Cringeworthy Lyrics- Page 2

[Calvin]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 9:44am

Any lyric that rhymes "heart" and "never part." I'll just keep it general, so as not to pile on to the Wildhorn brigade, but there's one major offender of that in J&H.

[newintown]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 10:08am

From Next To Normal:
I'm no sociopath.
I'm no Sylvia Plath.
I ain't no Frances Farmer kind of find for you.

I writhed in my seat.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 11:06am

I like all the lyrics in Wicked with their clever internal rhymes and feel like the attacks were totally undeserved.

Schwartz was definitely trying way too hard with his lyrics in Wicked. He has been far more successful with other shows with the internal rhyming he loves and all the other tricks he uses. Heck, I think his lyrics for The Hunchback of Notre Dame are better than his Wicked lyrics.

~Steven

[mallardo]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 11:17am

Steven, we'll just have to disagree. I think Schwartz is a very good lyricist and his work in Wicked is the best work he has done.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 11:24am

I think his lyrics (and one too many power ballads) cost him the Tony. Whoops.

~Steven

[newintown]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 11:35am

I agree with Steven - Schwartz has been working far too hard to be "brilliant" for the last 15 years. Wicked is one of those remarkable examples of a show during which you can't wait for the songs to end and get back to the book.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 11:36am

And vice versa with the book. I know I couldn't wait until another song came on, but then the cycle just continued.

~Steven

[Sally]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 12:31pm

More from Love Never Dies:

The song was beautiful!
It sounded beautiful!
Every note, every word.
And it felt beautiful!
And I felt beautiful!

[ ---Saves trying to rhyme]

Love never dies, love will continue
Love keeps on beating when you're gone [thump, thump--thump thump]
Love never dies, once it is in you
Life may be fleeting, love lives on
Life may be fleeting, love lives on
Updated On: 5/28/10 at 12:31 PM

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 12:37pm

Any lyric from the "101 Dalmatians" musical.

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 2:11pm

"And here's a pic of all of us with smiles on every face" from Next to Normal...was "pic" really the only one-syllable word that Brian Yorkey could find?

[philly03]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 2:26pm

Some of my favourites from Napoleon's "big song" Sweet Victory Divine, sung by Napoleon himself...:

"Sweet victory divine,
tell me you are mine
None is more willing to fulfill your grand design"


A shame since Timothy William's music is fantastic (with Tunick's orchestrations!) for this piece!


One of my favourite Don Black ones from DRACULA, the musical:
"It's hard to make each moment count, when you're alone
Maybe that's all I need to know"

One of Mina's songs, in which she is split between Harker & Dracula...yet there is no mention of who shes singing about!
"If I could fly, I'd fly away from you
Away from it all, but I am trapped and fighting to break free
What have you done to me?
I wish I had wings, no that's not true!
If I had wings how could I help flying straight to you"


Updated On: 7/5/12 at 02:26 PM

[Here I Am]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 2:30pm

I have to disagree with newintown. I love the Sylvia Plath/Frances Farmer lyric in 'Didn't I See This Movie?'
Updated On: 5/28/10 at 02:30 PM

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 3:42pm

I disagree on the Next To Normal lyrics posted thus far...they never struck me as clunky...

my favorite cringe is in "You'll See" in RENT
"..think twice before you poo poo it"


really?
and I always agree with the Webber/Rice, Don Black, Wildhorn, Schwartz clunkers. Wicked has some bad ones, but I think he set up a 'world' where some of it's acceptable.

[noradesmond]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 4:15pm

I normally like Jerry Herman but this line from "I Am What I Am" always makes me cringe,

"There's one life and there's no return and no deposit.
One life, so it's time to open up your closet."

Ugh.

[Here I Am]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 7:28pm

desmond, he was obviously making a statement about coming out of the closet and being proud of who you are. Sorry, I'm not trying to explain it to you or anything. I'm sure it's pretty obvious, but that's why that particular lyric never bothered me.

[taylorPHENOMENON2]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 8:04pm

Here's another from Didn't I See This Movie (Next to Normal) that really irritates me:

"Didn't I see this movie, with McMurphy and the nurse?
That hospital was heavy, but this cuckoo's nest is worse."

It just to me comes off like "if you have to explain a joke it's not funny" type of thing. If you don't know who McMurphy is, we'll drop one of the words in the movie title to help you out!

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 8:10pm

From WHOOP UP:

"Hey love eyes -
You in those levis!
Your lipstick's wet and waiting for my smear,
Hey love eyes-
Come here!"

[xoffender45]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 8:14pm

"God, I'm a dancer. A dancer dances."

[JP2]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 8:30pm

"No no no, that's not possible!"
-Memphis

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 8:34pm

I adore "Love never dies, once it is in you." That's the best worst lyric ever.

[musicaltheater1]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 8:36pm

Miss Saigon is one of my favorite musicals but, I still cannot stand the beginning of this song.

"The heat is on in Saigon
The girls are hotter 'n' hell
One of these slits here will be Miss Saigon
God, the tension is high, not to mention the smell
The heat is on in Saigon
Is there a war going on?
Don't ask, I ain't gonna tell"

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 8:40pm

It's that idiot, Raoul!
Why I'll kill the drunken fool!

--Love Never Dies

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 9:04pm

The Show - The Worst - The Ed Wood Musical

Song: Tor Tor

Sung By Tor Johnson

Lyric:

I came from behind
Swedish Frankenstein
It's time to be fed
My enemy's head
It bobbles off spine

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 9:42pm

It's worse when it happens in a song you like. In "Blame It On The Summer Night" from "Rags," Schwatrz rhymes "luminous" with "one of us".

I don't find the actual rhymes in the song "Sunset Blvd." to be actually bad. It's more the fact that title song is mis-accented.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 9:49pm

There's one from The Baker's Wife that makes me wince. It's something like "He gives it his all / so why do I sit here, remembering Paul"