This piece begins as a dialogue with monological tendencies. It develops to be a polylogue with four participants: Johanna, Anthony, Judge Turpin and Beadle Bamford.
| JOHANNA | ANTHONY |
| He means to marry me Monday. | |
| What shall I do? | |
| I'd rath- | |
| er die | I have |
| plan | |
| (Not listening to him) I'll swallow poison on Sunday, | |
| that's what I'll do, | |
| some lye. | I have a |
| plan | |
| Oh, dear what a noise | |
| A plan | |
| I think I heard a noise | A plan |
| It couldn't be, He's in court, | |
| he's in court today. | |
| Still that was noise, | |
| Wasn't that a noise? | |
| You must have heard that... |
What we see here is not so much a dialogue but a combination of two monologues, with Johanna given the most dominant part. She's is obviously not listening to Anthony, as she seems to be wrapped up in her own deliberations. She is quite nervous, as the music indicates: short phrases with a small ambitus. But finally she realizes that Anthony is talking to her:
| JOHANNA | ANTHONY |
| Kiss me! | |
| (Shyly) Oh, Sir... | |
| Ah, miss... | |
| Oh, sir... |
We see here a hocket-like construction in the music, which indicates that they listen to each other. But this is just a short interlude, because after that Johanna resumes her frenzy:
| JOHANNA | ANTHONY |
| (Pacing again) If he should marry me Monday, | |
| What will I do? | |
| I'll die | |
| of grief. | We fly to- |
| night. | |
| 'Tis Friday, virtually Sunday, | |
| What can we do with time | |
| so brief? | We fly to... |
| (Covering Anthony's mouth) Behind the curtain, quick! | Tonight. |
| I think I heard a click | |
| Tonight! | |
| It was a gate. It's the gate | |
| We don't have a gate | It's not a gate. There's no |
| Still there was a... | gate, You don't |
| Wait! There's another click, You must have heard that... | have a gate. If you'd only listen miss, And |
| Kiss me! | |
| Tonight? | |
| Kiss me! |
We see here how music can blur the semantic structure. Johanna is still confused and worried, while Anthony tries to calm her down. Instead of speaking in turn, they speak simultaneously, which can be rather confusing for the listener. Maybe this was done to emphasize the confusion the young couple is in. After this section Anthony finally seems to succeed in calming down Johanna:
| JOHANNA | ANTHONY |
| You mean tonight? | |
| The plan is made, | |
| Oh, sir! | |
| So kiss me. | |
| I feel a fright. | |
| Be not afraid | |
| Sir, I did | Tonight I'll |
| love you even as I | steal |
| saw you. Even as it | you, Jo- |
| did not matter that I | han- |
| did not know your | na, I'll |
| name | steal |
| you |
Their confusion appears to make room for some decisiveness, as they express the love they feel for each other. Anthony sings his Johanna-theme with Johanna singing another counter-theme. This presents itself like a subject and a counter-subject within a fugue. Finally, Anthony manages to get Johanna to listen to him:
| JOHANNA | ANTHONY |
| It's me you'll marry on Monday, | |
| That's what you'll do! | |
| And glad- | |
| ly, Sir. | St. Dunstan's, |
| noon. | |
| I knew I'd be with you one day, | |
| Even not knowing who you | |
| were | Ah, miss, mar- |
| I feared you'd never come, | me, marry me, miss, Oh, mar- |
| That you'd been called away | ry me Monday! Fa- |
| That you'd been killed, had the plague, were in debtor's jail, | vor me, favor me with your hand. Promise, |
| Trampled by a horse, gone to sea again, arrested by the... | marry me, marry me, Please oh, marry me, Monday... |
Again Anthony sings a motive he has used before to get Johanna's attention. Johanna no longer worries about her marrying the Judge, but is worried about all the things that could have gone wrong with Anthony. Although her phrases are connected rhythmically: there are no rests between them, her textual phrases are short, little more than exclamations. But again Anthony succeeds in calming Johanna down:
| JOHANNA | ANTHONY |
| Kiss me! | |
| Off course. | |
| Kiss me! | |
| You're sure? | |
| Kiss me! | |
| I shall | |
| Kiss me...oh, Sir...(He takes her in his arms and they fall back onto the couch.) |
Johanna finally succumbs to Anthony's wishes. After that, an interlude follows: Ladies in their sensitivities. The stage directions at the beginning are as follows: Light rises and the Judge and the Beadle are seen still walking together.
JUDGE:(Spoken) Yes, yes, but surely the respect that she owes me as her guardian should be sufficient to kindle a more tender emotion.
The ensuing melody sheds some light on the mental disposition of the Beadle:
BEADLE: Excuse, my Lord,
May I request my Lord,
Permission my Lord,
To speak?
Forgive me if I suggest, my Lord,
You're looking less than your best, my Lord,
There's powder upon your vest, my Lord, And stubble upon your cheek.
And ladies my Lord, are weak.
First of all there is little rhythmic stability in this piece. It oscillates between 5/8, 4/8, and one bar 6/8. Furthermore we discover a limited choice of notes in the melody, it could be said to be almost pentatonic, and it reminds me very strongly of a children's song: he is using almost the same scale as the pentatonic scale in Poor Thing. This rhythmic instability may be said to signify the seemingly mental instability of the Beadle while the use of the "pentatonic" scale lends him a certain kind of infantility. Both characteristics make up for a very submissive personality. This submissiveness is obviously a farce, the Beadle is very well aware of what he is doing, as we learn in the next section:
JUDGE: (Spoken) Perhaps if she greets me cordially upon my return, I should give here a small gift...
BEADLE: (sung) Ladies in their sensitivities, my Lord
Have a fragile sensibility.
When a girl's emergent,
Probably it's urgent
You defer to her gentility, my Lord.
Personal disorder cannot be ignored,
Given their genteel proclivities.
Meaning no offense, it
happens they resents it,
Ladies in thier sensitivities my Lord.
Although the range of the Beadle's song is still somewhat limited, he turns out not to be as stupid as we thought at the beginning of the song. He knows very well what the Judge wants. The limited ambitus could again signify as a form of restraint. The seductive semi-tones amplify the sensuality of the melody6.13. The Judge is quite sensitive to this kind of seduction:
JUDGE:(Feeling his chin) Stubble, you say? Perhaps at times at times I am a little overhasty with my morning ablutions...
BEADLE:(sung) Fret not, though, my Lord,
I know a place, my Lord,
A barber, my Lord,
of skill.
Thus armed with a shaven face, my Lord,
Some eau de cologne to brace my Lord,
And musk to enhance the chase, my Lord,
You'll dazzle the girl until
She bows to your ev'ry will
The mood of this section is the same as the first section of this song. The Beadle uses the same notes, and with these, we can clearly see the seduction motive. After this song the Beadle leads the Judge to Todd's tonsorial parlor. And with the different figures thus lined up, the second part of Kiss Me can begin.
| BEADLE | JOHANNA | ANTHONY | JUDGE |
| The name is Todd | (Spoken) Todd, eh? | ||
| We'd best not wait until Monday | |||
| Sir, I concur and ful- | |||
| Sweeney | -ly too | It isn't | |
| Todd | right, We'd best be married on Sunday | ||
| The Judge and the Beadle move past the house) | |||
| Saturday would al- | |||
| so do. | Or else to- | ||
| night | |||
| I think I heard a noise | |||
| Fear not. | |||
| I mean another noise. | |||
| Like what? | |||
| Oh, never mind, just a | |||
| noise, just another noise | You mustn't mind, It's a | ||
| Something in the street | noise, Just another | ||
| I'm a silly, little ninny noddle, | noise, Something in the street, you silly... | ||
| Kiss me! | Kiss me! |
There has been a major change in the way Johanna and Anthony communicate with each other. In the first part of Kiss Me before Ladies in Their Sensitivities they spoke but did not listen, and now they are listening to each other. Johanna seems to have more self-confidence and seems to be less nervous and evidently it is now Anthony who seems to be a bit nervous:
| BEADLE | JOHANNA | ANTHONY | JUDGE |
| Oh, sir... | |||
| We'll go to Paris on Monday. | |||
| What shall I wear? I dare- | |||
| n't pack | We'll ride a train | ||
| With you beside me on Sunday | |||
| What will I care what things | |||
| I lack | Then sail to spain | ||
| I'll take my reticule | |||
| Why take your reticule? | |||
| I'll need my reticule | |||
| We'll buy a reticule | |||
| You mustn't | |||
| think me a fool | I'd never think | ||
| But my reticule | you a fool but a | ||
| Never leaves my side, It's the | reticule...Leave it all a- | ||
| my mother gave me... | side and begin again and... | ||
| Kiss me! | Kiss me! | ||
| The name is | |||
| Todd | Kiss me! | I know a | Todd? |
| Todd, | place where we can go | ||
| Sweeney | We'll go there | tonight | Sweeney |
| Todd. | Kiss me! We have a | Kiss me! We have a | Todd? |
| Todd, Sweeney | place where we can go tonight I loved | place where we can go tonight | Sweeney |
| Todd. | loved you even as I | loved you even as I | Todd. |
| Todd. | saw you, Even as it | saw you, Even as it, | Todd. |
| Todd. | does not not matter that I | did not matter that I | Todd. |
| Still don't | did not | ||
| Sweeney | know your | know your | Sweeney |
| Todd. | name, sir, Even as I | name. Jo- | Todd. |
| Todd. | saw you, Even as it does | hanna! Jo- | Todd. |
| Todd. | does not matter that I | hanna! Jo- | Todd. |
| still don't know your | hanna! | ||
| name | (spoken) Anthony |
Although this section at first sounds rather confused, the semantic changes of direction are not really substantial. The Judge and the Beadle do nothing more than repeat Todd's name, while Anthony and Johanna make a reprise of the first part of Kiss Me. So instead of having four different semantic directions competing with each other, we have two, living quite peacefully next to each other. The situation gets more complicated as the song continues:
| BEADLE | JOHANNA | ANTHONY | JUDGE |
| (spoken) Todd? | |||
| (spoken) Todd. | |||
| (spoken) Anthony! | |||
| (spoken) Todd, eh? | |||
| Ladies | |||
| in their sensi- | I'll marry Anthony Sunday! | ||
| tivities, my lord, | That's what I'll do, no matter what! | That's what you'll do, no matter what! | Pray lead the |
| Have a | way. | ||
| fragile sensi- | I knew you'd come for me one day, | I knew I'd come for you one day | |
| bility | Only afraid that you'd forgot. | Only afraid that you'd forgot. | Just as you |
| When a girl's emergent | I feared you'd never come, that you'd been called away | Marry me, marry me, miss, Oh marry me Sunday! | |
| Probably it's urgent | That you'd been killed, had the plague, were in debtors jail. | Favor me, favor me with your hand! Promise | |
| Ladies in their sensi- | marry me, marry me, That you'll marry me, Enough of all this... | ||
| tivities | |||
| (Anthony crushes Johanna to him. They kiss) Oh, sir... | |||
| (Anthony and Johanna sink onto the couch, embracing) Ah, miss... | |||
| Sensi- | Oh, sir... | Ah, | |
| tivities | Oh, sir...oh, sir... | miss...ah, miss... ah,... | |
| oh, sir...oh, sir... | miss...ah, miss...ah, | Todd... | |
| oh, sir...oh, sir... | miss...ah, miss...ah, | ||
| miss... |
Here the semantic contrasts are more emphasized. The Beadle again uses his seduction melody, which he used to support the Judge in his plans of marrying Johanna, while Anthony and Johanna again proclaim their love for each other. It may be significant that this is the third time they do so. Perhaps this casts light on the kind of love they feel for each other. Anthony and Johanna end up cooing to each other while the Beadle sings a rather deformed version of his original melody.