"I Put My Hand In" from HELLO, DOLLY!

It's the perfect first song for Dolly. When the song started, that was the moment I knew I was hooked when I first saw the show. It's so whimsical and tongue-in-cheek. Sure, other songs are perhaps more melodically interesting or more emotional, but that song perfectly captures the essence of the show — cheerful and playful and with some very clever lyrics.

I have a funny relationship with this song. I was in this show in high school and my director did what most Youtube versions of Hello Dolly do: have the entire chorus stand upstage and watch Dolly sing the song, and then have Dolly pull out whoever happened to be standing in a convenient spot to be a man with a timid tongue or a girl with a diffident air. I hated how that looks because it has that "you're just watching rehearsal" aspect to it so common in amateur theater. I hope that makes sense.....

Anyway, I stumbled upon the original staging with Carol Channing (from the 1994 tour) and I loved it. Pretty much the same that you see here with Bernadette: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wzao3urhzQ

I loved the idea of the chorus being offstage and the actors coming out for their little parts and there is something very cute about the little jig they do. So when I directed a high school Hello Dolly about 5 years ago, I was inspired by the original staging. Looking back, I would have said I copied it exactly but re-watching that video I realize mine was actually quite different, partly to avoid plagiarizing another director and partly because I was dealing with amateur kids not union actors.

I have always preferred 'Just Leave Everything to Me', the song that replaced it in the film version, and I love the way Streisand sings it. In fact, I love her performance in the role and I have never thought she was miscast.

Jarethan said: "I have to admit that I never loved this song. It was great in setting up thecharacter, but I did not particularly love listening to it every time I played the album, which was about a thousand times between 1964 and 1966. I also got tired of It Only Takes a Moment, I have to admit.

Sacrilege, I guess, but I preferred Streisand's Just Leave Everything to Me. I don't think Channing could have sung that song, and I don't think that Streisand would have been as good as Channing was with the stage song.

That said, I would've loved to see Donna Murphy sing Just Leave instead ofI Put."

Actually, as written Channing could totally have sung that song. It’s no more or less complicated than ‘I Put My Hand In’ it’s just the movie orchestration and Streisand’s embellishments make it seem so.

There is a recording of Joanne Worley singing it on Spotify that would give you a better idea of who it sounds stripped back :)

GavestonPS said: "Well, as long as we're being brutally honest, I admit I've never liked the hook, "I put my hand in here, I put my hand in there." I realize it's period-correct (and probably comes from Wilder, though I'm too lazy to reread the play).

But it has always sounded like a weird double-entendre to me. (And, no, I'm not normally the Beavis or Butthead in the room.) Where exactly is she sticking her digits?!

Without comparing the two lyrics as a whole, I prefer the title/hook "Just Leave Everything to Me". I think it sets up Dolly as the "puppet master" who will more or less control everyone for the entire evening. (Yeah, I realize puppeteers put their hands in puppets, too, but there we come back to the creepy anatomical images.)

And as long as I'm being heretical, I agree with Jarethan on "It Only Takes a Moment". I think it is one of Herman's dullest ballads, no matter how well Gavin Creel sings it!"

I have never even come close to seeing a double entendre in the lyrics of “I put my hand in here...”

I see it as being that she stirs the pot. She manipulates the situation to bring people together.

Always thought it was obvious, but maybe I’m missing something.

But then again, maybe the question was a joke and I fell for it, taking it seriously.

Moving on.

Loopin’theloop said: "Jarethan said: "I have to admit that I never loved this song. It was great in setting up thecharacter, but I did not particularly love listening to it every time I played the album, which was about a thousand times between 1964 and 1966. I also got tired of It Only Takes a Moment, I have to admit.

Sacrilege, I guess, but I preferred Streisand's Just Leave Everything to Me. I don't think Channing could have sung that song, and I don't think that Streisand would have been as good as Channing was with the stage song.

That said, I would've loved to see Donna Murphy sing Just Leave instead ofI Put."

Actually, as written Channing could totally have sung that song. It’s no more or less complicated than ‘I Put My Hand In’ it’s just the movie orchestration and Streisand’s embellishments make it seem so.

There is a recording of Joanne Worley singing it on Spotify that would give you a better idea of who it sounds stripped back :)"

interesting. I have to admit that I assumed that the speed of the song was decided by Jerry Herman or the film's orchestrator. I never saw CC as a 'speed singer.' She seemed to focus on each word individually. While Streisand's diction was clear, you never felt she was focusing on individual words, but getting the entire thing out. I don't know if that makes any sense, but I just don't see Carol Channing singing that song, at least the was it was paced in the movie.

PS -- I loved Carol Channing's Dolly and I actually enjoyed Streisand's Dolly, although i only liked the movie (whereas I LOVED the show). It is impossible to capture the excitement / joy of seeing the title song or Sunday Clothes, two of the all-time great production numbers, live vs. on film.