Songs with hidden irony

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 5:43pm

Pretty much every song in Wicked

The Old Red Hills of Home from Parade: It sounds like a big, inspiring patriotic song about fighting for what you believe in, but then you remember that the South was fighting to preserve slavery and you realize that this is what they're singing about.

Updated On: 10/9/06 at 05:43 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 5:50pm

hahahahahaha!

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 5:59pm

"Push Da Button" from The Color Purple. That's almost as much innuendo as you can get.

[KQuill]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 6:16pm

"Masquerade" in Phantom - "hide your face so the world will never find you"

and also "All I Ask of You" (love song, and Phantom's demands)

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 6:19pm

"I Know Things Now" from Into the Woods

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 6:20pm

all of into the woods

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 6:23pm

Why do you say the songs in Wicked have double meanings? I'd just like to know an example.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 6:31pm

How do MOST of these songs listed have double meanings?

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 6:38pm

Not necessarily double meanings, but they sort of say one thing and mean another like my example of Parade.

SPOILER WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:

And with Wicked, every song has a kind of foreshadowing. Dear Old Shiz, "We will still retain the lessons learned." These students, except for Elphaba, Fiyero, and Glinda will basically learn that whatever their government says is what they should believe. With The Wizard and I, Elphaba is singing about dreams that will basically never come true.

You get what I'm saying?

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 6:39pm

The Tennis Song - City of Angels

[Raviolisun]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 6:45pm

Yes. I got that.

I think. :]

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 6:59pm

I don't get it. That's not a double meaning, it seems like irony.

[SDav 10495]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 7:02pm

With The Wizard and I, Elphaba is singing about dreams that will basically never come true.

I thought that the double meaning in that song was the fact that those dreams do come true ("a celebration throughout Oz that's all to do with me"; "when people see me they will scream"), just not in the way she means...

[bob8rich]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 7:44pm

One of the finest examples of a musical theatre song with a double meaning is IN BUDDY'S EYES in FOLLIES, when Sally is basically singing a lie - on the surface claiming that she is so content that Buddy adores her, while in reality she is still clinging on to the totally false hopes of her love for Ben.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 8:00pm

Loveland. I don't know all the lyrics but despite the cheerful melody, those lyrics say something completely different.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 8:20pm

The wizard and i- "someday they'll be/ a celebration throughout oz/ that all to do with me" and the similar line in "wonderful

well there is a celebration about her alright "no one mourns the wicked"

class from chicago is sublimely ironic being sung by a murderer and a corrupt prison matron

[dymk]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 8:31pm

How about "One" from A Chorus Line:

The characters spend the whole show talking about their individual stories, asking "Who am I, anyway?" and all the time trying for a part in a chorus line where they are all the same, no individuality.

Also, maybe "Cabaret" from the Cabaret... It's a number about how fun life is when Sally's life is really falling apart.

I wouldn't clasify either of them as "double meanings" but it started off as an "ironic" thread, so I thought I would chime in.
Updated On: 10/10/06 at 08:31 PM

[Taryn]

Posted: 10/9/06 at 8:36pm

Saying that the South was fighting to preserve slavery is a pretty huge simplification of the Civil War.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 10/10/06 at 5:35pm

Saying that the South was fighting to preserve slavery is a pretty huge simplification of the Civil War.

How so? I mean, I'm not supporting slavery. I don't mean to insult you but have you heard or seen the lyrics of "The Old Red Hills of Home?"

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 10/10/06 at 5:44pm

I enjoyed Wicked, but I don't think a lot of those songs even had a single meaning!

This might not be what you're after, but "Big Blonde and Beautiful" from Hairspray has all sorts of double entendres:

"Break off a piece of that hoghead cheese
And take a look inside my book of recipes
Now don't you look around for something fluffy and nice
I need a man who brings a man sized appetite"

etc. etc.

Updated On: 10/10/06 at 05:44 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/10/06 at 5:45pm

I prefer my irony out in the open

[VonTussleGirl]

Posted: 10/10/06 at 9:42pm

To add to the Into the Woods comment, No One Is Alone probably has one of my favorite double meanings ever.