Songs about the 7 Deadly Sins

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 11:17am

I help put together a musical revue for a local high school each year. We did one a few years ago that featured songs sung by villains that was a real hit. This year I had the idea of revisiting some similar material by pulling together songs exemplifying the 7 deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride) and periodically punctuating them with songs extolling virtues and calls to repentance.

I'd like to call on your collective encyclopedic knowledge of musical theater in putting together a list of the best songs out there.

There are a lot of songs that, within the context of their shows, are "kind of" about envy or anger, but if possible I would like to choose ones that don't need much context or story to make sense. A good example for pride would be "Anything You Can Do." A less good example would be "Popular." Make sense?

Fire away!

[strummergirl]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 11:31am

"Eve Was Weak" from Carrie. The mother mentions lust as the 'first deadly sin'.

[Calvin]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 11:46am

"Hello Little Girl" could cover gluttony or lust, depending on how you play it.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 11:53am

Here are some I have already thought of:

Wrath: Epiphany (Sweeney Todd)
Greed: I Want it Now (from the old Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Pride: Anything You Can Do (Annie Get Your Gun); You're Nothing Without Me (City of Angels); Show Off (Drowsy Chaperone)
Lust: I Cain't Say No (Oklahoma); The Lusty Month of May (Camelot); Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (Mamma Mia)
Envy: The Grass is Always Greener (Woman of the Year)
Gluttony: Food, Glorious Food (Oliver); Buffet (Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know)
Sloth:

And on the other side: Follow the Fold (Guys & Dolls); Repent (On the Twentieth Century); She Didn't Say Yes (Cat and the Fiddle)

[gypsy4]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 12:02pm

Learn your Lessons well-Godspell!

[newintown]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 12:13pm

Wrath: Could I Leave You? (Follies), Nobody Steps On Kafritz (Henry, Sweet Henry [also Pride])
Greed: I Want It All (from Baby), Money, Money (Cabaret)
Pride: I Speak Six Languages (Spelling Bee)
Lust: The Friendliest Thing (from What Makes Sammy Run?), Where Can you take A Girl? (Promises, Promises)
Envy: Things I Will Not Miss (Lost Horizon)
Gluttony: Delicatessen (Skyscraper)
Sloth: The Laziest Gal in Town (Cole Porter)

[Taryn]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 12:46pm

Audra McDonald actually did a concert based on the seven deadly sins. You might be able to dig up a song list somewhere.

[JBSinger]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 3:19pm

I think that Audra concert is still on the NPR website.
All the songs were originals by various composers for the project. I thought it was really cool.

[musicnerd234]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 3:27pm

" A call from the Vatican" Nine (lust)

Updated On: 6/15/10 at 03:27 PM

[Marquise]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 3:29pm

Greed or Lust (take your pick): "Wanting Things" from Promises, Promises

[singingbackup]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 4:17pm

Wrath: "No Good Deed" (Wicked)
Greed: "Money" (Cabaret)
"Easy Street" (Annie)
"Rich and Happy" (Merrily We Roll Along)
Pride: "Roses Turn" (Gypsy)

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 4:41pm

Wouldn't happen to be a Christian school, would it? Can't help with the redemption aspects, but the song below covers many "sins".
Great Big Stuff

[MrSweetNAwful]

Posted: 6/15/10 at 8:55pm

Gluttony: Eating Myself Up Alive from New Brain

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 6/16/10 at 3:34pm

These are some great suggestions. Any others out there?

[StickToPriest]

Posted: 6/16/10 at 3:38pm

"Seven Deadly Virtue" from CAMELOT covers them all.

[myshikobit]

Posted: 6/16/10 at 7:00pm

"The No-Tell Motel" from Prettybelle- Lust

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 6/16/10 at 7:07pm

What's with the influx of these type of threads recently? Is the popularity of Glee causing show choir directors across the country to issue ridiculous themed weekly assignments (prepare a song about the Armenian Genocide!) instead of, y'know, actually rehearsing numbers?

[TheKandyLife]

Posted: 6/16/10 at 7:18pm

Pride - My Strongest Suit ~ Aida (all about appearance)

Lust - Please Don't Touch Me ~ Young Frankentstein (stopping a male from touching the women form)

Gluttony - Feed Me ~ Little Shop of Horrors (minor lyric changes this could be made about literal food and not body parts)

Greed - Rose's Turn ~ Gypsy (greed of fame? minor lyric changes again but could work)

Wrath - Make Me Happy ~ The Wild Party (anger of a man sleeping with another mans wife, who walks in to see them mid action, and pulls a gun on them)

Envy - I Can Do Better Than That ~ The Last 5 Years (a women talking about people in her life, and that she can be better than them, to make them envious?)

and i can't think of anything for for Sloth lol hope this helps!

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 6/16/10 at 7:44pm

PiraguaGuy2,

I'm not sure what other threads you are referring to, by if you read my original post you'll see that I have a very clear purpose for putting this song list together.

Perhaps there has been a recent surge in related threads, but I've been seeing similar threads since joining the site 5 years ago. People just like to put together playlists of thematically-similar material. I can recall several articles by Peter Filichia of Theatermania.com in which he described putting together mix tapes devoted to various themes. I don't think it's anything new, nor do I think it's problematic for this message board. The topics are certainly as relevant as 90% of the other topics we discuss here.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 6/16/10 at 7:51pm

Hey, I ain't faultin' ya. I just seem to be seeing a lot more of these threads recently. They are fun, though.