Miss Saigon question- Page 2

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 11:45pm

A bit curious, but did they use a projection for the helicopter?

[caitiesus1522]

Posted: 11/12/06 at 11:51pm

Ok so I want to clarify something since I got an IM about it.

I actually KNEW why she killed herself, I did not have to ask Jasonf, I just said that someone who does not know Madame Butterfly may not get why since there were no lyrics saying why she did it. Then we spent about 20 minutes trying to decide if they did and we missed it

Clarification over

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 3:30am

you know... come to think about it... maybe the ending is supposed to be ambigous... maybe we're not supposed to know the motives so clearly... and that's what makes it so tragic... well that's what makes any suicide so tragic... or maybe it's just shock to people at the end because they want her to be with Chris and they can't believe it ended that way... i mean i get so many different reactions from people about this show and the ending... but in the longrun... it's just a great show... and although it's my #1 show of all time... i will agree that the lyrics are kinda embarrassing (not all of them but quite a few).... but hey, if you're a fan of something you should be able to accept it's strengths and weaknesses, right?

and msls777.... THANK YOU for writing that down about the Confrontation lyrics... i've been meaning to write that down on several boards where people complain about that specific lyric in the musical... yes it may sound weird but grammatically it makes perfect sense... and people... this is the english language we're talking about... one of the, if not the most difficult language in the world... how many times have we sat there thinking to ourselves... "that doesn't sound right" but it actually is...

[jasonf]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 5:45pm

Nope, you're wrong about these lyrics still:

"Let me tell you the way it was, back when I was a different man, back when I didn't have a clue who I am"

Grammatically, it SHOULD be "was". The line is NOT about him changing or who he is as he's singing the line AT ALL - it's about who he WAS then. Going back to "Why God, Why?" he was confused about his role in the war, and who he was as a person that fit into that - THAT'S what he's singing about there. There is no question that the line is referring to the past, NOT about who he is as he's singing.
Additionally, he doesn't know who he would be in the future, obviously, so singing that he didn't know who he would become isn't just grammatically incorrect but redundant and meaningless. In addition to the tense issue, "man" and "am" don't rhyme (and I know it's followed by "damn" and "Vietnam" - but those couplets are separate from this one.)

I actually read this line to my 7th and 8th grade students today, and almost without exception they recoiled at the grammar and were EASILY able to point out the verb tense shift and why it didn't work...

[jasonf]

Posted: 11/13/06 at 5:48pm

OK, and Caitie DID get why she killed herself - that was my goof. :) Public retraction - OK, Caitie?

And no projection, COOOOL Kid - as I said, it was done all with lights.