Bad Lyrics — Page 5

I have never felt like I "knew" a character better than Marvin.

Amen! Warts and all. My all-time favorite musical theater character.

I think the problem is that Maria only really sounds like a poet in that one songs - resulting in a somewhat inconsistent character. You can go either way regarding 'poetry', but you should stick to it through the whole show.

Isn't it:

"There's a kind of a sort of cost
There's a couple of things get lost
There are bridges you cross
You didn't know you crossed
Until you've crossed"

?

What's wrong with that? We normally say "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it", but Glinda is acknowledging that sometimes we cross bridges without noticing.

Updated On: 8/27/12 at 10:51 PM

Well, I'd substitute something for "cross" in the middle line. The near rhyme doesn't help the sequence.

And I think grammatically it should be "You don't know" instead of "You didn't know".

But the sentence is heavily rhymed in part because it is expressing a complex, abstract thought. Schwartz is trying to make sure we hear what Glinda is saying.

I am backing out of this argument now. I don't have a problem with the lines, but I don't understand why jan isn't allowed to have a different opinion without being called a teenager.

LOL Owen, that statement was so ridiculous, for a moment I thought you were a troll. I'm allowed to express my opinion. For instance, I think you are a delusional if you think Wicked has the best lyrics of the decade. If you think I'm alone in thinking Wicked is not the most brilliant musical to come about...you're in for a rude awakening. I'm guessing you don't see a lot of shows.

And I'm not a teenager, and I've seen over 100 shows in my life, but thanks for playing the "I'm smarter than you" game. You lose :). What leads you to think I'm a teenager? The fact that I DON'T like Wicked? Your smug, ridiculous holier-than-thou attitude is incredibly immature. This is a message board-if you don't like it when people express opinions that differ from yours, pack up your twisted panties and go elsewhere.

Updated On: 8/28/12 at 12:00 AM

"But the problem with that lyric isn't it's poetry. The problem is it's bad poetry."

I agree, wholeheartedly. I think that's often where shows go wrong. Beautiful musical compositions...mediocre lyrics.

From the normally impeccable Don Black, an example of poor word-setting.

"They'll say Norma's back again".

The soaring first note of the melody requires a much stronger word than 'They'll'.
Maybe something like "Norma's back where she belongs".

I'm pretty sure that the "bridge" line from Wicked has been mentioned on this thread before. In fact, I think it's been mentioned numerous times. So, no, not everyone thinks it's a brilliant lyric.

As for "I Feel Pretty," I don't know why it isn't possible that Maria could have been singing it in Spanish all along--I mean, we assume that the characters in Les Mis are probably speaking/singing French and the characters in Passion are probably speaking/singing Italian.

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"For instance, I think you are a delusional if you think Wicked has the best lyrics of the decade. If you think I'm alone in thinking Wicked is not the most brilliant musical to come about...you're in for a rude awakening. I'm guessing you don't see a lot of shows."

That is why I think you're a teenager.

Updated On: 8/28/12 at 06:35 PM

So, no, not everyone thinks it's a brilliant lyric."


Well, then everyone's wrong.

Westend Andy, "the normally impeccable Don Black"???!!!!

The man who gave the world perhaps the worst lyric of all time:

Take me to a zoo that's got chimpanzees
Tell me on a Sunday please.

That's not the only problem:

"They'll say Norma's back again".

Why are they talking about "Norma's back" in the first place? Has she a hump? Scoliosis?

Of course, that isn't what most of us think in context, but a lyricist has to beware of lines that have unintended meanings when heard alone. One can't predict exactly where the listener will put the punctuation.

This is one more reason why your version: "Norma's back where she belongs" is a better line.

Personally, I don't find Don Black "impeccable" in any way.

Updated On: 8/28/12 at 10:26 PM