Best Broadway Lyric?- Page 2

[arky]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 11:33am

All of 'Marry Me A Little'

Funniest Lyric has to be...

"Watchin' a vegetarian being told she just chicken....."

You know the rest!!!

I also love some of the naturalistic lyrics of JRB!

[singtopher]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 11:43am

My personal Fav-

"To Love another person is to see the face of god."
-Les Mis

[Magical_Ms._Mistoffeles_72]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 2:21pm

Thank you, that song is hilarious, I love your RENT qoute

[Magical_Ms._Mistoffeles_72]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 2:27pm

I love love love Les Mis I have so many fave Les Mis lyrics, and I second yours.

Some others are:

"Master of the house isnt worth my spit, comforter, philosopher, and life long ****. Cunning little brain, regular voltaire, thinks hes quite a lover but theres not much there"

[Sant]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 3:16pm

My favorite lyrics:

"Life is just a bowl of cherries
Don't take it serious, life's too mysterious!
You work, you save, you worry so
but you can't take the dough when you go, go, go.
So keep repeating: it's the berries!
The strongest oak must fall
The sweet things in life to you were just loaned
So how can you lose what you never owned?
Life is just a bowl of cherries, so
Live and laugh!
Laugh and love!
Live and laugh at it all!"
- from BIG DEAL and later featured in FOSSE.

Also "I Am What I Am" from LA CAGE AUX FOLLES has one of the best lyrics I know.
Updated On: 1/29/06 at 03:16 PM

[andycomposer]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 3:50pm

Les Mis was universally derided by the British press and theatre
opinion-makers when it first opened in London, but of course the last laugh is on them. I would rate Herbert Kretzmer's lyrics as worthy of a Pulitzer.
To quote almost at random:
"this innocent who wears my face, who goes to judgement in my place"
Not a word out of place. Perfect sense, perfect stress, perfect singability. The three S's of musical theater lyrics.

Updated On: 1/29/06 at 03:50 PM

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 3:56pm

All the lyrics of "Maria" from West Side Story.

[Magical_Ms._Mistoffeles_72]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 4:51pm

"And just to sit still would be a sin"Hairspray

"A tiger in a cage, can never see the sun, this diva needs her stage baby!" RENT (ps. whats with all the RENT haters???? Forgive me, but I love that lyric)

"Who can say if Ive been changed for the better, but I have been changed for good"
Wicked (my best friend used that in her closing speech for our last show together)

"If just one person believes in you, deep enough and strong enough, believes in you....." SNOOPY

"Children of Israel are never alone" Joesph

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 4:58pm

Apologies for posting the whole song, but...

It's a masterpiece, I say
They will cheer every word, every letter
I wish I felt that way
I believe I can put it better
Now, then, attend, as friend to friend,
Our declaration committee
For us I see immortality
In Philadelphia City
A farmer, a lawyer,
And a sage a bit gouty in the leg
You know, it's quite bizarre to think that here we are
Playing midwives to an egg

We're waiting for the chirp, chirp, chirp
Of an eaglet being born
Waiting for the chirp, chirp, chirp
On this humid Monday morning in this congressional incubator
God knows the temperature's hot enough to hatch a stone
Let alone an egg
We're waiting for the scratch, scratch, scratch
Of that tiny little fellow
Waiting for the egg to hatch
On this humid Monday morning in this congressional incubator
God knows the temperature's hot enough to hatch a stone
But will it hatch an egg?

The eagle's going to crack the shell
Of the egg that England laid
Yes, sir, we can tell, tell, tell
On this humid Monday morning in this congressional incubator
And just as Tom here has written,
Though the shell may belong to Great Britain
The eagle inside belongs to us
And just as Tom here has written
We say, "To hell with Great Britain!"
The eagle inside belongs to us!
Updated On: 1/29/06 at 04:58 PM

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 5:55pm

ahhh - 1776 -- LOVE IT! That is one of the most underappreciated shows (and BEST movie musical) ever!

"They want me to quit
They say, 'John, give up the fight'
Still to England I say,
'Good night, forever, good night'

For I have crossed the Rubicon
Let the bridge be burned behind me
Come what may, Come what may
Commitment!"

And of course:

"You see we pwiddle, twiddle and resolve,
Not one damn thing do we solve
Piddle, twiddle and resolve,
Nothing's ever solved in foul, fetid, fuming, foggy, filthy Philadelphia!"

Updated On: 1/29/06 at 05:55 PM

[jeremykushnier1fan]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 5:57pm

To being an us for once, instead of a them.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 5:59pm

Completely agree, jasonf. It's brilliant :)

Posted: 1/29/06 at 6:20pm

For I have crossed the Rubicon
Let the bridge be burned behind me
Come what may, Come what may
Commitment!

I love that. I obviously was never fortunate enough to see Daniels on stage, but those lines give me chills every time I see the film version.

I love this bit from Chess a lot:

Here we have two men caring
About a minor sporting triumph, sharing
A show with esoterics,
Paranoids, hysterics
Who don't pay attention to
What goes on around them
They leave the ones they love the way they found them
Is this the life they need?
A childish, selfish greed
While those around them bleed to death

Hm, there are so many great lyrics to choose from. I'll definitely agree with the Les Mis mention, especially the haunting "Javert's Suicide." The chorus of Aida's "Written in the Stars" is great as well. Updated On: 1/29/06 at 06:20 PM

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 6:47pm

I realize this is turning into the 1776 love thread, but if I could have gone to see any performance ever in the past, it would have been Daniels in 1776. Peter Filichia, who basically LIVES in the theater, has listed that performance as his single favorite of all time.

Sadly, I missed the revival a couple of years ago too, but I have my movie which I force on anyone I can get to sit and watch!

[freeadmission]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 7:56pm

"Just remembering you've had an 'and'
When you're back to 'or'
Makes the 'or' mean more than it did before" ~ ITW

"Women are irrational, that's all there is to that!
There heads are full of cotton, hay, and rags!
They're nothing but exasperating, irritating,
vacillating, calculating, agitating,
Maddening and infuriating hags!" - MFL

"There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
And the vermin of the world inhabit it
And it's morals aren't worth what a pig could spit
And it goes by the name of London.

At the top of the hole sit the privileged few
Making mock of the vermin in the lower zoo
Turning beauty into filth and greed. I, too,
Have sailed the world and seen its wonders
For the cruelty of men is as wonderous as Peru
But there's no place like London!" ~ Sweeney

"We build a treehouse -- I keep it from shaking
Little more glue ev'ry time that it breaks
Perfectly balanced -- then I start making
Conscious, deliberate mistakes." ~ L5Y

Updated On: 1/29/06 at 07:56 PM

Posted: 1/29/06 at 7:58pm

I realize this is turning into the 1776 love thread, but if I could have gone to see any performance ever in the past, it would have been Daniels in 1776.

I don't know if that would be #1 on my list, but I can't get over how INTENSE he is. His voice leaves a lot to be desired, but damn, he can act.

[littleredridinghood]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 8:02pm

"Yes, but even one prick, it's my thing about blood -"
"Well, it's sick!"
"It's no sicker than your thing with dwarfs..."
"Dwarves!"
"Dwarfs..."
"Dwarves are very upsetting..."

[dancingpirate]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 9:25pm

littleredridinghood, that may be my favorite as well.

"To love another person is to see the face of God" always gives me chills, but I believe that its from the actual book Les Miserables, so I don't know how eligible that is.

"No one can give you courage
No one can thicken your skin
I will not fail so you can be comfortable, Cathy
I will not lose because you can't win" ~L5Y

[jasonf]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 9:35pm

dancingpirate - if it's in the actual book, why would that make it less eligible. The book is nearly 1500 pages long full of great quotes - for the authors to choose that phrase and use it so effectively certainly wouldn't disqualify it for me! (And I'm not going back and rereading the book again looking for it - and yes, "rereading again" is right, I've read it twice already).

[QuiteSo]

Posted: 1/29/06 at 9:44pm

At the moments, one of my favorites for lyrics is "Now/Soon/Later" from A Little Night Music. I've had it stuck in my head all weekend.

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:10pm

I figure I can revive this thread instead of starting a new one. I was listening to "A Chorus Line" and just thought this has to be one of the best, most generation-defining lyrics ever.

"Too young to take over, too old to ignore."

Ah, I just love it. Also, from "The Producers":

"The urge to merge can rob us of our senses
The need to breed can make a man a drone
We must be on alert with our defenses
For every skirt will test testosterone."

[coolphantom919]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:31pm

Everything from WICKED, Les Miserables, RENT, and SPAMALOT!!! (They're really just fun to listen to!

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:33pm

Since I know the whole score of Avenue Q I can't pick the "best lyrics" but I think Avenue Q wins!

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:42pm

Best lyrics?
I say
-Defying Gravity && For Good , from wicked
-Another Day,Ill Cover you(reprise), SEasons of love from RENT
-See What I wanna See ( a lot of songs from that )
-if you were gay , everyones a little bit racist , avenue q
-Are you there? , BARE
-The beauty is ,from Light in the Piazza
^ that song was so funny
Newsies isnt really a broadway show but i say those songs too
Updated On: 9/10/06 at 06:42 PM

[StageManager2]

Posted: 9/10/06 at 6:46pm

SweetQ: Your opinion (and everyone else's) is subjective. There is no such thing as the ultimate best. Maybe this thread should be retitled "Your Favorite Broadway Lyrics."