Favorite Sondheim Lyric?

[It's All Good]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 9:25pm

Mine is a very unconventional choice, I suppose, but every time I hear the song "A Weekend in the Country," I am struck by how clever this lyric is:

Guess what an invitation/ Guess who begins with an A/ Armfeldt is that a relation to the decrepid Desiree?

Love it. Love it. What are everyone else's favorites?

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:33pm

Decrepit. The word is decrepit.

And my favorite Sondheim lyric:

"I remember trees
Bare as coat racks
Spread like broken umbrellas"

[jv92]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:45pm

Wow, there are lots, but one my favorites (at the moment) is-

Mama said, "Darling, mustn't be blue-it's not so much do what you likeas it is that you like what you do."

[bwayboi4life42]

Posted: 7/29/06 at 11:56pm

I love all the lyrics from "Children Will Listen." It's a beautifully written song.

"Guide them, but step away; children will glisten." That always sends chills down my back for some reason.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 12:20am

"Pretty isn't beautiful, Mother,
Pretty is what changes.
What the eye arranges
Is what is beautiful."


~Sunday in the Park with George

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 12:27am

"It's intolerable being tolerated" - ALNM

ONe of the many, can't pick just one, but I thought of that first.

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 12:29am

His lyrics are so enchanting! It has deep meaning instead of those rap singers rhyming every word possible even if the meaning comes out bizzare.

[C is for Company]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 12:32am

I don't have the patience to type out all the lyrics to A Weekend In The Country, but honestly, that has some addictive lyrical qualities. Just a perfect song to hear/read.

[PirelisMiracleElixir]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 12:57am

From Sweeney, "God that's Good!"

"Things like being careful with your coriander, that's what makes the gravy grander!"

Every time I hear it, I cannot help but laugh at how clever it is.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 1:04am

Also from "God That's Good"

God, that's good that is de have you
Licious ever tasted smell such
Oh my God what perfect more that's
Pies such flavor

[fiyero8132]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 1:10am

Best to take the moment present as a present for the moment...
---Into The Woods

[acityofstrangers]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 2:22am

into the woods.


"you may know what you need but to get what you want better see that you keep what you have"

I just like the way it flows.

[Color and Light]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 2:46am

In view of her penchant for something romantic,
De Sade is too 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 Andersen ever risque?

I love the whole "Now/Later/Soon" sequence, but that's my favorite part.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 3:10am

My favorites are from INTO THE WOODS. You could live your life by these lyrics.

"Into the woods
You go again
You have to every now and then
Into the woods
No telling when
Be ready for the journey"

"Into the woods
You have to grope
But that's the way you learn to cope
Into the woods
There's always hope
Of getting through the journey"

"Oh if life were made of moments
Even now and then a bad one
But if life were only moments
Then you'd never know you had one"

"Do not put your faith
In a cape and a hood
They will not protect you
The way that they should"

"Nice is different than good"

"Careful the spell you cast
Not just on children
Sometimes the spell may last
Past what you can see
And turn against you"

[LadyLizaElliott]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 8:41am

I love every lyric from "Children and Art", and Henrik's line from ALNM, but one that really stood out for me as being incredibly witty was:

"Who could ever live with an endless erection that falls to it's knees when it sees its' reflection"

The entire "PASSION" flashback is amazing, as well as The Finale

"to die loved is to have lived"- don't know if it was a lyric so to say, but a great line nevertheless

The bridge in "Everyday a Little Death" tears me apart:
"I would murder him right there, but first I'd die,
he talks softly of his wars, and his horses and his whores," especially the way it is sung can make me just want to give Charlotte a big hug.

"there's alot I'll have missed, but I'll not have me dead when I die."- the Miller's Son.

I will keep thinking during work today and come back!

[MOXIEINTHECITY]

Posted: 7/30/06 at 9:11am

"No one has truly shown me-What love could be like until now:
Not pretty or safe or easy.
But more than I ever knew. Love within reason -That isn't love.
And I've learned that from you"
Passion


"Being close and being clever ain't like being true."
Not While I'm Around

[heathurrr]

Posted: 3/29/08 at 3:09pm

I found this old topic through the search, and just had to bring it back :)

"make me confused, mock me with praise" - Being Alive

"I'm a fragment of the day" - Someone in a Tree

and so very many from Sunday In The Park With George...

"The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not. You have to move on." - Move On

"But the woman who won't wait for you knows there's a part of you always standing by, mapping out the sky" - Finishing the Hat

aaand pretty much all of 'We Do Not Belong Together'!

<3

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 3/29/08 at 3:36pm

"And you look inside the eyes.
Pink lips, red cheeks,
And you catch him here and there.
Wide eyes studying, the round face, the tiny pout,
But he's never really there.
Seeing all the parts and none of the whole.
So you want him even more.
But the way she catches light, and the color of her hair...
So you drown inside his eyes.
I could look at him/her forever."
- Color and Light

[devonian.t]

Posted: 3/29/08 at 3:37pm

'children can only grow from something you love to something you lose'- the change of one letter saying so much- delicious!

[pinoyonbroadway]

Posted: 3/29/08 at 3:41pm

"Listen everybody, I'm afraid you didn't hear, or do you
Want to see a crazy lady fall apart in front of you, it
Isn't only Paul who may be ruining his life, you know
We'll both of us be losing our identities, I telephoned my Analyst about it and he said to see him Monday, but by
Monday I'll be floating in the Hudson with the other garbage.
I'm not well,
So I'm not getting married.
You've been swell,
But I'm not getting married.
Clear the hall,
'Cause I'm not getting married.
Thank you all,
But I'm not getting married.
And don't tell Paul,
But I'm not getting married today"

-Getting Married Today from Company. I just love that whole phrase

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 3/29/08 at 3:58pm

"Where'ya going-----
Barcelona------------
Oh--------------------"

[Millie Lammoreaux]

Posted: 3/29/08 at 6:32pm

Maybe not my very favorite, but it always makes me laugh (especially the way Stritch sings it):

"She's tall enough to be your mother."
--Joanne in "Poor Baby" from "Company"

Updated On: 3/29/08 at 06:32 PM

[Mrs Mangel]

Posted: 3/29/08 at 6:38pm

"First you're another slow eyed vamp,
then someone's mother,
then you're camp."
Considering it was written for Yvonne De Carlo, who did go from playing slow eyed vamps, to playing Moses mother in "The ten Commandments" to playing Lily Munster- it's pretty fantastic.

[dominique]

Posted: 3/29/08 at 6:38pm

This always makes me smile:

Something familiar,
Something peculiar,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!

Something appealing,
Something appalling,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!

Nothing with kings, nothing with crowns;
Bring on the lovers, liars and clowns!

Old situations,
New complications,
Nothing portentous or polite;
Tragedy tomorrow,
Comedy tonight!
Updated On: 3/29/08 at 06:38 PM

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 3/29/08 at 6:41pm

Oh, this could change every second. But among my favorites has to be from SITPWG.

I chose and my world was shaken, so what?
The choice may have been mistaken,
the choosing was not.