Broadway didn't have the Hays code. Films did.
Recordings also had their limits, though different. Sondheim talks of "krup you" being the ultimate choice (over the original idea of "fuck you") because of obscenity laws, as well as having to change the word "schmuck" on the album.
Though my favorite little dodge is on the original recording of Finian's Rainbow, where a slight rhythm change attempts to diffuse some clever "backside" double entendres. In "When The Idle Poor Become The Idle Rich," the 2 lyrics, as sung onstage, are:
"You won't know your Joneses from your As-----tors."
and
"You won't know your banker from your but------ler."
On the recording, they become:
"You won't know your Joneses from your [rest] Astors."
and
"You won't know your banker from your [rest] butler."
Putting in those rests tries to mask attention to the "ass" and "butt" - pretty clever, I'd say. |
