Confusing "Piazza" lyrics- Page 2

[freeadmission]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 10:14am

The entire show kind of reminds me of a less-comic version of the movie Moonstruck:

Do ya love him, Loretta?
No.
Good. Because when you love 'em they drive you crazy because they know they can.

Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know this either, but love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the wrong people and DIE. The storybooks are BULLSH*T! Now I want you to come upstairs with me and GET in my bed!


I dunno . . . just a thought.

Updated On: 6/21/06 at 10:14 AM

[neomystyk29]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:21am

I have another lyric that has always confused me. I understand what it's going for and the gist of the song is obvious but Im still confused. In Dividing Day the lyrics are:

how could I have guessed
was my cheek upon your chest
an ocean away
when was...

and so on. I'm confused as to the flow of those lines and what exactly they're trying to say. Can anyone offer some clarification?

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:38am

Margaret is just trying to say that there was never anything specific that happened to signal the end of the relationship. Everthing seemed normal, but all of a sudden she realizes that there isn't love there anymore. There were just small things where they gradually drifted apart without even knowing it.

[circusliz]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:39am

I think your confusion comes from lack of punctuation...

"How could I have guessed?
Was my cheek upon your chest?
An ocean away?

When was, when was, when was your dividing day?"

She's trying to figure out when her marriage became loveless. Was it from the start, on the steps of the church right after their vows? Did it happen slowly over time? Did it happen while they were "an ocean away" from each other (possibly a reference to his being overseas during WWII as per their phone conversation prior to the song)?

All along she's asking him what was the dividing day, the day that cut out the love from their relationship (if it was ever there in the first place).

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 11:47am

I think she's not even certain (at that particular time) that it's gone. It's almost as if the new love that Clara and Fabrizio have is reflecting to her that it's something she never had. I think she's trying really hard in that first phone conversation with Roy (just prior to dividing day) to engage his interest. It's a slap in the face for her that he's not even hearing the need in her voice. To me, when Clara sings "The Light In The Piazza" in the 2nd act after she tells Margaret that she and Roy don't love each other that Margaret begins to accept that her marriage is over. That, IMO, is the big revelation in the show for Margaret that allows her to change the course of Clara's life (and ultimately her own).

[nomdeplume]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 12:02pm

The "risk" message is one I partway disagree with and am not surprised you find it confusing. Yes, she's referring to her (Nacarelli) husband's infidelity.

The part of the message that I agreed with was she was clearly allowing Fabrizio to experience his emotion of anguish to be able to get through it and over it without suppressing it. By letting him give it full vent in expression she was trying to avoid him taking a careless and destructive act such as suicide.

However, the idea that infidelity and "risk" made life and love worthwhile I just find I disagree with. It depends on the kind of risk. The risk to commit and take the chance of love, even if you are not loved in return, or cease to be loved I would agree with. The risk to engage in infidelity to give life a false sense of danger to create a false kind of thrill or excitement against the risk of exposure (while in reality being destructive to your own honesty and to the partner who deserves your attention) I just didn't buy. I think that's the way to just create unnecessary trouble in life. When you brutalize the trust you negate the worth of your partner.

[circusliz]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 12:11pm

Hanna--

I disagree with your comment that Margaret doesn't know for sure if her love is gone during "Dividing Day." She sings:

I can see the winter in your eyes, love, telling me:
'Margaret, we did it. You courtsied, I bowed.
We are together, but no more love, no more love allowed.'

I think these lines indicate she's pretty sure Roy no longer loves her.

My interpretation of their relationship, judging by the line "we did it", is that the Johnson's marriage was based solely on raising Clara, not on love between husband and wife. And now that Margaret is facing the possibility of Clara leaving, the Johnson's relationship is over. There's nothing more to do ("You curtsied, I bowed"). And now Margaret is questioning if their marriage was loveless from the start.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 12:18pm

I understand what you are saying. However, I think she's speaking more about what she's getting from Roy, NOT that she's given up yet. I don't think she realizes that SHE'S not in love either. Clara has to tell her to look in the mirror, prompting the slap in the face in Act 2. For a relationship to be over, both parties have to be done.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 2:21pm

OT:

I was disappointed in Sarah Uriarte Berry's high notes during "Aiutami" on the PBS broadcast. She was screeching them out as opposed to singing them beautifully, which she does on the cast recording and she did when I saw the show live.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 3:30pm

Ah, I thought she was just fine.

Also remember that Aiutami isn't meant to be taken literally... it's a fantasy sequence. When Signora Naccarelli steps out of character, she may be addressing her family situation, but she's also directly addressing the themes of the show.

I think one of the things about Dividing Day is that Margaret leaves a lot unsaid. Here, let me fill in the lyrics:

"How could I have guessed that you weren't/aren't in love with me.
Was my cheek lying upon your chest, the two of us in bed together maybe having or just having had sex
But your mind and heart (and by extention her own) were an ocean away"

At least that's how I interpret it.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 6:23pm

I think she's asking when it happened, like... here's how I would format.

"Was it on the church step? Did it happen right away? Were you lying next to me, hiding what you couldn't say? How could I have guessed? Was my cheek upon your chest? An ocean away?"

Like that. "An ocean away" is just another time when it happened... as someone said, perhaps during the war.

[freeadmission]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 6:31pm

Putting the whole verse together like that kind of debunks your own sperate questions theory. Look at it in the whole context, it's quite simple.

"Were you lying next to me, hiding what you couldn't say?" and (the way I would put it) "Was my cheek upon your chest an ocean away?" are only seperated by one line ("How could I have guessed") that suggests they're are questions similar in construction.

The melody itself even suggest the idea that it's one sentence. She sings, "Was my cheek upon your chest . . ." and holds that beautiful note, as if pondering a particular moment in history, before finishing the thought (rather disparingly, I think) " . . . an ocean away?"

Just my $0.02.

Updated On: 6/21/06 at 06:31 PM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 8:43pm

Ah, good point.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 9:43pm

How could you even hear Sarah's notes. I've watched that video and you really can't hear her. Generally during any number with more than 2 people the sound was a hot mess.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 6/21/06 at 9:50pm

I could hear Sarah's notes clearly. It sounds as if her mic was off and her voice was being picked up by someone else's mic, but she was loud enough that I could hear her. She was a bit screechy and flat, but it wasn't that bad. It just wasn't how I remember it!

[LostLeander]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 2:12am

It's been said that those notes in Auitami are the highest in musical theatre history.

I don't know if I believe it, but it's certainly feasible. Sarah's singing a high high F.

I know Cunegonde's got a high Eb, and I don't know who else would have higher than her.

But back to the topic.
Guettel's lyrics are BRILLIANT. I've been listening to various shows, as I usually do, and it's SO apparent when you hear good lyrics. Some try to be poetic and FAIL (Larson, sometimes, Schwartz other times), others are fine. Simple. They get the point across, and the music is really the star: classic R&H, etc. Others are wordy, clunky and awkward: Kushner's for Caroline.. But Guettel's match the beauty of his music perfectly.

Sondheim's still the master though.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 4:53am

I also really like Guettel's lyrics. They don't always sell perfectly the first time but they open themselves up like crazy on repeated listening, much like his music. I suppose they aren't ideal theater lyrics but I really like them.

[freeadmission]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 9:20am

In all honesty, I think the pupil has outdone his teacher. I really do think that Guettel has a better mastery of musical theatre composition (style, lyrics, music, orchestrations, etc all rolled into one) than Sonheim. At least as far as Piazza is concerned. I have yet had the chance (or the funds required to buy that chance) to hear any of Guettel's other work, but Piazza is certainly the most remarkable musical theatre score I've ever heard.

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 9:30am

Does anyone know what Clara says at the very end of "Clara's Interlude?"

Most of it is sung on an "ah" sound, but at the very end, it sounds like she may be saying a word in Italian.

The booklet does not list anything...

[freeadmission]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 9:43am

It always sounded to me (music-wise) like what Fabrizio sings at the end of "Il Mundo Era Vuoto". Which, depending on which part of the song you're looking at, is "La tua luce m'inonda" meaning "You're light fills me". But Clara only sings the "tua(?) luce" part before kind of breaking down, which would be translated "your light". I think that also makes sense in the context of the show.

I'd have to check the recording to make sure, but I (stupidly) lent it out to someone . . . and I miss it terribly.

Updated On: 6/22/06 at 09:43 AM

[Love4Cheno]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 10:15am

Thanks! That makes complete sense, especially given the circumstances at that point in the show, as well as the staging.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 11:22am

Well you know those notes Sarah sings are F's. It's funny cause she's got such a full rich voice...under normal circumstances she really shouldn't be singing F's. However given the point of Auitemi I think singing that one line (an octave higher than it's written) just supports the whole angst of the number.

Sarah isn't really singing that. It is more of a primal (sung)scream. She'd never sing Glitter and be Gay well.

[RuprechtJr.]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 11:33am

I think that her mic was off for a reason. I think that the sound designers realized that a high F would break the audiences ear drums if sung into a mic. So, what they did was leave her mic off for that string of high notes and let the person next to her pick it up with their mic. The note is so loud anyway, it would probably be heard all throught the V.B. theater without any mics at all.

Also, what do you mean (Jazzysuite82) by "an octave higher than it's written?" Was that something that she did as an ad lib? Why would she sing it up there if it wasn't written that way?

[squirrelchaser]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 8:59pm

I know this isn't a lyric, but in the beginning, Clara asks,"What happened here?" and Margaret answers, "I played a tricky game in a foreign country."

What's she talking about?

[kgee30]

Posted: 6/22/06 at 9:25pm

I got the sense that she was speaking from somewhere other than the present, which gives the whole show a sort of dreamlike quality. Because then she skips right back into the present and says "What happened here?" to Clara, indicating the piazza where they're standing.