| "There's rebel in your manner and your speech" was left in | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 06:20 pm EDT 06/14/22 | |
| In reply to: re: The lyrics to "Mame".... - Singapore/Fling 04:07 pm EDT 06/14/22 | |
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| Speaking just for myself, the re-ordering of the lyric was ineptly done, but I think there is no way to do it successfully. The lyric is too filled almost everywhere with imagery of the Old South that might be somewhat forgivable when heard in context in a production of the show (although I question even that), but is extremely objectionable out of context nowadays when the clearly satirical nature of most of those lines is not so apparent. Indeed, I think it is somewhat surprising that it was not felt to be objectionable out of context in 1966, and Jerry Herman should have provided a separate lyric back then for when it was sung outside the show. I don't know how long ago it was that the objectionable lines in the lyric were first discussed in this group, but I think it was probably 20 years ago or more. I remember a member of a gay chorus questioning whether the song was an appropriate to be sung by the group he was in, and I was among those who opined that it was not. I think I even wondered then why Jerry Herman had never come up with alternate lyrics. I am not the biggest fan of Jerry Herman, but he took the craft of lyric writing very seriously, and I think he would have been appalled at what was done to the song. I think the song should not have been sung at all since it cannot be fixed when sung outside the show unless completely new lines are written, which I think would also be a bad idea (and if that was proposed for this tribute, I suspect the Herman estate said no). They might have sung "My Best Girl" instead. Meanwhile, if the intent was to remove objectionable lines (and it seems that likely was the intent), why leave in "There's rebel in your manner and your speech"? If anything that might be considered the worst line of all in 2022. |
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