get some more description of the building of the Dime — it has at least three stories, and Ms Leading’s room is on the third or higher. Pretty big place.
>Stopped by the squeaky wheel, a smiling swine / Stunned by the sight and fearing what’s behind
On his way down, Hunter encounters something that takes him aback for how wrong and strange it is — a man in a pig mask, smiling. This is TP&P, wearing the mask that cloaks his identity when he is in his Pimp guise. That he’s chosen a pig for his face says he’s aware of his own greed and proud to celebrate it. He might also be literally overweight? Unsure on that.
Anyway, seeing him stuns Hunter. He is instantly put on guard, sensing that this is not a good character. Reprise of this line from 1878 works to convey what Hunter’s feeling, but also reminds that the darkness Hunter feared back then, and the antagonist of this story, is right here in front of him.
>”Hey there,” he pleasantly began / “Good day,” he telescoped his hand
And there goes TP&P, being all welcoming and friendly, this time, to Hunter. Mostly wanted to isolate this line to say how much I love the verb choice of ‘telescoped’ here.
>”Is there a service I can possibly propose?” / “Ms. Leading seems to me to be a proper butterfly”
The Pimp asks Hunter if he needs help with anything, since he seems lost. Hunter responds that he’s looking for Ms Leading, who he figures to be an upper-class socialite given how busy she is visiting people, and now that he has overslept and missed her, he is unsure how to find time with her again.
Interesting that the Pimp is here to intercept Hunter with the upcoming offer — it seems he knew in advance that Hunter had become so attached to Ms Leading, and also knew that Hunter hadn’t realised Ms Leading is a prostitute. I can imagine him sussing this out with good intuition just by talking to Hunter in this hallway, but I wonder if Ms Leading told the Pimp anything (or even was the one to give him the ‘hire a driver’ idea? Either way she left this guy in her room overnight) before she left for work.
>”Then I suggest you pack your bags and learn to drive”
Hunter is troubled to learn of Ms Leading’s busy schedule, but the Pimp assures Hunter he can still find time to see Ms Leading — a lot of it — if he accepts a job as Ms Leading’s chauffeur. This investment works fine for the Pimp, since the quicker Ms Leading can get to an appointment, the more appointments she can have in a day.
He can probably also smell Hunter’s naivety and see that he’s easily manipulated, which appeals in TP&P’s workforce. Hey hey hey kid, hey kid, get a job.
>Tucked in my shirt, and finally made my way outside
Self-explanatory, just including it to note…
>He broke the scene, a Machiavellian dandelion / Blissfully plucked from the bloom of another
…that the Pimp joined Hunter and chatted with him all along the walk downstairs and out of the Dime. Whatever dialogue ensued, it seems it was enough to give Hunter an accurate read of the Pimp’s character: charming, but invasive, manipulative, and mercenary.
‘Machiavellian dandelion’ is an incredible line, wow. Physically, it gives the image of how smoothly he departs Hunter, as if whisked away on the wind. Symbolically, it’s a great description of what he is to Hunter: a fanciful but pernicious weed, shoving himself in Hunter’s life because of his relationship with Ms Leading.
Either way, there’s definitely reason to doubt any job offered by this man, and Hunter does pause to consider before…
>But all the while / She was still fresh in my mind / And though this might be premature / But ambition strikes just when the mood is right / The mood is right
…nope nevermind, he doesn’t do that at all actually. Hunter’s infatuation with Ms Leading, and desire to be with her more, pushes whatever wariness he had aside and he signs up for the job immediately.
This happy chorus repeats incessantly — both showing how fixated Hunter is on Ms Leading, but also works as a kind of montage of him going through all these steps to get hired and transition into a life as Ms Leading’s driver. Accepting the job, getting his license, his first day of work, his first paycheck, getting his own place, going official with Ms Leading, dating, falling into the routine of it, etc etc etc, all the while overjoyed that he gets to spend this time with Ms Leading. He’s deeply in love with her.
>2:19 – 3:05 Instrumental
Man, listen to him floating on cloud nine. This might be him reuniting with Ms Leading as her driver, and/or them deciding to make themselves official (and/or another night together)?
>One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…
Hunter’s dancing, now! Though he’s putting a lot into it, being genuine, and enjoying himself, this is our reminder that Hunter’s efforts amount to a futile performance that inherently conflicts with its stated goal. That is, we know that Ms Leading is a prostitute, and Hunter is facilitating her work as a prostitute, while Hunter doesn’t, and there’s going to be inevitable problems with this happy life as Ms Leading’s lover once the reality of her job comes to the fore.
At some point over these repetitions, Hunter and Ms Leading properly become boyfriend and girlfriend, with Hunter under the impression that he’s Ms Leading’s single dedicated partner.
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