Sweeney Todd - A Little Priest Question — Page 2

BTW: jasonf, that's like when Henry Higgins sings "By law she should be taken out and hung / for the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue." A grammar nazi like he would know it's "hanged."

Also, in "An Ordinary Man" he keeps saying "... than to ever let a woman in my life." It really should be "... than EVER to let a woman in my life." But I suppose it hurts the music... or rhyme in the case above.

Still, it goes against character.

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Updated On: 9/5/10 at 03:07 PM

In the original London production, Sheila Hancock used to ad-lib "That'll be 2 and 6" after the "privates" line.

It's a reference to Britsh currency of the time (two shillings and sixpence) but equally it could put you in mind of something else.


"I had a prof. at school who said this song was perfect except for one mistake -- in England, politicians "stand" for office not "run" as in "Here's a politician so oily it's served with a doily have one. Put it on a bun, well you never know if it's going to run"

Thanks Jasonf - your prof is correct. I've only just understood that line as a result of reading your post.

Updated On: 9/6/10 at 02:05 PM

Forgive me for a brief treadjack, but the "stand/run" distinction puts me in mind of various threads complaining about Tim Rice et. al rhyming poorly. Many of the rhymes Americans object to are perfectly legit in UK pronunciation.

Funny, I always thought it was a roundabout reference to the phrase "[...in the words of] the Immortal Poet" -- suggesting, in this context, "how do you know whether you haven't perhaps stumbled onto a truly "immortal" poet who, to a slyly literal mind, would NEVER be 'deceased' ?"

Bit of a stretch, I know, but that's what I always thought.

Although, come to think of it, I guess the more usual phrase is "the Immortal Bard," almost always meaning Shakespeare specifically; while at other times the phrase is given as "in the immortal words of [whoever]...", immortality more plausibly accruing to the words in question, rather than to their author.

So there goes that.

In the immortal words of Tom Stoppard: "One does not aim at poetry with pistols. At poets, perhaps." Likewise, you can't eat poetry, as the saying goes (and as Mrs. Lovett would surely agree). Poets, perhaps? It makes some weird intuitive sense that Sweeney (a sort of proto-goth himself, as Tim Burton couldn't resist needlessly underlining) would be curious about their (literal) flavor -- and that pragmatic Mrs. L. would try to steer his gustatory enthusiasm toward the stabler, less-wispy professions.

Updated On: 5/19/14 at 06:00 PM

I've always been too embarrassed to ask what, "no it has to be grocer - it's green" means.

What might have been, if she'd given up the pie shop and changed her name ever so slightly.

Updated On: 5/18/14 at 06:58 PM

Two SWEENEY lyric questions:

When Toby sings, ”Being close and being clever ain’t like being true,” how is he using “close” here? I’ve always thought it a British usage I’m unfamiliar with, perhaps meaning something along the lines of “careful” or “cautious,” but that doesn’t seem parallel with “clever” and makes the contrast with “being true” a little awkward.

In the second one, I feel like I’m missing something more obvious, but I can’t logic it out. In “By the Sea,” Lovett sings, “We shouldn’t try it, though, till it’s legal for two-hoo!”

Till what’s legal for two? The seaside wedding? Is it legal for one, but not two?

Sex? If her bedding is already rumpled, haven’t they already “tried it”? What am I missing?

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I've always heard the "By the Sea" line as, in a house at the seaside they'd need to be married as opposed to dirty London and the pie shop.
Also, that Lovett is throwing it out there to see if he'll bite at the idea of their marrying.

Toby's line is a contrast between Sweeney (close and clever) and Toby (true). Toby's feeling her out to see if she'll be able to see that Sweeney is evil, as Toby sees him.
Close means close. Unless a Brit here can offer another meaning.

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I'm not sure why Lovett would talk about her other men (if there were any) directly to Sweeney; I also find it more interesting to assume that the rumpled bedding was rumpled by Sweeney, that Lovett has taken advantage of his madness to take care of all her needs.

"I also find it more interesting to assume that the rumpled bedding was rumpled by Sweeney, that Lovett has taken advantage of his madness to take care of all her needs."

That's usually how Lovetts and Sweeneys I’ve seen play it, or at least how their playing it has read to me.

“And you're right, growl, marriage doesn't erase past indiscretions. Though I don't think Mrs. L's logic is ever airtight.”

Indeed. So this may be a case – much like my bygone objection to a lyric in GYPSY (which I won’t specifically cite again for fear of reprisals) – where, for one listener it’s a quirk of the character that makes them “colorful,” but for me, I feel the lyricist’s hand slipping a bit.

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Updated On: 5/19/14 at 10:40 AM

I always interpreted it similarly to doodlenyc: They've "rumpled the sheets" together in London, but Mrs. Lovett's fantasy of life in a cottage by the sea adheres to more Victorian mores, so they'd have to "devise" a seaside wedding to "legit-i-mize" her already-rumpled (with him) bedding.

That said, he was probably as involved in and excited about rumpling her as he is throughout this song: "Anything you say, anything you say..."

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Updated On: 5/19/14 at 10:50 AM

I think the rumpled bedding has been legitimitized by marriage- that is why it exists. Prior to the wedding there no rumpled sheets.

I am surprised that there is so much confusion over A Little Priest which has always seemed very obvious to a Brit's ears.

One other point to pick up: not only do British politicians not run, but we also tend not to eat meat in a bun. Prior to colonisation by MacDonalds we would certainly only ever have used the term "roll" rather than "bun" which only referred to a sweet cake, as in "sticky buns", (which of course none of us want to suffer from...)

Just to confirm, the British navy rank is Rear Admiral.

And the second laugh comes on "with is extra" as it just reinforces Mrs L's materialistic nature, always looking to make a little more money.

I'm guessing she won't buy a house with him till they're married?