Favorite Sondheim Intricate Rhyming Lyrics — Page 3

A couple faves:

"Just remembering you had an 'and,' when you're back to 'or,'
Makes the 'or' mean more than it did before." (Moments in the Woods)

"Please
Hello, I come with letters from Her Majesty Victoria
Who, learning how you're trading now, sang "Hallelujah, Gloria!" And sent me to convey to you her positive euphoria
As well as little gifts from Britain's various emporia." (Please Hello)

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Updated On: 2/27/05 at 12:41 PM

just listening to my sweeney cd and heard amazing rhyming lyrics that were good enough to bump this year old thread!

There were these two, you see,
Wanted her like mad,
One of 'em a JUDGE,
T'other one his BEADLE.
Every day they'd nudge
And they'd wheedle.
But she wouldn't budge
From her needle.
Too bad. Pure thing.

whew. sondheim.

i sort of hate to ask it...

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Must it all be
Either less or more?
Either plain or grand?
Is it always "or"?
Is it never "and"?
That's what woods are for -
For those moments in the woods.
- "Moments in the Woods", Into the Woods

We've no time to sit and dither
While her withers wither with her!
- "Prologue", Into the Woods

Man, I have to sing the latter and it's a killer.

Updated On: 2/26/06 at 09:32 PM

Sweeney and the Judge, with an nifty little triple rhyme that I rediscovered on the new recording:

Make haste and if we wed,
you'll be commended, sir.
--My lord!
And who, may it be said,
is your intended, sir?
--My ward...

Oh, so many great ones have been mentioned! Color and Light mentioned my two favorites from Sunday in the Park...

All of "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," in particular
"When a person says that you upset her,
That's when you're good.
You impersonate a person better
Than a zombie should.
I could understand a person
If he wasn't good in bed.
I could understand a person
If he actually was dead.
Exclusive you!
Elusive you!
Will any person ever get the juice of you?
You're crazy,
You're a lovely person,
You're a moving,
Deeply malajusted,
Never to be trusted,
Crazy person yourself.
You're bad...
Bobby is my hobby and I'm givin' it up!"
-COMPANY

"Should there be a marital squabble,
Available Bob'll
Be there with the glue!
Who could we open up to?
Secrets we keep from guess who.
Who is so safe, and who is so sound?
You never need an analyst with Bobby around."
-COMPANY

This isn't so intricate lyrically, but I absolutely cannot get it out of my head lately:
"And though I'll think of you I guess
Until the day I die,
I think I miss you less and less
As every day goes by, Johanna..."
-SWEENEY TODD

Updated On: 2/26/06 at 10:22 PM

Artists are bizarre, fixed, cold.
That's you George you're bizarre, fixed, cold.
I like that in a man - fixed, cold.
God! It's hot out here!

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE

Updated On: 3/2/06 at 10:45 PM

How could we forget:

Lucy is juicy
But terribly drab.
Jessie is dressy
But cold as a slab.
Lucy wants to be dressy.
Jessie wants to be juicy.
Lucy wants to be Jessie
And Jessie Lucy.
You see, Jessie is racy
But hard as a rock.
Lucy is lacy
But dull as a smock.
Jessie wants to be lacy,
Lucy wants to be Jessie.
That's the sorrowful précis.
It's very messy.

"The Story of Lucy and Jessie" from FOLLIES

Why did you do it, Johnny,
Throw it all away?
Why did you do it, boy,
Not just destroy
The pride and joy
Of Illinois,
But all the U.S.A.?
--"The Ballad of Booth", Assassins

Free country
Means your dreams can come true:
Be a scholar --
Make a dollar --
Free country
Means they'll listen to you:
Scream and holler --
Grab 'em by the collar!
Free country
Means you don't have to sit --
That's it!
And put up with the s**t.
--"Everybody's Got the Right", Assassins


BALLADEER
Look on the bright side,
Not on the sad side,
Inside the bad side
Something's good!
This is your golden
Opportunity:
You've been a preacher --

GUITEAU
Yes, I have!

BALLADEER
You've been an author --

GUITEAU
Yes, I have!

BALLADEER
You've been a killer --

GUITEAU
Yes, I have!

BALLADEER
You could be an angel --

GUITEAU
Yes, I could!

--"The Ballad of Guiteau", Assassins



Those always give me chills. Oooh, Sondheim, how do you do it?

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Updated On: 2/27/06 at 01:14 AM

I'm so excited nobody else posted mine! The whole song, but...

Now, insofar as approaching it,
What would be festive
But have its effect?
Now, there are two ways of broaching it:
A, the suggestive,
And B, the direct.
Say
That I settle on B, to wit,
A charmingly
Lecherous mood,
A,
I could put on my nightshirt or sit
Disarmingly,
B, in the nude.
That might be effective;
My body's all right--
But not in perspective
And not in the light.
I'm bound to be chilly
And feel a buffoon,
But nightshirts are silly
In mid-afternoon.
Which leaves the suggestive,
But how to proceed?
Although she gets restive,
Perhaps I could read.
In view of her penchant
For something romantic,
De Sade is to trenchant
And Dickens too frantic,
And Stendhal would ruin
The plan of attack,
As there isn't much blue in
"The Red and the Black."
De Maupassant's candour
Would cause her dismay,
The Brontes are grander
But not very gay,
Her taste is much blander,
I'm sorry to say,
But is Hans Christian Ander-
Sen ever risque?
Which eliminates A...

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I love "On the Steps of the Palace", so I'm posting these lyrics, even if they're already here.

"But then what if he knew who you were when you know that you're not what he thinks that he wants?

And then what if you are what a prince would envision?

Although how can you know who you are 'till you know what you want, which you don't, so then which do you pick?
Where you're safe out of sight and yourself but where everything's wrong,
Or where everything's right, and you know that you'll never belong,
And which ever you pick do it quick 'cause you're starting to stick to the steps of the palace!"

"Now it's he and not you who is stuck with a shoe,
In a stew...
In the goo...
And you've learned something too, something you never knew, on the steps of the palace!"

OK..here's when I KNEW that I was die-hard Sondheim fan ...prepping for A Little Night Music by listening to the cd...one day out crept this lyric

"The hands of the clock turn
But don't sing a nocturne...
Just yet."