"Pointless" Songs in Musicals — Page 4

Sentimental Man makes me want to piss on bluebirds..

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Today 4 U-- Love the song, but I think it ruins Angel's whole 'I love life lets all be friends' idea when he goes and kills someone's dog!

Something Bad-- I don't think they should have bothers starting to explain the whole Animal conflict if they weren't going to do it well.

The Book Report-- God this song is annoying! Almost 5 minutes devoted to writing about Peter Rabit. Sort of cute, but doesn't need to take so long and doesn't move the plot forward.

I like to be in America-- Moves the plot absolutely nowhere. Otherwise it's pretty nifty

The fact is that there is more than one way to look at "usefulness" of a song in a musical. Almost every song in every musical serves a purpose. There are four basic reasons for songs to be in musicals:

1) To progress the plot (it seems to be these are your favorite songs)

2) To, through song, express a theme of the show. Rather than progressing the plot, this may stop the plot for a moment, but more clearly express a major theme or other aspect or idea of the show. The point of a musical, after all, is to express ideas through song and dance, not just words. This is the case with "Don't Be the Bunny," "Fugue for Tinhorns," "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat," "Shipoopi," and others. Oh... and almost all the songs in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." I think "What is Urinetown" falls into this category for two reasons. It expresses a theme of the show, but since the theme has been expressed, this as the reason would be redundant. The other reason is as a parody. We must not forget that Urinetown is a parody of the genre of the musical. The fact that it has an arbitrary big number at the beginning of Act 2 is hardly surprising.

3) Technical reasons. ie: they needed time for a set change. "More I Cannot Wish You" was done in front of a fly, while the major set was changed from the burlesque club to the crapshooting cellar/garage.

4)The director or a big star said they wanted a showstopper.

So there, there's a reason for all the songs in all the musicals. Otherwise, I'm sure the song would not be there. A show where all the songs truly progress the plot and are not pointless, though? "On the Twentieth Century."

hmm- many of the songs/production numbers in Oliver! do absolutely nothing. i think it's true that in every show, there's at least one or two numbers where you go, and what was that for? i have to third "another suitcase," mostly because i was so confused when i saw the show for the first time. who was that girl? where did she come from? why is she singing? why should i care? btw to the person who mentioned "too darn hot," couldn't the song be there to insinuate that the battle between fred and kate was going to be getting hotter? in the recent revival (was it 2000?) they pulled the number off very well, by making the actors dance crazy and sweat. you could actually *feel* the heat (i think it was kathleen marshell choreographing). i mean it's the summer, they're under hot lights, and there's friction between the two stars... too darn hot indeed!

In Oliver, the song "I'd Do Anything" was specifically written for Georgia Brown (Nancy). Lionel Bart had known her when they were children and wanted to show off her charm.

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"These songs from 'Autant en Emporte le Vent' either should be moved or replaced."

The songs should probably have been written for something else entirely. A techno-disco Cirque du Soleil multimedia version of Gone With the Wind is just one of the most horrendous ideas for a musical ever concocted. I saw the DVD and I was laughing and nauseous at the same time. It's one of the few truly awful shows I've seen.

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"Love Song" from "Pippin"

Absolute valium for the audience.

Talk about dragging the show to a grinding halt.

Not to fond of "I Guess I'll Miss the Man," but at least it's a bit more specific in defining the characters.

Hey, "The Morning Report" is like "Climb Every Mountain" next to "Chow Down".

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Scary...,

Now you're ARE scaring me. :)

"Shipoopi" moves the plot forward in THE MUSIC MAN in two ways:

1. It gives Marian greater acceptance from the townspeople (who formerly disliked her so much.)

2. When Harold and Marian dance, it is the first time they touch and is the start of their relationship becoming a romantic one.

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i agree with TheAudrey3 about "Something Bad" in wicked but I think we should not forget "Dear Old Shiz" a pointless number.

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There's quite a few out there...

"Shipoopi" from Music Man
"Anything Goes" from Anything Goes
"Who's Got The Pain" from Damn Yankees
"Once A Year Day" from The Pajama Game
"Too Darn Hot" from Kiss Me, Kate
"Honey Bun" from South Pacific
"Those Magic Changes" from Grease
"Children Children" from Bat Boy
"Wonderful" from Wicked

Now the ones I listed were just ones that don't make sense in the story. I love "Children Children" but it's only there to spoof Lion King.

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I think My Fair Lady is a pretty solid score.