The Best Lyrics Ever Written for A Show- Page 3

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 12:26pm

To be honest, it's kind of hard to have a decent discussion on this topic with many people too young to know Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, or Ira Gershwin.

What, you mean personally?

[brandontwin2]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 12:27pm

Just because you don't agree with me doesn't mean that I can't have my own opinion of what the lyrics sound like TooDarnHot. Thanks :)

[Boq101]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 12:37pm

Kiss Me, Kate
A Little Night Music
Follies
Sweeney Todd
City of Angels
The Light in the Piazza
Caroline, or Change
A New Brain
Oklahoma
Carousel

I'm pretty young and even I try to know as much as possible about older shows.Just because we're young doesn't mean we're stupid. I like old shows just as much as I like new ones.

I'm not saying the people whom most of us disagree with aren't ignorant, I'm just saying that they're ignorant regardless of age. :)

[LePetiteFromage]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 12:48pm

Updated On: 5/2/09 at 12:48 PM

[B3TA07]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 12:51pm

"Schwartz? Sheik? NOPE. "

Sater wrote the lyrics.

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 1:01pm

I would have to say Into The Woods...

[TooDarnHot]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 1:06pm

brandontwin2 - you're basically comparing Schwartz to Sondheim. sure, you can have an opinion. and I can disagree with it 100%

[ragg_ballad]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 3:29pm

no..Wicked definitely has the best lyrics ever written. It goes along perfectly with the best book and storyline ever written. i mean, once you look over the bad rhymes and plot holes, I'd say it was robbed at the Tony's!

:)

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 3:35pm

"no..Wicked definitely has the best lyrics ever written. It goes along perfectly with the best book and storyline ever written. i mean, once you look over the bad rhymes and plot holes, I'd say it was robbed at the Tony's! "

Good God!

[ragg_ballad]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 7:12pm

[ sarcasm :) ]

[Zeitoujo]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 7:38pm

GYPSY
SUNDAY IN THE PARK

[LadyRosecoe]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 7:42pm

A Little Night Music

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 9:35pm

my favorite Sondheim factoid is that "Someone in a Tree" is his favorite song of his own. and it's definitely one of my favorites.

one of the things I love about these threads is how I'm reminded of other wonderful lyricists. I tend to respond quickly, trying to be the first one to get a particular show in, and wind up missing other shows that I really like. "Finian's Rainbow," for example, is a show I love but had forgotten to mention, and the same with "Caroline, or Change". and Cole Porter, of course, is someone I honestly don't listen to enough, but I know his lyrics are amazing. and, as his mother said, he was a naughty boy.

oh, and "The Secret Garden"? one of the most underrated shows ever. both the music AND lyrics are stunning.


and there's definitely no competition when you have Sondheim and Cole Porter involved.

[TexasGuy]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 10:49pm

It is amazing that Oscar Hammerstein II has been barely mentioned at a time when the revival of "South Pacific" is such a huge hit.

I believe someone brought up "The King and I." Hammerstein also wrote the lyrics for "Showboat," "Oklahoma," "Carousel," "The Sound of Muisc." Hammerstein was not as complex or witty as Sondheim or Cole Porter. But, one could argue successfully that his heartfelt lyrics spoke to more people.

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 7/28/08 at 11:08pm

Sondheim, Porter, Berlin, Hart, Hammerstein, Ebb, Coward, Gershwin, and Lerner.

There, happy now?

Updated On: 7/28/08 at 11:08 PM

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 12:37am

Has anyone mentioned "She Loves Me"?

And, one of my non-Sondheim favorites, John LaTouche and Jerome Morross' "The Golden Apple"

One question I have to ask is: Are you considering just the lyrics or are you considering the song as a whole? Some of the Richard Wilbur lyrics for "Candide" read delightfully, but are a bit verbose when sung.

And what if the character singing isn't an intelligent or clever person? Would you consider those lyrics to not be the best ever written for a show? For instance, Lynn Ahren's lyrics for "Once on This Island" are perfect for the simple island people that she is writing about. Only one time does she write something that comes across as being too clever and thats when she uses a two syllable rhyme (Answers/dancers).

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 6:21am

I did mention SHE LOVES ME, Sondheimboy2, simply brilliant lyrics. Barbara Cook says she considers "Ice Cream" to be one of the best book songs ever written, and I couldn't agree more.
Tony Kushner's lyrics for CAROLINE, OR CHANGE are incredibly underrated. The brilliance simplicity of the powerful lyrics from songs like "I Hate the Bus," the "Epilogue," "Salty Teardrops," and "Long Distance" is just mind-blowing.
Of course Sondheim's lyrics are perfection.
I agree that Hammerstein has been quite ignored, I picked THE KING & I because it's my favorite Rodgers/Hammerstein show, but his lyrics from SHOWBOAT to SOUTH PACIFIC to CAROUSEL are fantastic.
Cole Porter might win the award though, no one else could come rhyme "champagne" with "cocaine" oh so cleverly. The lyrics to "I Get a Kick Out of You" are orgasmic.

[neddonovan]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 11:25am

Reading old posts is painful. Delete :)

Updated On: 11/8/17 at 11:25 AM

[neddonovan]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 11:28am

Reading old posts is painful. Delete :)

Updated On: 11/8/17 at 11:28 AM

[jv92]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 12:00pm

SPRING AWAKENING?!?!? THE IMPERFECT RHYME MUSICAL?!?!?

Best Lyrics- Either Gypsy or Carousel or She Loves Me. I don't know. There are lots of good sets.

[JoizeyActor]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 1:06pm

I love me some Into the Woods.

"Better stop and take stock while you're standing here stuck on the steps of the palace."

[Hest882]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 2:39pm

In reading the responses it's hard to figure out whether it's worth thinking of "best stand-alone lyrics period" vs. "best lyrics in context of a show." For instance, with Cole Porter, Gershwin, etc., you have some of the most clever and/or heartfelt songs, but many of them are completely interchangable from musical to musical. With the best of Sondheim, you have clever lyrics with masterful wordplay but within a modern necessity to move the storyline forward. With that in mind, I vote for Sweeney Todd or A Little Night Music or Into the Woods as the best lyrics in service of a show.

[Friendofethelm]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 2:53pm

From Pre-1920's - THE MIKADO (W.S. Gilbert)
From the 1920's - SHOW BOAT (Oscar Hammerstein II)
From the 1930's - ANYTHING GOES (Cole Porter)
From the 1940's - PAL JOEY (Lorenz Hart)
From the 1950's - (tie) GUYS AND DOLLS (Frank Loesser) and MY FAIR LADY (Alan Jay Lerner)
From the 1960's - SHE LOVES ME (Sheldon Harnick)
From the 1970's - The work of Stephen Sondheim
From the 1980's - BABY (Richard Maltby, Jr.)
From the 1990's - BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Howard Ashman)
From the 2000's - (tie) HAIRSPRAY (Scott Whitman)and AVENUE Q (Lopez & Marx)
Updated On: 7/29/08 at 02:53 PM

[marknyc]

Posted: 7/29/08 at 5:24pm

"Sondheim is the best, when it comes to lyrics. Guettel comes in second"

Um, then where do Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Yip Harburg, and Oscar Hammerstein rank?