Awesomely bad Broadway songs — Page 3

"I don't know who would ever say that "I know where..." is a bad song."

How about the producers of the show when it was being developed in Seattle?

I'm certain I read that Shaiman and Wittman had to fight like mad to keep "I Know Where I've Been" in Hairspray. Margo Lion and others thought the number was too much of a downer. At least one alternate song was written, but the producers agreed to keep "I Know Where I've Been" in for the first previews. It got such a great response that the issue was settled.

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I really can't believe some of these responses. I'm not arguing that these are the best songs ever, but they really don't belong in the discussion of "awesomely bad" Broadway songs.

I don't think it gets much more awesomely bad than "Think of Meryl Streep" from Fame: the Musical.

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wickedrentq -- how can you POSSIBLY say that when "Can't Keep It Down" is in the same musical???

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Because I had to play that score. We even hated playing STREEP--it had all these orchestrations that made no sense.

Okay, so we actually cut Can't Keep it Down, which is probably why I wouldn't consider it. You always like the forbidden, right? It's kind of fun to sing. STREEP is just a bore.

Hmm, okay, thank you for clarifying tech. I guess I saw the title and just thought of the interpretation of awesomely bad songs from whatever, but I guess if you want to look at it the other way..

In that case, no song from Fame: the musical could really qualify...

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"Mack The Knife"

jasonf- Maybe this person's experience with the work is only the recent revival. The poor thing.

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God, I swear, people put Sondheim on this pedestal. He is good, but there are OTHER shows out there.

The thread is "Awesomely Bad Songs" - so, to me, that means songs that are so bad that you can't stop listening to them. So, I'd have to say anything in Wicked - especially with some of those lyrics.

If we're talking bad scores/songs, I'd have to say "Legs Diamond." Wow. That was just painful to listen to. I try to expose myself to new shows and new composers, but that was painful to hear.

Rentboy-I would think For someone who chose "Rentboy" as your name you would appreciate sondheim. You would be hard pressed to find a Bigger fan of Sondheim than Larson-Listen to Tick Tick Boom!

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I think it'd be cool if they'd expanded "Back to Before" to become a tablea number, with other characters joining and singing about the changes in their paths.


But i like it how it is too.

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""Motherhood March" from Hello, Dolly!
Bob Merrill was called in to write the song when the show was suffering out of town, and I'm so used to hearing Jerry Herman's score so much that Bob Merrill seems a tiny bit out of place with this song. Although "Elegance" is total perfection, the song is pretty bad (especially due to the fact that Dolly knows absolutely nothing about American history)."

But you have to admit, the "I stand for Motherhood America and a hot lunch for orphans" line is pretty damn funny.

Especially when you know the true meaning of what a 'hot lunch' is. Though I suppose that could make the song disturbing more than funny.


As much as I like it, "Why Should I Wake Up?" from Cabaret. There's really nothing wrong with the song itself, it just sounds so un-Cabaret like that it can be a bit off setting. (However, I do realize that it's Cliff's perspective on his relationship with Sally and his stay in Berlin, and it's sort of sad that they cut it in the revival because his line at the end "I was dancing with Sally Bowles...and we were both fast asleep" doesn't make too much sense. It *does*, to some degree...but it would make even more sense had they kept his song entact).

I really can't think of anything at the moment...other than that song (which really isn't too bad).

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For my money, the "Entering Grey Gardens" number in GREY GARDENS is a new low. I just couldn't believe my eyes and ears. It looks like some high school production of Disney's Haunted Mansion. Embarassing. Much of the rest of the score is good, but this song is like something out of DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES or CARRIE: THE MUSICAL.

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I nominate most of the score of Carrie. In fact, it would be much easier to name the songs that don't belong on this list, and those are: And Eve Was Weak, Evening Prayers, Unsuspecting Hearts and Heaven. Every other number is AWFUL.

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tobias, I love Assassins, I just think that Unworthy Of Your Love, while it is an interesting song, doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know about those characters. All the other songs in the musical show us a line of reasoning we hadn't thought of. We knew "Squeaky" Fromme and John Hinckley, Jr. thought that they were pleasing the people they loved. The song doesn't make me feel anything for those assassins, unlike the other songs.

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