| re: what are the "true head scratchers" in score of The Life? | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 03:26 pm EDT 03/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: what are the "true head scratchers" in score of The Life? - DanielVincent 01:13 pm EDT 03/14/22 | |
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| Thank you kindly! And thank you for you a detailed a fun reply!! Bit by bit... I gotta say I think that categorizing all these ballads as "my man don't love me" songs is unfair and inaccurate. Can the lady not sing about this very complicated relationship without it all being the dismissed as "my man don't love me", even when she is never singing about how her man don't love her? I think the songs are different musically and express different parts of her emotional experience with it, and reflect where she's at as the plot develops. I really think if her two big ones weren't back to back it would feel different, and that was a dumb mistake for musical theater pros to make. And I find "We Had a Dream" heartbreaking! And it's building on a romantic theme established in act one when things were better, now they're bad and it's bittersweet. Seems like a pretty classic tool in musicals, and very effective. Especially the way Pamela sings it! :) But like, is everything Caroline sings in Caroline or Change just "my job don't love me" songs? Or "my man is gone and I'm so sad" or "white people are evil" songs? Some could definitely describe it that way... but the character is sad, she gets to be sad. Queenie starts out bright and happy and then things turn quickly and she is frustrated and sad and scared, so she gets to sing that way. We agree on "Hooker's Ball", the bad and the not bad of it. Maybe it's me but I don't find the lyrics to "Hey Daddy" embarrassing (some very literal stuff and with a lot of potential to sound like soap opera feelings/dialogue)... and I also dont' find the lyrics in "My Way or the Highway" cringeworthy except for the Nestle's Quick part. But I buy that this character would say that. Otherwise the song is extremely effective to me. Not all shows have an "I Want" song or need them... but I don't see "Hey Daddy" (the title of a musicals scene more than it is a song) as being a bad place for her "i want" to be expressed. But I also think the essence of her "I Want" is expressed in "Lovely Day to Be Outta Jail" (my favorite song in the score). Queenie is given to us pretty simply -- she wants to be out of the life, no more jail, no more hustling, out of it with her man. One after the other these two build this, but no, she doesn't have "Waiting for Life". Maybe the show would be stronger if she did, but i quite enjoy what's there now, and least to sing along to in the car. I also think the lyrics in "Go Home" are actually excellent. A lot of these are musicalized scenes that sound almost like songs because of their accessible music and the style of singing. But "Go Home" is really just a dialogue of two people who want conflicting things, that is both a warning to Mary and perhaps a bit of reflection from Queenie. I understand what you mean about the dramaturgical strength of "Lovely Day to Be Out of Jail" but I think it sets up these two women and the tone of the beginning of this story well, and it's just a wonderful song. Also, I agree that "Piece of the Action" is strong but I'm not sure why your reaction is "why am I learning about what he wants?" ... I'd say because the show wants you to, because he is one of the lead characters. Also his wants and motivations set up his actions which impact Queenie quite a lot. So it's important to understand where he's coming from in their relationship and in this plot as it gets going. I can't argue that the story beats aren't especially brilliant. Queen gets out of jail, comes home looking forward to seeing her man, goes to count their cash savings because it makes her feel good and finds Fleetwood spent it on a bender while she was in jail. They fight (he doesn't have a leg to stand on), then storms off and expresses how he hasn't been given a chance since coming back from Vietnam, and he's gonna get a piece of the action ... and then he picks up Mary, a new hooker fresh off the bus, to pimp and make money with. It makes sense but also... it's kind of just a soap. I do not consider "Why Don't They Leave Us Alone" male-lead other than that the men start the song. It has the POV of the pimps and the hookers, prominently. I also love the song. I like it more than "My Body" actually. But not every song with them expressing thoughts on "the life" is just a different version of "my body" or sung by a different group, and every song about Queenie's relationship isn't a black lady singing the "my man don't love me" blues. I know that's not what you said exactly, but I think at this point it's clear you hear a lot of the songs and themes running together and being therefor redundant, and I generally don't... I see them as doing what many musicals do, which is exploring similar themes throughout, from a few different characters perspectives, adds or contradicts, etc. It's almost like saying "God there are so many songs of people just singing about the life, their experience in it previously, their experience in it now, their ideas of the future... and so much of it is just them reacting to things that are going on in "the life" in these few days." Yeah, it is a musical called The Life about people living the life, and takes place over a few days. But I think we can agree that a bigger and better "I Want" song for Queenie would have been a big improvement, and also helped the songs. Agreed, "You Can't Get to Heaven" is sensational, but is too long. But i think this is one of those songs that IS relevant but doesn't come out and literally say it. I think the role christian beliefs play especially in the minds and hearts of black american prostitutes is an interesting and complicated one. And I think that laying this in gives us a useful and hopeful view of where Queenie and Sonia even are coming from, especially in Queenie's relationship with Fleetwood and how long it takes her to give up. Okay I'm tired, but this was fun! |
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