Mad The Swine

Mad the swine is referencing the time when a heard of pigs were given the evil spirits of a possessed man. At that time they all went nuts and ran into the river and drowned. The man was healed and hence the title mad the swine.

Beyond that and as a Christain it illustrates just how Jesus can work within a life to save us and the many means by which he will and can rid us of our evils...and we've many

I would argue that Freddie meant to say that the Pharisees and most of the Jews thought Jesus as crazy, what with associating with thieves and whores. Second they thought Jesus to be arrogant because he was clever and humiliated the Pharisees in their own trap questions, and also because he proclaimed himself the son of God; hence they thought him to be swine, a pretty nasty insult considering pigs are taboo in Jewish culture. And the line "I guess I'm mad the swine" could be referencing Jesus' indifference to the pharisees insults.

also this song could be referring to Jesus exorcising the legions (of demons) from the crazy man living in the cave. he cast the legion into a herd of wild pigs, and they all ran in madness and drown themselves. cant remember what book and verse this is.

I personally dont think Freddie wrote this as an anti-Christian attack, just another perspective I suppose.

Sounds like Jesus comeing back as a pig... Kinda weird...

Correction to lyrics: "I woke up on the water, just as before" is actually "I'll walk upon the water, just as before" And, "You're all the same we've been in life" might (just might) be: "You're all the same within his eyes".

Great song. Imagine the controversy if it was relised today, though.

Yeah, I think the lyric is definitely "You're all the same within his eyes"...it makes more sense and it rhymes! I have another correction to add: "Let me take you to the river without a ford" should be "Let me take you to the river without a fall".

I also think it's about Jesus coming back as a pig. The song doesn't really sound like it's mocking Christianity though; it sounds like it's trying to send a message. Maybe the message is that if Jesus did come back, he would come back as a pig and no one would take him seriously (which is why the people call him "Mad"...mad meaning crazy).

God only knows what this is about. I think Freddie wrote this one in 1973. It was released as a B Side to Headlong. I reckon he must have done some bad crack or something. Or he was reading too much C S Lewis. I think The Yipskee is right. It is about Jesus coming back as an animal (for animals maybe?). Maybe if he came back as an animal he would come back as a pig. He would come back as the animal nobody would expect. Like he hung out with weirdos and people the religious leaders considered unworthy, maybe he would come back as an unclean animal to identify with those animals. I dunno! It is weird! Maybe I'll just go back to sleep.

I guess if he was an animal that would explain why he was so short. I was perplexed by that for ages!

Yeah, the line is "Then one day you'll realise you're all the same within his eyes."

Crazy good song. Especially that line.

Somehow, I don't think this is about Jesus coming back. (My Christian belief would say that he's got no need to be reincarnated, as he isn't dead.) I always thought this was about some guy who THINKS he's some hero who's destined to save the world or something. And then he kinda goes off and starts talking about all the things he's done/can do. Except really, people think he's more or less crazy. Hence he's MAD (crazy) and - I'm not sure about the Swine part, but possibly it's because nobody much cares about him, hence he means about as much as a Swine to them? (This is, of course, assuming that pigs don't mean a lot to most people.)

Anyway, it's a cool song.

I believe it's a pun on "when pigs fly"...

Like everyone who looks as though they might be successful one day, Fred was made to "play the fool"...

Glad he got past that stage in his life and shunned the manipulators...seeing them for who they are..."Liars".

This song is best interpreted in the context of all of his songs.