Worst Broadway Lyric ever?- Page 21

[rewritemystory]

Posted: 2/8/08 at 9:34pm

Another random note on "confess a," which has been talked about much...
The line (as already stated) is:
Nessa, uh Nessa
I've got something to confess
A reason why well
Why I asked you here tonight

Later in Act II the "We Deserve Each Other" theme comes back:
Listen Nessa, uh Nessa
Surely now I'll matter less
To you, And you won't mind
My leaving here tonight

Here "Nessa and less" rhyme, as in the first "Nessa and confess" are paired.
Maybe the confess - a was unintentional?

[rewritemystory]

Posted: 2/8/08 at 9:35pm

DP, sorry. Updated On: 2/8/08 at 09:35 PM

[StageManager2]

Posted: 2/8/08 at 11:46pm

"First of all... rhyming Thames/requiems is ridiculous."

Perfectliar, the Brits pronounce it "tems," not "tames."

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 2/9/08 at 12:00am

This isn't musical theatre per se, but that "And that's the reason we need lips so much / For lips are the only things that touch" line in Enchanted is pure Schwartz. I cringed when I heard it.

[exhalemusic]

Posted: 2/9/08 at 12:10am

i love Miss Saigon and this song, however...
Why does Saigon never sleep at night?
Why does this girl smell of orange trees?

wtf? (in reference to the second line)
never liked that line

[jedigurl527]

Posted: 2/10/08 at 8:31pm

EDIT: i have seen the error of my ways
but i maintain that

PICK A LITTLE TALK A LITTLE
MAKES ME WANT TO SLIT MY WRISTS.
DOES IT HAVE TO RUN IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE ENTIRE SONG????-the music man

EDIT: i'm not going to debate the anniegetyourgun here, but i will add that i have never been a fan of "without you, the hand gropes". and i LOVE rent. this is also not to say that i think it is the worst lyric ever. because it's not. i've seen far worse in the preceding pages. (BKLYN). i just get this weird image with GROPE. why not feel? feel would sound nice too, with "the ear hears, the pulse beats" Updated On: 4/23/08 at 08:31 PM

[jedigurl527]

Posted: 2/10/08 at 8:51pm

deleted.
i thought this board was for discussion of lyrical failure, not bashing someone's unpopular opinon


Updated On: 4/23/08 at 08:51 PM

[jv92]

Posted: 2/10/08 at 8:56pm

I think jedigurl is going a little crazy AND I think she's misquoting Berlin. I don't think he'd let a slant rhyme fly and I certainly don't think producer Hammerstein would either. And the be/nursery is fine by me. Jedigurl, what do you consider a good lyric-
Nessa/confess-a?

Here's a new one...

"Being to your man what a woman should be..."

Who would ever think Margo could sell out like that? And it's by the man who wrote the brilliant set of lyrics for Golden Boy no less!

[jedigurl527]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 9:47am

i am a little crazy. but then again, aren't we all?

my point about berlin was not about the rhyme scheme, but the word choice. it just never sat well with me that frank wanted a girl as soft and pink as a nursery and who smelled of foam.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 10:49am

Jedigurl, what do you consider a good lyric-
Nessa/confess-a?

jv92 - Seriously...misquoting a lyric for the millionth time that has been endlessly discussed even on this very page is the best snark you can come up with?

And regarding Annie Get Your Gun, I agree with Jedigurl. The lyrics are a bit ridiculous and the bit about the nursery makes him sound like pedophile. But I love the Piano Lesson number is The Music Man. The whole point is that their discussion gets hijacked by the practicing in the background and they unconsciously pick up the melody during their conversation. It's absolutely brilliant.

As for bad lyrics:

You are sunlight and I moon
Joined by the gods of for-choon
Midnight and high noon...

A song
Played on a solo saxophone
A crazy sound
A lonely sound
A cry
That tells us love
Goes on and on
Played on a solo saxophone...

[Pippin]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 10:53am

jedigirl- That last lyric in "the girl that I marry" is smell like Cologne. Not Foam. I agree, foam is a ridiculous lyric, but cologne is fine. what recording did you get that off of?

[South Fl Marc]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 11:07am

From Shenendoah:

"Next to lovin' I like fightin'
I like fightin' , it's excitin'
Next to lovin' I like fightin' best.
Next to bein hugged and kissed
I like making me a fist
Next to lovin' I like fightin' best
Next to lovin' I like fightin' best."

You can't get much worse.

[Pippin]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 11:07am

here's one- from "No Strings"

Mr. Rodgers, a lovely tunesmith you are, but this lyric just doesn't cut it.


"Action, action, Lovely lively action-
a word that often has the prefix, REEEEEE....."

[stupidmansuit]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 11:54am

""There are bridges you crossed you didn't know you crossed until you crossed." That has got to be the worst Braodway lyric I have ever heard."

I love that line, about Glinda's just going through the motions of life, and not realizing exactly what she was deciding for herself until it was too late.
And yes, the poo poo line in RENT. I never noticed it until after the movie... don't they speak it? And afterwards, it just sounds awkward sung and I see it more.

[stuckinthemiddle]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 2:55pm

21 pages of reading and no one mentioned "Well, at least she's a good-looking spy." from Chess. Actually, come to think of it, that song (and show) has a ton of them...

[truman]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 3:18pm

"Hey, little boy, would you like a ride, a lollipop, a puppy?
How about a baseball bat? – there’s one in my pants "

'You & I' from Bare. Wth?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 3:25pm

South Fl Marc - I love those lyrics from Shenandoah! To me, they fit the characters perfectly. It sort of how you would expect them to express themselves.

[CHGriffiths]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 3:54pm

"And we will ding, along!" Drowsy Chaperone

[jordangirl]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 3:57pm

^Oh come on. Even they make fun of that! :)

[jv92]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 4:52pm

Sorry for misquoting there.
Jedigurl, I wasn't trying to be mean, at least with the Berlin misquote. I'm not a huge Berlin fan, but I he WAS a superior lyricist and would not let a slant rhyme fly. Hammerstein, the original producer of Annie wouldn't either.

"Mr. Rodgers, a lovely tunesmith you are, but this lyric just doesn't cut it.


"Action, action, Lovely lively action-
a word that often has the prefix, REEEEEE....." "

I've ALWAYS loved No Strings, but Rodgers really falls flat lyrically in the comedy/uptempo numbers. Besides Eager Beaver, Be My Host makes absolutely no sense at all. It's a jaunty number, but lyrically insipid. The only two uptempos that I think are pretty good lyrically are Orthodox Fool and Maine/Up North of Central Park.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 2/11/08 at 6:39pm

StageManager2 - I'm well aware of how it's pronounced... I didn't say it didn't rhyme. It's just a stupid lyric and a ridiculous choice to make as a lyricist.

[fosca3]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 1:40pm

In Les Mis, when Eponine is dying, right before Marius realizes she's been shot, she sings "Don't think I can stand anymore"

I know she means she can't stand UP, but that line always gives me the giggles

Especially when Ricky Martin was playing Marius -- I remember thinking 'You and me both'

[Roscoe]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 2:16pm

From SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE:

The puddle where the poodle did the piddle.

[Trap-Door Lover]

Posted: 2/13/08 at 4:59pm

From Little Mermaid-
Look it's him! So handsome and refined and slim!


Seriously? Howard Ashman is rolling in his grave.

[MCfan2]

Posted: 4/17/08 at 10:27am

I was just listening to Mandy Patinkin's "Dress Casual" again yesterday and heard this in the "Evening Primrose" medley:

"Ella, poets who suffer pain
Must fall in love with girls named Jane
Not Ella . . ."

What? Unless there's some sort of context in the show for it, that's a goofy thing to say, no matter how badly you need a rhyme.