Soliloquy

The speaker imagines becoming a father and first pictures a son named Bill. He expects to teach him toughness and independence, while insisting that the boy should choose his own kind of work. Then he suddenly realizes the child might be a girl. His playful confidence gives way to tenderness and worry: he imagines protecting her and providing a secure life, even though he admits he has struggled to earn money.

Several images show what the speaker hopes his child will be like. Growing “like a tree,” with feet firmly on the ground, suggests strength, confidence, and resilience. The repeated idea of not being “bossed around” means he wants the child to resist bullies and control. His imagined daughter, “pink and white as peaches and cream,” reflects a softer, idealized picture, while his determination to find money “or steal it” expresses how desperate he feels to care for her.

The song balances affection with comic exaggeration. The speaker’s confident plans for a son reveal assumptions about boys and girls, but his sudden question—what if the child is a girl?—also shows that his feelings are not as settled as he first suggests. He may be imagining rather than making firm promises; the future child has not even been born. Beneath the humor, the central feeling is a powerful wish to love and protect a child, mixed with uncertainty about whether he can provide.