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| Lyrics as poetry | |
| Posted by: jbk 10:11 pm EDT 05/30/23 | |
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| Often when I'm watching a musical that doesn't quite work I'm aware of certain shards of poetry that take my breath away, as in Alan Jay Lerner's lyric to "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" in which Guenevere laments: "They obviously outshine us at turning tears to mirth/Have tricks a royal highness is minus from birth." How brilliant is that? But who celebrates the small poetic treasures when they're disappointed by the evening as a whole? It's a spendthrift art form, the American musical, and lyrics are merely baubles in the big display. Sondheim was hard on Larry Hart's lyrics for--well, for not being Sondheim's--but the woozy wonder of Hart's poetic sensibility is as thrilling today as it ever was: "Your looks are laughable,/Unphotographable,/Yet you're my fav'rite work of art." Sondheim snippily objected that only vampires are unphotographable and Hart meant unphotogenic but couldn't find a rhyme. I'm wondering if there are other shards of poetry--not talking "No One Is Alone" here--that you love. My favorite is Yip Harburg's lyric to Offenbach's barcarolle from "The Happiest Girl in the World." It's not just a shard, it's a full-fledged lyric gorgeously sung on the OC by Bruce Yarnell and Dran Seitz. ADRIFT ON A STAR Here we are, adrift on a star, Alone in a silent sky. Lost in space together we face The wonder of where and why. Why a sky without an end A sea without a chart? Why the rain and why the rose And why the trembling heart? The moon, the tide, the years, They go drifting along. The music of the spheres: Are there words to your song? Is there a bright gleaming goal Ending this brief barcarolle? Here we are, adrift on a star, And what is the journey for? Can it be the heart is the sea And love is the golden shore? That wherever we are In this star-sprinkled dome If there's love in your star You're home, you're home. Your favorites? |
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| re: Lyrics as poetry | |
| Posted by: keikekaze 06:14 pm EDT 05/31/23 | |
| In reply to: Lyrics as poetry - jbk 10:11 pm EDT 05/30/23 | |
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| I think there's very little by E.Y. Harburg that isn't brilliant. But I also think that when a theater lyric is good, it doesn't need to be justified as poetry. Every really good theater lyric justifies itself, because the craft is, in fact, more demanding than poetry. I have hundreds and hundreds of favorite lyrics, but if I stop to think about them now I'll lose my post! So I'll try to come back later and name a few favorites. | |
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| re: Lyrics as poetry | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 11:34 pm EDT 05/30/23 | |
| In reply to: Lyrics as poetry - jbk 10:11 pm EDT 05/30/23 | |
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| The problem with Sondheim's problem with "unphotographable" is that he's taking the word too literally. I think the sense of Hart's word choice is just fine. Though I'm not sure "unphotogenic" is really an exact equivalent either. I tend to think it does mean something closer to "unable to capture the real sense of his looks in a mere picture." I suppose it's open to interpretation. The lyric that eludes me just a bit in that song is "is your mouth a little weak?" - weak in a physical sense, or like other parts of the lyric, meaning in an aesthetic sense - or is it explained in the next line that the words that come out of that mouth aren't always smart? It's a bit of an odd line. |
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| re: Lyrics as poetry | |
| Posted by: Ludlow29 12:59 am EDT 05/31/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Lyrics as poetry - Chromolume 11:34 pm EDT 05/30/23 | |
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| I've always interpreted "mouth a little weak" as meaning not having a full jaw. Examples of people whose mouths are a little weak would include https://steeljawlinegum.com/blogs/jawline/celebrities-with-weak-jawlines | |
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