The wind was driving in my face
The smell of prickly pear
[My rival - show me my rival]
The milk truck eased into my space
Somebody screamed somewhere
I struck a match against the door
Of Anthony's Bar and Grill
I was the whining stranger
A fool in love
With time to kill
I've got detectives on his case
They filmed the whole charade
[My rival - show me my rival]
He's got a scar across his face
He wears a hearing aid
Sure he's a jolly roger
Until he answers for his crime
Yes I'll match him whim for whim now
I still recall when I first held
Your tiny hand in mine
[My rival, show me my rival]
I loved you more than I can tell
But now it's stomping time
Sure he's a jolly roger
Until he answers for his crime
Yes I'll match him whim for whim now
The smell of prickly pear
[My rival - show me my rival]
The milk truck eased into my space
Somebody screamed somewhere
I struck a match against the door
Of Anthony's Bar and Grill
I was the whining stranger
A fool in love
With time to kill
I've got detectives on his case
They filmed the whole charade
[My rival - show me my rival]
He's got a scar across his face
He wears a hearing aid
Sure he's a jolly roger
Until he answers for his crime
Yes I'll match him whim for whim now
I still recall when I first held
Your tiny hand in mine
[My rival, show me my rival]
I loved you more than I can tell
But now it's stomping time
Sure he's a jolly roger
Until he answers for his crime
Yes I'll match him whim for whim now
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I'm just amazed at the far-out interpretations of this song. Its meaning is pretty clear.
The narrator is being cuckolded. He hired detectives to get the goods on his wife. Either he's staying out of the way tonight to let the detective finish up without complicating things, or that job is complete and now he's waiting across the street from his place for his rival to come out so he can start "stomping time." The reference to the milk truck is to set the time -- pre-dawn.
He's humiliated because his rival for his woman isn't even a hunky Adonis -- he's a worn, older guy with a scar on his face and a hearing aid, yet his wife finds him to be a "jolly roger" (the British meaning of "roger").
The tiny hand is his wife's hand, not a baby. He's recalling their courtship. He seems to imply that she may also be a participant in "stomping time"
The cleverest line in this song has gone unremarked. "I'll tear him limb from limb" is a classic threat an angry man makes against another. Not The Dan -- instead, he'll "match him whim for whim." Delicious.