Favorite ALW-song lyric (yeah, really...)

[jpbran]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 4:15pm

OK, finding a favorite (or daresay genius) Sondheim lyric is like shooting fish in a barrel. Just too easy...

But how about a favorite lyric from an ALWebber show? That's a little more tricky, no? (Surely there are some buried in the many shows.)

Mine would be "What is the good of the strongest heart, in a body that's following apart? A serious flaw-- I hope you know that." (Evita was on Flix the other night.)

And... well, can't think of another one. Yours? (From any of his lyricists.)


Updated On: 3/31/08 at 04:15 PM

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 4:25pm

I'd actually have to say picking a Sondheim lyric is much harder than picking one from ALW's Lyricists, but I'd have to say:

"With one look they'll forgive the past. They'll rejoice, I've returned at last."

It's not a genius lyric, but I always am moved during that song.

Updated On: 3/31/08 at 04:25 PM

[jpbran]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 4:32pm

I guess that's kinda what I meant-- there are SO MANY genius Sondheim lyrics, that it can be hard to narrow down. (I could come up with 50 easier than trying to pick a #1 fave.)

But I think there's to choose from with an ALW show.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 4:39pm

ANY DREAM WILL DO from JOSEPH
ALL I ASK OF YOU from PHANTOM

[Looney]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:08pm

Well, it was always going to be a Rice lyric, I'm sure...

How about:

You let down your people Evita,
You were supposed to have been immortal,
That's all they wanted, not much to ask for,
But in the end you could not deliver.

Just like that one

[blaxx]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:09pm

And it would be nice to credit the lyricist. As opposed to Sondheim, he didn't write almost any of them, yet he seems to always take credit for the whole thing.

Updated On: 3/31/08 at 05:09 PM

[Pianist3912]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:15pm

^Really? Didn't know that.

[tazber]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:16pm

The whole song "Tell Me On A Sunday"

[Kasie]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:19pm

"Everythings Alright"(reprise) JCS

[metropolis10111]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:22pm

Love all the lyrics to
Love Changes Everything,Only He, and Unexpected Song


... and I really have a soft spot of Going, Going, Gone..

[puppetman2]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:23pm

The one from Phantom that I use as my theme:
Open up your mind,
Let the fantasies unwind

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:25pm

There are no ALW lyrics.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:27pm

Christ, you know I love you
Did you see, I waved?
I believe in you and God,
so tell me that I'm saved.

It's terse and almost corny, but I love it, I just love it.

(Lyrics from "Simon Zealotes" by Tim Rice)

[ChicagoPLAYer]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:33pm

All these things you saw in your pajamas
Are a long-range forecast for your farmers.

[jpbran]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:34pm

"There are no ALW lyrics."

That's why in the first post I clarified by saying "from an ALWebber show." Guess I should change the title...

But, I do believe that he's now almost a "brand name" with a regularly-changing stable of lyricists. They're "Andrew Lloyd Webber shows," "Andrew Lloyd Webber songs", etc. Only somewhat-serious musical fans would clarify and say "Webber-Rice song" or "Webber-Hart song."

[Looney]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:39pm

"Only somewhat-serious musical fans would clarify and say 'Webber-Rice song' or 'Webber-Hart song.'"

Wouldn't that kinda be all of us on this here board?

[jpbran]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 5:49pm

Ha! True 'dat!

(Though some on this board don't recognize anything pre-Wicked.)

[puppetman2]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 7:24pm

Or pre-Spring Awakening

[mauriposa]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 7:30pm

No fair. ChicagoPLAYer totally stole mine.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 7:33pm

As others have said, it's much easier to pick a Sondheim lyric since he is a lyricist. There's no point in juxtaposing Sondheim to Lloyd Webber in terms of lyrics since Webber is not a lyricist, he's just a composer. You'd have to ask for favorite Charles Hart, Time Rice, Richard Maltby Jr., Don Black, etc lyrics.

[Looney]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 7:44pm

To be fair, Ray, he did ask for a lyric from an ALW show. It seemed clear the poster was aware of there being different lyricists.

Well, to me anyway... and he does seem to have clarified it further, just for you

[elphabelle07]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 8:42pm

there arent really any ALW lyrics, but i do love
"I just can't believe my eyes, you look at me as though you couldn't bear to lose me"

[The White Half-Mask]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 9:52pm

I like the lyrics for "The Music of the Night" (written by Charles Hart) that I use in my signature.

"Let your mind start a journey through a strange new, world! Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before! Let your soul take you where you long to be! Only then can you belong to me..."

[amalou]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 10:03pm

I loved a lot of the lyrics for WOMAN IN WHITE. Every time I listen to Maria Friedman sing "I close my eyes, and I still see his face." I get serious chills.

I love all of TRYING NOT TO NOTICE, especially "Can no one hear what my heart seems to shout"

Also, Laura's revelation where she sings "Trust you now why would I trust you when your advice led me here straight from the wedding prayer to complete despair...I'll show you how he loves me, I think you ought to see! His love is only display, a mark for every day. You said he's all a man should be!"

That is just heart wrenching!

[jpbran]

Posted: 3/31/08 at 10:07pm

Ok, we've established that there "are no ALW lyrics" and that he uses different lyricists. Acknowledged and moved past.

And this was just started as a FUNNY (well, attempted) counterpoint to the multiple "favorite Sondheim: lyrics/shows/melodies etc." threads I've seen over the last 18 months browsing this board. As ALREADY clarified, it's "Sondheim lyrics vs. lyrics from an ALW show"-- not a scientifically equal analysis, but a comparison of two of the most influential (for good or bad) "show creators" and the lyrics in their shows.