What's Time to a Hog
The Dillards Lyrics

The Dillards’ “What’s Time to a Hog” is a simple and playful song that questions the importance of time and other concepts to certain animals. The lyrics are filled with absurd imagery and comparisons, such as a Nobel Prize to a toad or dynamite dope to the Pope. The repeated refrain, “What’s time to a hog?”, suggests that time is not a meaningful concept to animals like hogs who live life slower and simpler than humans. The song encourages listeners to be the kind of person they want to be and suggests that perspective is key to finding meaning in life.

The first verse sets the tone for the rest of the song by asking what time means to a hog, a creature known for its slow pace and love of mud. The comparisons in the second verse become more ridiculous as we begin to wonder what a fiddle means to a frog or what Clare Booth Luce means to a goose. The third verse brings in more animals and bizarre scenarios, such as dynamite dope to the Pope or religion to a brown groundhog. The final verse asks what a rubber means to a duck and what the old cow thinks when loaded on a truck. Each verse ends with the same line: “What’s time to a hog?”, reinforcing the idea that time is just one measure of life and not necessarily the most important.

One interpretation of “What’s Time to a Hog” is that it encourages listeners to appreciate the present moment and not get caught up in the incessant movement of time. Animals like hogs, toads, frogs, and geese don’t measure time in minutes or hours, but in moments of peace, food, and shelter. The song suggests that humans could learn from animals in this respect and find more meaning in the present rather than always looking to the future.