Favorite Sondheim Intricate Rhyming Lyrics- Page 3

[tiger_lily007]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 11:39am

"What's the muddle/in the middle?
That's the puddle where the poodle did the piddle."

How he does that, I can't even imagine!

[Tirso de Molina]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 12:41pm

A couple faves:

"Just remembering you had an 'and,' when you're back to 'or,'
Makes the 'or' mean more than it did before." (Moments in the Woods)

"Please
Hello, I come with letters from Her Majesty Victoria
Who, learning how you're trading now, sang "Hallelujah, Gloria!" And sent me to convey to you her positive euphoria
As well as little gifts from Britain's various emporia." (Please Hello)

Updated On: 2/27/05 at 12:41 PM

[leomaxfrank]

Posted: 2/27/05 at 1:03pm

There are too many to keep in line!

"Buying on credit is so nice.
One look at us and they charge twice.
I'll have my own washing machine.
What will you have though to keep clean?
Skyscrapers bloom in America.
Cadillacs zoom in America.
Industry boom in America.
12 in a room in America."

some great punchlines in that song:
If you're all white in America. or
Free to wait tables and shine shoes.

Both Chrysanthemum Tea and Please, Hello have some his best rhymes. I'll type later...gotta run!

[cathywellerstein]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 8:49pm

just listening to my sweeney cd and heard amazing rhyming lyrics that were good enough to bump this year old thread!

There were these two, you see,
Wanted her like mad,
One of 'em a JUDGE,
T'other one his BEADLE.
Every day they'd nudge
And they'd wheedle.
But she wouldn't budge
From her needle.
Too bad. Pure thing.

whew. sondheim.

[ohhoney_]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 8:56pm

is it pathetic or wonderful that this post had me well up? god i love sondheim.

man oh man. i'm posting the whole thing of this (i know someone put the end but whatever.)

If you know what you want
Then you go and you find it and you get it...
do we want a child or not?
And you give and you take
and you bid and you bargain
or you live to regret it!
There are rights and wrongs and inbetweens
No one waits when fortune intervenes!
And maybe they're really magic, who knows?
Why you do what you do
That's the point
all of the rest of it is chatter!
If the thing you do is pure in nintent
if its meant
and its just a little bent
does it matter?
no
all that matters is that Everyone tells tiny lies
what's important really is the SIZE!
Only three more tries and we'll have our prize
when the end's in sight you'll realize
when the end is right, it justfies the bean!!

phew.
ILU bakers wife!

[ohhoney_]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 8:57pm

i sort of hate to ask it...

[Color and Light]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 9:25pm

Dot by dot,
Building up the image.
Shot by shot,
Keeping at a distance doesn't pay.
Still, if you remember your objective,
Not give all your privacy away,
A little bit of hype can be effective,
Long as you can keep it in perspective.
After all, without some recognition
No one's going to give you a commission.
Art isn't easy.
Overnight you're a trend,
You're the right combination-
Then the trend's at an end,
You're suddenly last year's sensation.
If you feel a sense of coalition,
Then you never really stand alone.
If you want your work to reach fruition,
What you need's a link with your tradition,
And of course a prominent commission,
Plus a little formal recognition,
So that you can go on exhibit-
So that your work can go on exhibition!

- "Putting It Together", Sunday In the Park With George

Mapping out a sky.
What you feel like, planning a sky.
What you feel when voices that come
Through the window
Go
Until they distance and die

- "Finishing the Hat", Sunday In the Park With George

So beautiful.



God, I love this thread.

Updated On: 2/26/06 at 09:25 PM

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 9:32pm

Must it all be
Either less or more?
Either plain or grand?
Is it always "or"?
Is it never "and"?
That's what woods are for -
For those moments in the woods.
- "Moments in the Woods", Into the Woods

We've no time to sit and dither
While her withers wither with her!
- "Prologue", Into the Woods

Man, I have to sing the latter and it's a killer.
Updated On: 2/26/06 at 09:32 PM

[Dre2387]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 9:39pm

Wait a minute!
Magic beans for a cow so old
that you had to tell a lie to sell it
which you told.
~ITW

[slimandslam]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 9:39pm

Sweeney and the Judge, with an nifty little triple rhyme that I rediscovered on the new recording:

Make haste and if we wed,
you'll be commended, sir.
--My lord!
And who, may it be said,
is your intended, sir?
--My ward...

[morosco]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 10:01pm

A broken arm
A false alarm
An imitation Hitler
But with lit'ler charm

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 10:22pm

Oh, so many great ones have been mentioned! Color and Light mentioned my two favorites from Sunday in the Park...

All of "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," in particular
"When a person says that you upset her,
That's when you're good.
You impersonate a person better
Than a zombie should.
I could understand a person
If he wasn't good in bed.
I could understand a person
If he actually was dead.
Exclusive you!
Elusive you!
Will any person ever get the juice of you?
You're crazy,
You're a lovely person,
You're a moving,
Deeply malajusted,
Never to be trusted,
Crazy person yourself.
You're bad...
Bobby is my hobby and I'm givin' it up!"
-COMPANY

"Should there be a marital squabble,
Available Bob'll
Be there with the glue!
Who could we open up to?
Secrets we keep from guess who.
Who is so safe, and who is so sound?
You never need an analyst with Bobby around."
-COMPANY

This isn't so intricate lyrically, but I absolutely cannot get it out of my head lately:
"And though I'll think of you I guess
Until the day I die,
I think I miss you less and less
As every day goes by, Johanna..."
-SWEENEY TODD Updated On: 2/26/06 at 10:22 PM

[buffyactsing]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 10:31pm

I *think* this is Sondheim, and perhaps not his most intricate though... (from Candide)

Life is absolute perfection,
As is true of my complexion.
Every time I look and see me,
I'm reminded life is dreamy.
Although I do get tired
Being endlessly admired,
People will go on about me -
How could they go on without me?
(If the talk at times is vicious,
That's the price you pay when you're delicious.)
Life is pleasant, life is simple-
Oh my God, is that a pimple?
No, it's just the odd reflection -
Life and I are still perfection!
I am everything I need!
Life is happiness indeed!

[InTheRed]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 10:45pm

Artists are bizarre, fixed, cold.
That's you George you're bizarre, fixed, cold.
I like that in a man - fixed, cold.
God! It's hot out here!

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE


Updated On: 3/2/06 at 10:45 PM

[maybethistime]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 10:48pm

Already said, but:

"It's your father's fault
that the curse got placed
and the place got cursed
in the first place."
-The Witch, "Last Midnight", INTO THE WOODS

[Le Prince Rebel]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 10:56pm

How could we forget:

Lucy is juicy
But terribly drab.
Jessie is dressy
But cold as a slab.
Lucy wants to be dressy.
Jessie wants to be juicy.
Lucy wants to be Jessie
And Jessie Lucy.
You see, Jessie is racy
But hard as a rock.
Lucy is lacy
But dull as a smock.
Jessie wants to be lacy,
Lucy wants to be Jessie.
That's the sorrowful précis.
It's very messy.

"The Story of Lucy and Jessie" from FOLLIES

[TimeSuckage]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 11:13pm

Brilliant thread. My contribution:

"A sea of whims that I submerge in
Yet so lovable in repentance
Unfortunately still a virgin, but
you can't force a flower...
Don't finish that sentence!"

- ALNM

[Color and Light]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:14am

Why did you do it, Johnny,
Throw it all away?
Why did you do it, boy,
Not just destroy
The pride and joy
Of Illinois,
But all the U.S.A.?
--"The Ballad of Booth", Assassins

Free country
Means your dreams can come true:
Be a scholar --
Make a dollar --
Free country
Means they'll listen to you:
Scream and holler --
Grab 'em by the collar!
Free country
Means you don't have to sit --
That's it!
And put up with the s**t.
--"Everybody's Got the Right", Assassins


BALLADEER
Look on the bright side,
Not on the sad side,
Inside the bad side
Something's good!
This is your golden
Opportunity:
You've been a preacher --

GUITEAU
Yes, I have!

BALLADEER
You've been an author --

GUITEAU
Yes, I have!

BALLADEER
You've been a killer --

GUITEAU
Yes, I have!

BALLADEER
You could be an angel --

GUITEAU
Yes, I could!

--"The Ballad of Guiteau", Assassins



Those always give me chills. Oooh, Sondheim, how do you do it?

Updated On: 2/27/06 at 01:14 AM

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:37am

It's his father's fault
That the curse got placed
And the place got cursed
In the first place

Psycho.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 2:24am

I'm so excited nobody else posted mine! The whole song, but...

Now, insofar as approaching it,
What would be festive
But have its effect?
Now, there are two ways of broaching it:
A, the suggestive,
And B, the direct.
Say
That I settle on B, to wit,
A charmingly
Lecherous mood,
A,
I could put on my nightshirt or sit
Disarmingly,
B, in the nude.
That might be effective;
My body's all right--
But not in perspective
And not in the light.
I'm bound to be chilly
And feel a buffoon,
But nightshirts are silly
In mid-afternoon.
Which leaves the suggestive,
But how to proceed?
Although she gets restive,
Perhaps I could read.
In view of her penchant
For something romantic,
De Sade is to trenchant
And Dickens too frantic,
And Stendhal would ruin
The plan of attack,
As there isn't much blue in
"The Red and the Black."
De Maupassant's candour
Would cause her dismay,
The Brontes are grander
But not very gay,
Her taste is much blander,
I'm sorry to say,
But is Hans Christian Ander-
Sen ever risque?
Which eliminates A...

[JBSinger]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 11:40am

The choruses of "Miller's Son" are simply brilliant! paunch, pouch, pension...
Though there are so many, this was the first that came to mind.

[Nothatsmrt]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 11:48am

I love "On the Steps of the Palace", so I'm posting these lyrics, even if they're already here.

"But then what if he knew who you were when you know that you're not what he thinks that he wants?

And then what if you are what a prince would envision?

Although how can you know who you are 'till you know what you want, which you don't, so then which do you pick?
Where you're safe out of sight and yourself but where everything's wrong,
Or where everything's right, and you know that you'll never belong,
And which ever you pick do it quick 'cause you're starting to stick to the steps of the palace!"

"Now it's he and not you who is stuck with a shoe,
In a stew...
In the goo...
And you've learned something too, something you never knew, on the steps of the palace!"

[Nothatsmrt]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 11:51am

And, to ohhoney_

"..but do you have a basket?"

[DavidG2]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 1:45pm

OK..here's when I KNEW that I was die-hard Sondheim fan ...prepping for A Little Night Music by listening to the cd...one day out crept this lyric

"The hands of the clock turn
But don't sing a nocturne...
Just yet."

[keatonbynumbers]

Posted: 2/27/06 at 2:15pm

"She flutters."
"How charming."
"She twitters."
"My word!"
"She floats."
"Isn't that alarming? What is she, a bird?"

and

"She loves my voice, my walk, my moustache
The cigar, in fact, that I'm smoking
She'll watch me puff until it's just ash
Then she'll save the cigar butt."
"Bizarre, but
You're joking."

and

"She dotes on--"
"Your dimple."
"My snoring."
"How dear."
"The point is, she's really simple."
"Yes, that much seems clear."

All from ALNM, "You Must Meet My Wife"