"If You Want to Die in Bed"

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 4:57am

I am auditioning for Miss Saigon at my college in two weeks and we are suppose to sing from the show. Anyway I was listening through the show and I am wondering what the mean of the song is exactly. Any information about the Engineer would be helpful. Thanks

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 6:19am

Engineer is half-French, half-Vietnamese.

[brochatkid]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 6:38am

He's a real survivor with street smarts. He's also someone who's a little sleazy and will do what it takes to get his dream (American life). He isn't very trust-worthy. Despite all of this, you can't help but like his character and also pity him to some extent. He's kind of adorable in a way too.

[temms]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 7:30am

The title may be a bit confusing - "die in bed" means dying peacefully at the end of a long life, and not at the hand of, say, a war or forced "reeducation" or something. Be loyal to whoever or whatever is going to keep you safest.

It's about how sometimes you have to play the game for a while before you get what you really want (Heaven's there, but you need a visa to get in.)

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 9:16am

The Engineer is trying to explain himself, teach us his philosophy on life- a philosophy that he is proud of and thinks we should all live by.

He wants us to know about where he came from and where he wants to go... where he thinks he belongs.

It's like he's saying to us, "THIS is where I am, but I belong HERE and I'll get myself there by whatever means I have to because it's my destiny."

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 10:49am

Huh, go figure. I love Miss Saigon and the engineer and the song, but I never thought about what he meant by "If You Want To Die In Bed." Thanks for that.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 1:02pm

You have to think about his situation. He just got out of a reeducation camp (basically communist Vietnam's version of the gulag), mainly by sheer luck. He's pretended that he's been "enlightened" but really he's the same guy. And he knows that a guy like him can't survive under the new government and this new culture that is all for collectivism. The Engineer is, to euphemize slightly, an entrepreneur. He has all of these ideas for how to make money and how to succeed in the capitalist world, given to him by the Americans when they came to Vietnam after Bien Dien Phu. But he can't do any of those in Vietnam, and in fact, to have such ideas is dangerous. So he knows that he has got to get out of there unless he wants to get killed by the government.

Updated On: 8/12/08 at 01:02 PM

[BWNUT]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 3:36pm

If you want to die a natural death in times of war, you have to compromise whatever values and beliefs you have ("Forget about your karma") and suck up/grovel before whoever has the power. Otherwise, you will either rot in jail or get shot/blown up in the battlefield.

Updated On: 8/12/08 at 03:36 PM

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 3:59pm

i agree with everybody... i've seen people play this song very comedic.. and i think it's completely opposite of that although it has its moments where you can throw some humor... this song is a real explanation of who he is, where he came from and all that... the engineer is a great role if you know how to balance the sleaze, humor, and pathos all at the same time... a great engineer is someone who you hate to love at the end of the show cuz ultimatly he's using everyone for his personal gain...

[MungoGypsy8232]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 5:20pm

The Engineer is such an awesome role to play and IMO is one of the only times the speak-sing method works for a character.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 10:55pm

He's a "little sleazy"?
He pimps out underage girls to the highest bidder.
Gotta love a guy like that.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 8/15/08 at 4:07am

im auditioning for this role in a few weeks and this is the song i am using, thanks for everyone voice, it helped a lot