Bad Lyrics — Page 6

"Norma's back."


one of the greats as one of the greats

Updated On: 8/29/12 at 12:11 AM

Thank you, Owen, for confirming my suspicions that you are a troll. But then again, what do I know. I'm just a silly preteen on Mummy's computer.

Isn't the lyric, "They'll say Norma's back at last"? It indicates her return has been long-awaited.

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I'm going to state that I think Gaveston is really, really stretching to say that some people might assume that Norma (or anyone) is talking about her back in that line from "As If We Never Said Goodbye." I can't help but feel that it would take a very special person to interpret that line as not being about her return to the movies and her fans.

AEA, I tend to agree with you. My dear Gaveston, how that ever occurred to you is beyond me.

They'll say Norma's "back" again. Since there would be little, if any, reason for folks to have ever referred to Norma's "back" (noun form) in the first place,* there would be no reason for them to mention it "again".

*There may be times when a movie star's back is the object of adulation, but rarely is it the subject of constant comment. In such highly theoretical circumstances, however, it would seem that people would be likely to talk about it as much as they would want to irrespective of that star's being long gone from the screen.

Tom: Hey, Buddy, remember Genevieve Bujold's back.

Bill: Oh, yeah, I loved when she turned around in "Coma."

Tom: Canadian chicks have rockin' shoulder blades!

Bill: Did you check out her lats in "Obsession"? They were AMAZING!

Tom: Wonder what ever happened to her.

Bill: Yeah. Hope she still has a back.

Updated On: 8/30/12 at 07:08 PM

Gaveston, I'm using all of my grammar school English to understand your post. And sorry but I'm not succeeding.

What I meant was I read the entire article (and trust me, when it's Spanish, I move my lips when I read) before I realized that your joke referred to Norma Aleandro and wasn't buried in the fine print. Mi malo.

Updated On: 8/29/12 at 07:56 PM

Updated On: 8/30/12 at 11:46 AM

^^^"Lives" doesn't rhyme with "lives"; the first occurrence doesn't rhyme with anything. The second occurrence rhymes with "arrives".

If each occurrence of "lives" were in the same place on its respective line, it would be called an "identity", not a "rhyme".

Updated On: 8/30/12 at 03:12 PM

Oh, there are some great lyrics in Stephen Shwartz gem Children of Eden. *sarcasm mode off*. It's almost hard to pick the stupidest, but I think it's a contest between
"And with a gentle kiss
they soon discover this:
they're love was more than sister and brother".

And

"And the grass was perfect
and the sky was perfect
and the bark of the trees was dappled and rough
But not too rough.
And when there was a cloud, the only cloud allowed,
was fleecy white, and just assymetric enough".

It's scary how bad the lyrics in that show are, honestly....

Totally my bad, Mister Matt (red embarrassed face). For some reason in my head I was sticking the "They'll say Norma's back at last line" at the end of the bridge in "As If We Never Said Goodbye" leading to the big dramatic key change ("And this time will be bigger").

Either way, while I understand better how Gaveston drew the argument that the line could be potentially confusing, I still think it's a pretty big stretch that anybody would hear the line as "They'll say, "Norma's back" at last".

Either way, while I understand better how Gaveston drew the argument that the line could be potentially confusing, I still think it's a pretty big stretch that anybody would hear the line as "They'll say, "Norma's back" at last".

You are absolutely right, AEA. I doubt many people are confused by that line. My point was just that lyric lines aren't always heard in the carefully linear manner with which we read them on the page. It's usually a better idea to phrase lyric lines so they can only be heard in the way intended.

But, no, I was never confused by Norma on that line and I doubt many other people were. On the other hand, a better lyric line wouldn't be open to two literal meanings.

For example, are "they" saying, "Norma's back at last" or are they "at last" saying "Norma's back". This is a minor difference, but do you really want the listener deciphering while your star is singing?

Updated On: 8/30/12 at 09:06 PM

What do you mean? Is there a particular song you don't understand? Not all his lyrics are straightforward. In Trousers and March of the Falsettos often used lyrics poetically to frame the emotions or mood of a particular scene thematically. But I'd say 90% of his lyrics say precisely what they mean.

I think Finn is one of the few writers to write effective musicals set in the present day since Sondheim wrote COMPANY and FOLLIES (and we could argue whether the latter is really set in the "present"). Most musicals benefit from an exotic setting, be it the South Pacific or Neverland, because the setting helps to justify the singing.

But Finn's musicals, particularly the FALSETTOS trilogy, take place in a psychological landscape of the mind that is just as "singable" as turn of the 20th century Oklahoma or Covent Garden. He uses a lot of metaphor (such as the recurrent theme of "feeding" as a metaphor for "loving" or sports for relationship conflict) that raise the level of the action until it is singable (as opposed to a realistic straight play about contemporary people).

But you are right: his lyrics usually have a literal meaning as well. Marvin really does expect Trina or Whizzer to "make the dinner".

(NOTE: Just to be clear, Mister Matt, I am agreeing with you and elaborating, not arguing.)

Updated On: 8/30/12 at 09:21 PM