GYPSY - Trunk songs

The only "trunk song" I have ever heard reference to was "You'll Never Get Away from Me", whose melody (with a totally different lyric by a totally different lyricist) was used in the TV musical "Ruggles of Red Gap."

Sondheim was furious when he found out the tune had been recycled, but by then it was too late to make the change.

Updated On: 8/10/09 at 09:57 AM

^ I think you misread something, because I read that earlier last month and they only mention "You'll Never Get Away From Me" as a trunk song.

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I may be alone in this, but what exactly is a "trunk song?" I've never heard this term before.

Just means songs that were previously written for something else like a cabaret show, or another show that never quite left the ground, or was a success, so they recycle the melody or whatever for the new show.

A "trunk song" literally means pulled out of the composer's trunk for use in a show. It may have performed previously, or it might have never seen the light of day.

A song called "Suddenly Lucky" written for but never used in "South Pacific" became "Getting to Know You" in "The King and I", for example.

The Amazon reviewer referred to in a previous post is totally incorrect. Proof yet again that just because someone posts it on the Internet, it is not necessarily true.