"Memory" from CATS

[tiny_but_feisty]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 6:58pm

I was wondering what everyone thought about the song "Memory" from the famous Broadway hit CATS...
..if anyone had opinions on the music or lyrics.
How the music flows with lyrics?

Did you guys think it flowed with the show or made a contribution to the show in any way?

CATS is one of my favorite musicals and "Memory" is such a beautiful song, I just had to get some feedback and opinions on it.

[Dirty Rotten Scoundrel]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 7:13pm

"from the famous Broadway hit CATS... " do you by any chance work with a production affiliated with Cats?..

[hak]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 7:43pm

there was a show about cats? what will they think of next?!

[stylinbohemian]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 7:55pm

I love the composure, and lyrics, its a wonderful song, still gives me chills and tears everytime i see it on stage

[AuditioningWaitress]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 7:56pm

I loved this song when I was a kid...I'm a little bit over it now as it seems every theatre female singer as included it on her CD at some point.

[stylinbohemian]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 8:01pm

ha, but it can also be a very amusing on those types of cd's, I found this broadway collection of songs cd, but it was just like someone recorded a karaoke night, and I must say when you hear it done badly you do learn to appreciate it a lot more

[jasonf]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 8:30pm

"A show about a doll? What next, a show about the common cat or the kid of Siam?" -- C.M. Burns....
Or something very similar to that....

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 8:32pm

Never heard of this one. Who wrote it?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 8:34pm

Are you sure you're not confusing this with "Mammaries"? That's the song Broadwaylady sings when she goes shopping for new bras.

[stylinbohemian]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 8:39pm

Dollypop.....what?!

[Necromancer07707]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 9:00pm

"How the music flows with lyrics? "
Something tells me you don't know much about classical music. This is very common, and not altogether difficult to do in the composing process. In fact, working with the two together sometimes makes composing even easier.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 10:02pm

have always, will always HATE that song....for me it's just like scratches on the chalkboard

[Dirty Rotten Scoundrel]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 10:06pm

Do tell me about this 'CATS'. It befuddles me.

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/9/05 at 10:24pm

Did you guys think it flowed with the show or made a contribution to the show in any way?


Is this a real question?
It's like saying "What do you guys think of that fabuluos monologue To be or not be? Did you guys think it flowed with the show or made a contribution to the show in any way?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 10/10/05 at 2:23am

OK,let's not compare Shakespeare to Andrew Lloyd Webber, please, I'm an English major so that kind of bothered me,lol. The difference between the "To be or not to be" soliloquy and "Memory" is that the play Hamlet and Shakespeare would both have been considered brilliant and seamless if the soliloquy hadn't been written; however, Cats-and Lloyd Webber for that matter-would not be considered what it is if it was not for that one song. I hate Lloyd Webber, hate Cats, but I gotta admit that when Betty Buckley sings that song, I do get into, when Elaine Page sings it it's like I'm listening to the Good Vibrations non-existent cast recording.

[Dirty Rotten Scoundrel]

Posted: 10/10/05 at 2:28am

I have to second third, etc the flowing with the lyrics line. That is the point of it right. I mean, nobody is gonna go around putting the lyrics to One More Day from Les Mis with the music of Circle of Life from Lion King? The music is in fact supposed to flow with the lyrics...

[Sant]

Posted: 10/10/05 at 8:14am

"let's not compare Shakespeare to Andrew Lloyd Webber"

Why would anyone do that?! Shakespeare was a WRITER, Lloyd Webber is a COMPOSER!

Webber wrote the MELODY for the song, Trevor Nunn wrote the LYRICS!

Let's have the basics right.

As for the song itself, I think it is very beautiful one and the best song in that show, but I am a bit tired of it right now because it seems like every actress just have to record this song - and none of them brings anything new to this song.

[kooky]

Posted: 10/10/05 at 8:36am

I for one have ALWAYS HATED that song. It says NOTHING !
Sorry who ever asked - - - that's what makes the world go round.
That show was still a huge hit, so it really doesn't matter what I think.
Still HATE IT though.

[JBSinger]

Posted: 10/10/05 at 9:39am

AS for the song itself, it is gorgeous and can be thrillingly performed completely independent of its context in CATS. A little history however.

ALW was working on producing a play about Puccini and came up with the Puccini-esque tune. He played it for his father (also a composer) and asked what he thought - as the story goes the father essentially said that sounded like a hit. When CATS was being developed Tim Rice was asked to take the Elliot fragment and create a lyric and then Trevor Nunn did as well. Elaine Paige was often singing one or the other on any given night due to the confusion. The Nunn lyric won out and it has become an international hit song. In terms of its place in the show/value - The Grizabella storyline is all there is of substance in what is, essentially, a pageant. We are drawn to the poor old whore kitty and this song (though textually un-related to the rest of the evening), gives us the catharsis we need to send her on to the Heavyside Layer. On the commercial side, it gave the show a hit song as well (even though the score is quite tuneful). CATS would not have been CATS without "Memory." Just as Chorus Line wouldn't have had the same impact without "What I Did For Love." Kleban hated it, but it gave the audience something to relate and hang on to.
When in the hands of the right performer, this song can be devastating and amazing. Even after all these tired years later, it can still provoke a visceral response. Watch/listen to Betty Buckley on the Broadway Treasures Vol1. Even with just that shortened segment, the "Touch me!" segment is AMAZING!

[lildogs]

Posted: 10/10/05 at 11:52am

I think it goes more like this: A show about a doll? Why not write one about the common cat or the king of Siam? Give it up, Smithers...

But I think the song is great! My fave "Memory" performance however, was Marian Seldes giving a dramatic reading of it for a Cameron Mackintosh event. It was like Helen Sinclair come to life! Updated On: 10/10/05 at 11:52 AM

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 10/10/05 at 11:54am

I can't stand Cats, but a good Memory always gets me.

[wickedobsessed]

Posted: 10/10/05 at 12:01pm

I love Memory. I sang it for an audition earlier this year. Great song:)

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/10/05 at 12:36pm

"I for one have ALWAYS HATED that song. It says NOTHING !"

It says nothing??? Have you ever paid attention to the lyrics? It is so incredibly poignant and touching. It's about someone who feels lonely and lost with only happy memories of a faded past left to cling to. The end of the song is a desperate plea that someone may someday reach out to them and bring happiness into their life once again. And even when it doesn't happen, they see each new day as another chance for happiness to come to them.

Yes, the song is overused, but when performed well, especially in the context of the show, it can be incredibly moving. I hate the song when it is used for karaoke or simply to show off a belt, but when I've seen it performed well in the show, it is quite chilling. The song became a classic hit for a reason. And like all hit songs, got sung to death and many people simply shrug it off without paying attention.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/10/05 at 12:44pm

Very well said - I was going to write something very similar, now I won't bother. Agreed 100%!

[Apollo]

Posted: 10/10/05 at 12:49pm

Oy! I saw it the year it came out, and then in 1991.

To this day, it is the only show where I remember absolutely nothing about it.

The only thing I do remember, and not sure what the hell it was about, was the cats dressed up as bugs on a ship.