"Try Me" From She Loves Me

[CrapOnMyShoe]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:05pm

Can anyone explain to me the math used here? Does she get the proper change? It doesn't seem to make sense.

Great song though, here are the relevant lyrics:

Thats twenty and six for the autumn heather
Eight and three for the cream
Thirty two even for that bottle of mermaids dream
One and three for the eyebrow pencil
Nine for the large shampoo
And then for the jar you're bringing back thats four and two for you
That's a total of ninety eight less four and two for the jar
Out of a hundred
Here's your change
Five and two
There you are
the biggest sale in several years I believe

[tcoppola]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:22pm

Although I'm not that familiar with the show, I believe "Try Me" is sung by Arpad.

And these lyrics aren't that song.

[tcoppola]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:22pm

Although I'm not that familiar with the show, I believe "Try Me" is sung by Arpad.

And these lyrics aren't that song.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:24pm

Yes, those lyrics are definitely in "Try Me."

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:25pm

Actually...they are from TRY ME.

Don't know about the math though.

[Flahooley]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:25pm

I vaguely remember reading or hearing an interview with Sheldon Harnick where he said that the math in TRY ME purposely short changes the imaginary customer.

I love detail like that.

[fiatlux]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:27pm

My adding and subtraction are awful - but I'd always assumed that Arpad was supposed to get it wrong....

[CrapOnMyShoe]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:32pm

haha i've never seen the show so I wouldn't know. It sounds like Arpad is a klutz though so the bad math does make sense I guess.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:35pm

Yes, it's not supposed to be right.

He's a nervous mess.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:37pm

Yes, there's a line for Maraczeck that follows the song, saying something like, "Very good! And you even short changed me".

The math mistake is that her purchases total 98. She's bringing back the jar, deducting 6 from 98, totalling 92. Out of 100, Arpad gives her back five and two (seven) when he should be giving back eight.

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:38pm

BUT...does he do it cause he's nervous or a klutz...or does he do it on purpose to get the job?

[Flahooley]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:39pm

Arpad is clever, charming, and ambitious. My guess is that it is on purpose.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:44pm

Been awhile since I've looked at it, but I think the script even capitalizes FIVE and two. I think Arpad is shortchanging the imaginary customer purposefully to impress his boss.

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 2:47pm

Plus, it's an infinitely more interesting choice to play.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/17/05 at 3:00pm

Here's another reason why I think it is deliberate. For that section, the rhyming scheme of the lyrics becomes very intricate, and the tempo brightens. The subtext I've imagined when I listen to it is that this imaginary customer scenario is something that Arpad has been practicing and practicing in his spare time, to impress his boss, and then when it comes time to act it out, he's fairly bursting at the seams, to present it for Maraczeck. It isn't spontaneous, like the emotion of the rest of the song. It feels rehearsed. I think the shortchanging is something he's built into the routine, to even earn his boss an extra buck.

Updated On: 11/17/05 at 03:00 PM