Best Rhyming lines

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 12:13am

In light of all the negative threads...

I think you get the point of this one...

(It's easy to say what you hate, now say what you love)

RULES:

No bashing someone else's love of certain rhyming lines.
You should at least say WHY you like it

Really tired now, so I will think of more. Right now:

Master of the House
Quick to catch your eye
Never wants a passer-by to pass him by

A lot of people don't really like MotH - yet it is probably one of the catchiest tunes - (think Seinfeld). I like this line becasue it 1) makes sense and goes deep into Thenardier's character (stealing and doing business, etc.). Also, it uses something that is so readily available in the English language the noun/verb formation (passer-by/pass (him) by). I think many composers seem to stray from it, creating cumbersone lyrics. This simple lyric fits well and is catchy.

Can't wait to see your favorites!

Tirelessly,
bso

[observer]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 1:17am

Lord, who made the lion and the lamb,
You decreed I should be what I am.
Would it spoil some vast eternal plan
If I were a wealthy man?

I love how Tevye comprehends the basic inequities of life, accepts his powerlessness over it all, yet dares to pose a good-natured challenge to the Omnipotent as he requests a change in his life's lot. (Interesting also that seldom does a prayer go unanswered in a musical as this one does.)
Updated On: 3/21/05 at 01:17 AM

[rentendre]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 1:48am

The entire dentist song from LSoH is amahzingly catchy.
"Watch him suck up that gas-oh my GAWD!!!
He's a dentist and he'll never ever be any good
Who wants their teeth done by the Marqis de Sade?"
I go around doing the entire first section with voices all day long

[pab]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 1:53am

It's fop.
Finest in the shop.
Or we have some shepherd's pie peppered
With actual shepherd
On top.
And I've just begun.
Here's the politician — so oily
It's served with a doily —
Have one.
Put it on a bun.
Well, you never know if it's going to run.

'A Little Priest' is probably one of the most clever songs ever written. I could have used other sections of the same song since all of it is great.

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 2:02am

"There are ships in the bay
Which are sitting there today
Just exactly where they sat
On the Day of the Rat
Oh, and speaking of that my lord
When the ships came our way
On that first disturbing day
And I gave consideration to this letter they convey
I decided if their weren't any Shogun to recieve it
It would act as a deterrent since they'd have no place to leave it
And they might go away, my Lord
Do you see what I say, my Lord
In the tea, my Lord, the Chrysanthmum tea
And informal variation of the normal recipe
Though I know my plan had merit
It was slow in execution
If there's one thing you inherit
It's your Father's constitution
And you're taking so long, my Lord
Do you think I was wrong, my Lord
No, you must let me speak:
When the Shogun is weak
Then the tea must be strong, my Lord
My Lord"~~Chrysanthemum Tea from Pacific Overtures


'Chrysanthemum Tea' and 'A Little Priest' are both masterpieces in the art of lyric writing.

Updated On: 3/21/05 at 02:02 AM

[wildcat]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 3:57am

Mama
Please take our advice
We aren't the Lunts
I'm not Fanny Brice
Mama
We'll buy you the rice
If only this once
You wouldn't think twice!

"If Mama Was Married"...GYPSY

My favourite lines at this moment. I know that will change when I hear another brilliant lyric.

[staticradar]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 7:46am

In Sorry-Grateful there's one line that always makes me smile and it fits perfectly in context, out of context it might be a bad rhyme, but eh I like it as it works well with the show

"good things get better bad get worse. Wait I think I meant that in reverse" It's the only line in that song that's funny, the rest is just so beautifully-sad.

Sondheim is a genius though...

[Sant]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 9:25am

The whole score of CHICAGO - full of brilliant lyrics and rhyming lines. Especially All That Jazz.

[DancerGirl16]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 9:33am

"It's priest, have a little priest.
Is it really good
Sir its too good at least
then again they don't commit sins of the flesh
so its pretty fresh." - Sweeney

"Never put your faith in a cape and a hood
they will not protect you the way that they should
and take extra care with strangers
even flowers have their dangers
and though scary is exciting
Nice is different then good" - into the woods

Advice: just always look at sondheim

[Jwei123]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 9:39am

'Once upon a time
When I was just a kid
you never let me do
just what the older kids did'


...I don't know know why that stuck out, but it did. Oh marc and scott, good job!!

[vbplayer]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 9:55am

"Isn't it rich?"
"Isn't it queer?"
"Losing my timing this late, in my career."

[paradox_error]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 10:38am

One of my favourite examples of Sondheim's impeccable rhymes:

NOW

FREDRIK:
Now, as the sweet imbecilities
Tumble so lavishly
Onto her lap,
Now, there are two possibilities:
A, I could ravish her,
B, I could nap.
Say
It's the ravishment, then we see
The option
That follows, of course:
A,
The deployment of charm, or B,
The adoption
Of physical force.
Now, B might arouse her,
But if I assume
I trip on my trouser
Leg crossing the room...
Her hair getting tangled,
Her stays getting snapped,
My nerves would be jangled,
My energy sapped...
Removing her clothing
Would take me all day,
And her subsequent loathing
Would turn me away,
Which eliminates B
And which leaves us with A.

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...

Now, with my mental facilities
Partially muddied
And ready to snap,
Now, though there are possibilities
Still to be studied,
I might as well nap.
Bow
Though I must
To adjust
My original plan,
How
Shall I sleep
Half as deep
As I usually can,
When now I still want and/or love you,
Now as always,
Now, Anne?

[MagicToDo82]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 11:28am

I've always been partial to --->

What we have here is an ethical dillemma
lest I help him get the mask removed he doesn't have a prayer
True the gun was never fired
but the way events transpired
I could finish him with simple laizez-faire -- Little Shop

and

My built in female radar
only zeroes in on zeroes
I'm like the Actors Fund
supporting wanna be DeNiros-- The Goodbye Girl

:)

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 12:25pm

"This is late
and I fear,
well you see:
there's a famin.

Could you wait
for a year,
we'll agree
to examine it"
(Pacific Overtures - Please Hello)

Because it is all rhymed in a way, it would have been spoken. Nothing forced.

(Fredrick)"She'd strike you as unenlightened
(Desiree)No I'd strike her first!
(Fredrick)Her reticence, her apprehension
(Desiree) Her crust!
(Fredick) No!
(Desiree) Yes!
(Fredrick) No!
(Desiree) Fredrick!
(Fredrick) You must meet my wife
(Desire) Let me get my hat and my knife!
(Fredrick) What was that?
(Desiree) I must meet your wife
(Both) Yes I (you) must....."
(A Little Night Music - You must meet my Wife)

Because it is rhymed natural dialogue - perfect!

"As dumbbells go he's rather slow,
And as for being saintly, even faintly, no.
But who needs Albert Schweitzer when the lights are low!
And oh boy, oh boy, can that boy fox-trot!"
(Follies - Can that Boy foxtrott (cut song))

I just love that line.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 2:03pm

i forget the whole line... but when they rhymed concord and conquered in little women. oh how i loved it!

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 2:20pm

I hope this isn't going to become a thread of simply Sondheim lyrics. We all know his stuff is fabulous. How many examples do we really need....

Alan Jay Lerner's lyrics are often astounding. Some of his best are actually from LOLITA MY LOVE which closed out of town in Boston. Anyone who really loves lyrics should try to find one of the recordings of it.



Updated On: 3/21/05 at 02:20 PM

[FranklinShepard-Inc.]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 2:22pm

Oh, yes, of course, Alan Jay Lerner:

"For this land is a sandy illusion,
it's a theme of a dream gone astray..."
(Love Life - Here I'll stay)

He was so damn poetic.
Updated On: 3/21/05 at 02:22 PM

[LostLeander]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 3:00pm

But we're in Michigan,
Oh, We'll be rich again.

Bounce. Or Sondheim-lite... There's some great stuff though.
Lots of leitmotifs, good for spotting musical themes that run throughout.

It's a cloak.
What's a cloak?
It's a joke,
It's a stupid little cloak,
And a cloak is what you make it.
So you take it.

Things are only what you need them for,
What's important is who needs them more?

LOVE that one.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 3:14pm

Bump
From the slump
And the dump

This thread - I like...

[Taryn]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 4:30pm

While her withers wither with her.

How do you THINK of a line like that?

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 4:42pm

Green Finch and Linnet Bird
-- Stephen Sondheim
from Sweeney Todd

Green finch and linnet bird,
Nightingale, blackbird,
How is it you sing?
How can you jubliate,
Sitting in cages,
Never taking wing?
Outside the sky waits,
Beckoning, beckoning,
Just beyond the bars.
How can you remain,
Staring at the rain,
Maddened by the stars?
How is it you sing anything?
How is it you sing?

Green finch and linnet bird,
Nightingale,blackbird,
How is it you sing?
Whence comes this melody constantly flowing?
Is it rejoicing or merely halloing?
Are you discussing or fussing
Or simply dreaming?
Are you crowing?
Are you screaming?

Ringdove and robinet,
Is it for wages,
Singing to be sold?
Have you decided its
Safer in cages,
Singing when youre told?

My cage has many rooms,
Damask and dark.
Nothing there sings,
Not even my lark.
Larks never will, you know,
When they're captive.
Teach me to be more adaptive.

Green finch and linnet bird,
Nightingale, blackbird,
Teach me how to sing.
If I cannot fly,
Let me sing.

Updated On: 3/21/05 at 04:42 PM

[Madame X2]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 4:43pm

I don't know about 'best', but I thought "Nessa, uh, Nessa, I've got something to confess-a" was pretty unique. Forced, but unique.

[JHartnow]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 5:06pm

RHYME TIME!

Forced rhymes in WICKED, huh? What about "...instead of dreary who you were, well, ARE. There's nothing that can stop you from becoming popular...LAR"

In this case, I think that the forced rhyming really benefits the totally blonde persona of Glinda.

This one line from BARE'S "ROLE OF A LIFETIME" gets me...

What happens when the music stops
In the silence will he stay
One day or realize that one day
These feelings are going away

And just for poops and giggles:

Mama what is this seed?
Don't you care that
I started to bleed?

~Carrie

Updated On: 3/21/05 at 05:06 PM

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 5:16pm

"Manhattan," by Rogers & Hart:

Summer journeys
To Niag'ra
And to other places
Aggravate all our cares.
We'll save our fares.
I've a cozy little flat
In what is known as old Manhattan.
We'll settle down
Right here in town.

We'll have Manhattan,
The Bronx and Staten
Island too.
It's lovely going through
The zoo.
It's very fancy
On old Delancey
Street, you know.
The subway charms us so
When balmy breezes blow
To and fro.
And tell me what street
Compares with Mott Street
In July?
Sweet pushcarts gently gliding by.
The great big city's a wondrous toy
Just made for a girl and boy.
We'll turn Manhattan
Into an isle of joy.

We'll go to Greenwich,
Where modern men itch
To be free;
And Bowling Green you'll see
With me.
We'll bathe at Brighton
The fish you'll frighten
When you're in.
Your bathing suit so thin
Will make the shellfish grin
Fin to fin.
I'd like to take a
Sail on Jamaica
Bay with you.
And fair Canarsie's lake
We'll view.
The city's bustle cannot destroy
The dreams of a girl and boy.
We'll turn Manhattan
Into an isle of joy.

We'll go to Yonkers
Where true love conquers
In the wilds.
And starve together, dear,
In Childs'.
We'll go to Coney
And eat baloney
On a roll.
In Central Park we'll stroll,
Where our first kiss we stole,
Soul to soul.
Our future babies
We'll take to "Abie's
Irish Rose."
I hope they'll live to see
It close.
The city's clamor can never spoil
The dreams of a boy and goil.
We'll turn Manhattan
Into an isle of joy.

We'll have Manhattan,
The Bronx and Staten
Island too.
We'll try to cross'
Fifth Avenue.
As black as onyx
We'll find the Bronnix
Park Express.
Our Flatbush flat, I guess,
Will be a great success,
More or less.
A short vacation
On Inspiration Point
We'll spend,
And in the station house we'll end,
But Civic Virtue cannot destroy
The dreams of a girl and boy.
We'll turn Manhattan
Into an isle of joy!

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 5:24pm

It Ain't Necessarily So (Porgy and Bess):

It ain't necessarily so,
It ain't necessarily so.
De t'ings dat yo' li'ble
To read in de Bible,
It ain't necessarily so.

Li'l David was small, but oh my!
Li'I David was small, but oh my!
He fought big Goliath
Who lay down an' dieth,
Li'l David was small, but oh my!

Yeah! Oh, Jonah, he lived in de whale!
Oh, Jonah, he lived in de whale!
Fo' he made his home in
Dat fish's abdomen,
Oh, Jonah, he lived in de whale!

Li'l Moses was found in a stream!
Li'l Moses was found in a stream!
He floated on water
Till Ole Pharaoh's daughter
She fished him, she says, from dat stream.

Dey tell all you chillun
De debble's a villun
But 'tain't necessarily so.
To get into Hebben,
Don' snap for a sebben!
Live clean. Look at me! Don' have no fault.
Oh, I takes dat gospel
Whenever it's pos'ble,
But wid a grain of salt.

Methus'lah lived nine hundred years!
Methus'lah lived nine hundred years!
Say, but who calls dat livin',
When no gal'll give in,
To no man what's nine hundred years?

I'm preachin' dis sermon to show
It ain't nessa, ain't nessa, ain't nessa, ain't nessa...


Ain't necessarily so!