i put this on my tiktok a few weeks ago when talking about just for tonight but i haven't been able to stop thinking about it (also please ignore the spelling error)
as i said, the whole show is the story of charlie through monty's eyes, but imo this song shows that the best. it's the clearest representation of montagu's entire mentality
like;
the focal point of the song is not the submariners setting out on the life threatening journey across the sea, and eventually coming to realise they are in severe, actual danger, but is instead the drinking, the partying, the dancing; the fun distractions from the deadly reality below.
the submarine is, in general, considerably more important. it is currently the mission after all, the namesake of the entire musical, but that is not what gets the limelight.
the bar crawl does instead. montagu convincing charles to stop worrying about the submariners, and to instead enjoy himself a little. have a break. live it up, and all that.
but, despite montagu's best efforts to sideline it, it is still there. it persists. lingers. the thoughts of his own mortality and how everything is very much on the line. and it is so very jarring.
that's why he doesn't stop talking about it. every other line or so, he mentions how everything could go wrong and they could very well die tomorrow. because he just can't stop thinking about it.
under all those layers of liquor, cigarette smoke and bravado, he is absolutely terrified of what will happen if it does go wrong.
the scene just before the song begins is the first display of montagu unintentionally bringing his "walls of repression" down, so to speak, and finally being a little more vulnerable with charles. the montagu he wanted to present to the team - and in turn, the rest of mi5 - would never have said something like "the world is a mess, charlie. small flashes of joy are all any of us can hope for..."
and so, if this is the first instance of tenderness, and the alcohol is clearly starting to loosen his lips a little and bring his impenetrable guard down, it only makes sense a song in a show through his eyes would mirror that rapid decline?
the song begins with a neat, clean, jazzy rhythm, and montagu clearly taking the lead. it's a very steady pace; not too slow, but no faster than andante. montagu is still managing to hold himself together, present himself as higher, better, wiser than charles, and the only way you'd notice his fear is if you were to peer inside his head.
then, as it goes on - notably, after the first submariner interlude - it starts to unravel. it speeds up in places, odd rhythms unknown to the style are thrown in, sounds unlike the brass of the first few verses begin to make an appearance, and montagu brings up the idea of losing tomorrow once again. charles is also more present in this segment. he has more lines, takes more charge; partakes in the chorus beyond the occasional interjection expressing his discomfort. the facade is starting to slip, montagu is starting to lose control.
come the small verse between the second and third submariner interlude, montagu and charles sing together, with equal parts, and upon reaching the finale - a melting pot of wild techno, blaring horns, and jewell's sea shanty; any kind of specific genre thrown to the wayside as the inebriation prevents any kind of coherence, and the world starts to spin - charles is belting out ewen's motif above the aforementioned shanty, and above montagu + the waiters' backing vocals.
charles has begun to think the way montagu does, and montagu has given up pretending he doesn't think like charles does.
still working on my korean operation mincemeat translation that i'm doing for fun and god, korean is such a fascinating language to translate this show into because the HONORIFICS! different characters using different registers of language with each other! characters changing the registers they use with each other over time as they get closer to each other! signalling personality traits through the language registers used by different characters! i love linguistics so much :D
