Worst Broadway Lyric ever?- Page 15

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 5/24/06 at 4:16pm

Eva is talking about how much she'll be taken in by the big city that she'll act literally like a kid in a candy store, trying to experience everything at once and overdoing it. But when she finally rests, the city will provide her with "real eiderdown" (which is a type of expensive comforter filled with goose feathers or something) and silence. [The real Eva imagined that the city was full of white telephones and all the money could buy for everyone. Tim Rice is trying to show Eva's naivetee and ignorance of city life.)

Stagemanager2, I've also always thought this lyric was a rather clever foreshadowing of what happens to Eva in the end (lying in a glass coffin on eiderdown -- in silence). "If ever I go to far" -- well, Eva, you do go too far. Be careful what you wish for. That kind of thing. He's using her naivete as ironic foreshadowing.

Anyway, I agree, it's very clever.
Updated On: 5/24/06 at 04:16 PM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 5/24/06 at 4:24pm

Someone also said that Miss Saigon was not made out of inspiration, just to please crowds. Uh, yes, it was inspired. Haven't you ever heard the story about the photo? That's what brought them back to the Madama Butterfly story, the "Ultimate Sacrifice" which is the central focal point of the musical.

Anyway, this thread absolutely cracked me up. I agree with most of the choices, but here are some of my own selections:

All of "Dancing Through Life." Ughhh. And "As Long as You're Mine," which is so forced. Maybe all of Wicked, actually. All of "The Music of the Night." I'm sorry, but I detest that song. Actually, come to think of it, all of Phantom.

I agree with "I Should Tell You" as well. I still to this day don't know what they're singing about! "Seasons of Love" from RENT as well.

Oh oh oh, from "Lisa Carrew" in JaH: "Simon, there's nothing more, don't be a boor!"

All of the lyrics to "The Crimson Kiss" from Lestat. Blegh. But I still like the song only because Carolee Carmello.

I love Side Show and most of its lyrics ("You Should Be Loved" is beautifully written,) but it has some very regrettable lyrics as well.

Nobody's mentioned this so far, but Blood Brothers has some awful lyrics. Particularly "Madman," which is ridiculously cheesy.

And I'm sorry, but I hate "Send in the Clowns."

[MCfan2]

Posted: 5/24/06 at 4:37pm

I've spoken before of my love for Alan Jay Lerner, but I've got to mention "They Call the Wind Maria." "The rain is Tess, the fire Joe"?? You've got to be kidding me. And the rest of it isn't much better.

[trikaraokeidol]

Posted: 5/24/06 at 5:00pm

RE: real edierdown lyric from EVITA

I know what the lyric means - come on - it's not that difficult. And I like CV's take on the foreshadowing of the coffin although I can't find it anywhere that the coffin was truly lined with eiderdown. Perhaps it was.

But in each recording and in every production I have seen, the line gets lost. Why would an uneducated girl from the sticks even know what eiderdown was? It seems too big a word for a 16-year old and it always irks me.
Updated On: 5/24/06 at 05:00 PM

[whoisquilty]

Posted: 5/24/06 at 5:12pm

"Look at her, she's wicked! GET HER!"

Goes through my head like a nail. I actually laughed out loud when I saw the show. The lyrics for WICKED, in general, are so-so. But that's woofer.

[VeuveClicquot]

Posted: 5/24/06 at 5:56pm

But in each recording and in every production I have seen, the line gets lost. Why would an uneducated girl from the sticks even know what eiderdown was? It seems too big a word for a 16-year old and it always irks me.

I think the lyric gets lost because of the rhyme scheme of the bridge -- your ear is expecting a rhyme for "I love you" and instead you get "silence". However, I think it's very intentional on Rice's part, as the breaking of the rhyme scheme makes the word stand out.

As far as a 16-year old girl from the sticks using the word "eiderdown," you have a point. It also sounds like a scanning error, as I've always heard the word pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable, but according to The American Heritage Dictionary it can be correctly pronounced with equal emphasis on both the first and the last syllables (as Rice does here).

[showbiz287]

Posted: 5/24/06 at 5:59pm

another Wicked line. it's always bugged me...

"You're perfect, You're Perfect, So We're Perfect together"

[lamentingenvelope]

Posted: 5/24/06 at 6:37pm

Pippin:

"What I've left behind looks trifling
What's ahead looks black
Am I doomed to spend my life-a-ling...
ering on the right track?"

I can deal with the majority of Schwartz's split word rhymes but TRIFILING and LIFE-A-LING? Come ON.

[badkarma719]

Posted: 5/24/06 at 8:05pm

I didn't read the whole post, sorry I'm lazt tonight

but I'm sure this one was added so I'll add a vote for it

shes a terror shes a tarter
~wicked

[kaboodles041]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 1:10pm

As much as I hate to admit this, "Think of Me" from Phantom "boasts" some of the dumbest lyrics. It could have been so beautiful too, but the line "think of me" is repeated like a million times, with stupid filling-in phrases connecting them.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 1:16pm

So you're back in the dumpster...

[WithoutATrace]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 1:28pm

I think I've posted this before (maybe in this thread)

"Why you, are goin' to the bayou, she don't wanna be by you, if you're gonna waste the day" -Thou Shalt Not

[Marguerite Chauvelin]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:07pm

Wow, a lot of Schwartz lyrics have been mentioned...

[shesamarshmallow]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 2:39pm

It's not the worst lyric ever, but I cringe every time I hear Logainne sing "And I've heard that she's pro-choice, but still a vir-ir-gin."

[trinaaron]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 3:56pm

Never posted before, but this threads interesting.

Phantom of the Opera-In the letter the theater owners are reading from the phantom during "Notes" they are prattling on and then sing "PTO"....I didn't think anyone over the age of 16 actually writes that.

Rent (which I love) - Mimi's got her baggage too, so do you.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:08pm

Some of these lyrics are stupid when taken outta context, but they work in the show.

"So you're back in the dumpster... " How is that a bad lyric? It works in the show? He IS back in the dumpster? It's meant to be funny.

"You're perfect, You're Perfect, So We're Perfect together"
When this lyric is heard in the show, it by two rather shallow characters, so I think the lyric works fine.

[gumbo2]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:26pm

Don't think this has been mentioned, but in the song Human Again from Beauty and the Beast, "Put these here and put those over there". I don't think anyone can argue that this isn't an awful lyric.

[tophertilson]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:30pm

From MISS SAIGON comes this li'l gem -

"With these two little diamonds to bait my hooks
I'll book us on a cruise; boat people deluxe"

Dreck! This and all of the lyrics for MARTIN GUERRE. I'm actually looking forward to PIRATE QUEEN (love Shonberg's music and I'm a fan of epic musicals), but I sure ain't looking forward to the lyrics...

TT

[tophertilson]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:32pm

That reminds me, gumbo2. From ZANNA, DON'T -

"You over there
Don't be shy, come over here"

Is that supposed to rhyme?!? Truly that show sets a new low in non-rhyming claptrap.

TT

[ChiChi]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 6:33pm

Falsettos:

"Gee we love to eat and we need something sweet to love."

"The Food is Really Yummy...Oh Mummy"

[suddenlyseymour]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 7:30pm

"oh nessa oh nessa i've got something to confessa..." i laughed out loud when i heard that hehe
Updated On: 5/26/06 at 07:30 PM

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 7:54pm

So many possibilities.

I think that it's almost pointless to cite shows like Brooklyn, shows where you expect the lyrics to be bad. It's when a good lyricist goes horribly wrong that it becomes special.

So my choice would have to be "There were gazebos, and there were no negroes."
Updated On: 5/27/06 at 07:54 PM

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 9:14pm

"And by the way....

"Woes are fleeting...
Blows are glancing..."

WHAT'S A BLOW AND WHY DOES IT GLANCE, PEOPLE?!! HUH?!"


Are you serious? that line actually makes sense.

the definition of glancing is: Oblique in direction; slanting or deflected

a blow is like a punch. bo blows that glance are punches that are deflected.

please don't be a moron when posting lyrics, just because you don't understand a lyric doesn't mean it's bad. It could just be too clever for you. or you could just not have reached a 5th grade reading level yet.

[icantbelive]

Posted: 5/26/06 at 11:03pm

"Swing your razor high Sweeney hear it singing yes!"

There are 50 better different rhymes for that than "yes"

Posted: 5/27/06 at 11:53am

WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND, a veritable treasure trove of crap:

"We'll never be as young as we are right now"--it makes a valid point, but do we really need to sing about it?

"We were born going faster than the limits allow"--huh?

The concept album is really hilarious because it features a long in the tooth Bonnie Tyler singing, in her smoky old Elaine Stritch voice, "I want a push-up bra."

But for something more mainstream, I have to go with "Nessa/confessa."