I don't care what you say, Stephen Schwartz is a God

Posted: 12/6/08 at 10:47pm

My days are brighter than morning air
Evergreen pine and autumn blue
But all my days are twice as fair
If I could share
My days with you

My nights are warmer than fire coals
Incense and stars and smoke bamboo
But nights were warm beyond compare
If I could share
My nights with you

To dance in my dreams
To shine when I need the sun
With you
To hold me when dreams are done

And oh....
My dearest love
If you will take my love
Then all my dreams are truly begun

And time weaves ribbons of memory
To sweeten life when youth is through
But I would need no memories there
If I could share
My life with you

[jenna2]

Posted: 12/6/08 at 10:53pm

I'm not a huge fan of Stephen Schwartz, but 'With You' is a gorgeous song.

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 12/6/08 at 11:03pm

Excuse please--What is "smoke bamboo?"

[Robert Taylor]

Posted: 12/6/08 at 11:12pm

Hey, any guy who could write the score to "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is a god in my book. Not capitalized God, like in the title of the thread, but one of those demigods.

Posted: 12/6/08 at 11:23pm

"The techniques of weaving bamboo in strips vary with each basket, which may include such materials as old bamboo arrow shafts, driftwood, cloud-pattern bamboo (named for its intermittent mottling), and smoke bamboo (taken from the rafters of old country cottages exposed to smoke for more than 100 years)."

But, I will confess- from the time I first head the line as a 70s teen I thought he was referring to joints rolled in Big bamboo papers.

[BNN]

Posted: 12/6/08 at 11:27pm

"There are bridges you cross
You didn't know you crossed
Until you've crossed"

Eh, he can be like a patron saint in my book.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 12/6/08 at 11:31pm

I've smoked some mean Bamboo.
Can't wait to hear those lyrics signed and sung in LA.

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 12/6/08 at 11:34pm

Thanks for the clarification!

I have always thought he was a really good composer. I don't always share that enthusiasm for his lyrics, however.

Music A, Lyrics B+

[adamgreer]

Posted: 12/6/08 at 11:39pm

I've always found a lot of his music to be gorgeous, though I agree that some of his lyrics are much better than others.

I think "For Good" is a brilliant song, musically and lyrically.

[sleepyguy1717]

Posted: 12/6/08 at 11:42pm

I've always been captivated by his compositions.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 12:01am

Hit and miss for me. I hate Godspell as a show, but I love some of the music. And thinking about Hunchback sung live, with a big orchestra, gives me chills!

[Jack King]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 12:17am

He has been very lucky. The REALLY great tunesmiths have all passed away with no-ones to replace them. That's a fact of current theater life.

So when was the last time you walked out of a Broadway show humming and singing music by today's living composers? Alas and alack to Hackensack!

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 12:19am

"That's a fact of current theater life."

Actually, that's not remotely a fact. It's your opinion.

As for Schwartz, like many, I find him to be hit or miss. I do find myself wondering how the person who writes his great songs and strong lyrics is the same guy who writes his dud songs and banal lyrics. Far more than most other composers, I find him incredibly and frustratingly inconsistent, not just from show to show but from song to song inside his shows.
Updated On: 12/7/08 at 12:19 AM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 12:27am

Robert Taylor: Schwartz didn't compose Hunchback's score; he just wrote the lyrics.

That said, I think that "Meadowlark" is a brilliant song and almost makes up for the entirety of Wicked. Almost.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 12:47am

But what's up with his hair?

And why does he always wear tight shirts?

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 1:27am

I find him to be a bit hit or miss also. I love Wicked and "For Good" actually brought me to tears when I saw the OBC. I would have to say that outside of Wicked my favorite songs are "All Good Gifts", "By My Side", "On The Willows", "Magic to Do", "The Spark of Creation" and "Lost in the Wilderness". I can remember getting the Godspell album and playing those 3 songs constantly! I must say that I really should listen to Pippin again. I do not own it and have only heard it about 3 or 4 times. I have seen it on video twice.

[B3TA07]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 2:57am

"And why does he always wear tight shirts?"

Seriously!


And I have always liked the "bridges you cross" lyric...

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 3:11am

Pippin, "Meadowlark" and some of his work on Enchanted make me looooove him.

Wicked, which I do love in my inner fangirl soul, is such a hacky hot mess that's a bona fide crowd pleaser. I love "No Good Deed," I enjoy the end of "Defying Gravity" and I am one of the people who likes the "bridges" line.

Even Godspell - a show I adored in my youth that I finally got out of my system when I played The Lord - has its place in my heart.

He is just wildly inconsistent. And when he's bad, he's cringeworthy.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 3:36am

I agree with adamgreer.

And it's nice to see everyone being civil while discussing this...if this was posted three years ago, it would have ended...well...let's just say interestingly?

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 3:43am

And when he's bad, he's cringeworthy.

- That is the PERFECT summation of Schwartz.

[amoni]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 4:15am

He's not lucky, he's talented. And who on this planet isn't "Hit or Miss" and please don't use the "S" word because he's been pure miss since 1989.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 4:16am

Yeah, but Sondheim has much more respected and impressive body of work.

And YOU brought him up.

[Weez]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 5:46am

Ain't nothin' "miss" about Adam Guettel. Apart from the fact I miss him and wish he were composing many more shows. Some of his stuff can be very difficult, but it's all wonderful.

[Usnavi]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 9:35am

"There are bridges you cross
You didn't know you crossed
Until you've crossed"

which reminds me of this lyric he wrote for disney's pocahontas:

"You'll learn things you never knew,
you never knew"





Updated On: 12/7/08 at 09:35 AM

[James885]

Posted: 12/7/08 at 9:48am

I too, also feel that he's very inconsistent between his scores. I love his Godspell and Pippin scores and I like his lyrics for Hunchback and Enchanted.

Wicked, IMO, is one of his weaker scores. Some of his lyrics are laughable for all the wrong reasons. I felt that the only memorable numbers were What Is This Feeling?, Popular, Defying Gravity (which is remembered more for the flying effect than the song itself),and For Good.