The Sondheim Lyrics Chain

[Chris L]

Everybody says don't get out of line
When they say that then, lady that's a sign
Nine times out of ten
That you are doing just fine.

[KathyB]

I could tell you someone who would finally feel just fine!

Tell 'em that they ought to get together quick
Cause getting it together is the whole trick

[scenicdesign71]

Let me do a few tricks--
Some old and then some new tricks--
I'm very versatile!

[Leighton]

What a wonder is a gun
What a versatile invention 
First of all when you've a gun - 
Everybody pays attention

[MartinG]

Ladies and Gentlemen!
May I have your attention please?
Do you wake every morning in shame and despair
To discover your pillow is covered with hair
Wot ought not to be there?
Well, ladies and gentlemen,
From now on you can waken with ease.

[valmont]

From now on

This one has your name on it, scenic

[scenicdesign71]

We could pool our resources
By joining forces from now on.

Lucky, you're a man who likes children—
That's an important sign.

[Chris L]

Spider on the wall!
Signifies success
Whose success I cannot guess

[KathyB]

Well, I guess you could leave me the house,
Leave me the flat,
Leave me the Braques and Chagalls and all that.
You could leave me the stocks for sentiment's sake
And ninety percent of the money you make

[Chris L]

No, I like money a lot
Hmmm-hmmm-hmmm
I mean, it's better than not

[MartinG]

Maybe you're going to fall-
But it is better than not starting at all!
Everybody says no,
Everybody says stop.
Everybody says mustn't rock the boat,
Mustn't touch a thing!

[scenicdesign71]

Whaddya get, stirring the pot--
Wouldn't you rather blink and squat?
Everything's gonna stay afloat
As long as you don't rock the boat.

Be-de-de-beep, be-de-de-beep,
Leave it alone and go to sleep.
Leave it alone, you're in too deep;
You gotta look before you leap.

Ed. Probably wildly illegal, but since no one's responded yet anyway, I'm changing the target word.  In case anyone was biding their time with an answer to the previous target (leap), be my guest, but the new one's more fun.

[KathyB]

This is some sort of loyalty test to show that we are true blue Sondheim fans who know every lyric, and I'm failing it miserably.  (I don't even know where the last lyric played comes from.)

[scenicdesign71]

"Whaddya get, stirring the pot..." was from The Frogs.
(And I'll admit, with all due sheepishness, that I had to Google [sondheim lyric "rock the boat"] to find it).

But the solution I had in mind is less obscure.  There may be one or more valid "trick" answers for be-de, in which real words are broken up to feature those letters in that order (with or without the same spacing or the hyphen).  But the probably-unique answer I'm thinking of uses them in more or less the same way the Frogs clue does: as nonsense syllables (though not onomatopoetic amphibian ones).  Kinda like the "bumbum"s in Sweeney ("Pretty Women"), Merrily ("Opening Doors"), and Sunday ("Color and Light").

Personally, I'd call the hyphen optional -- but for what it's worth, the Frogs lyric and the answer I'm thinking of are both, in fact, hyphenated in the "Hat" book.

And if that's still not enough of a clue, I wouldn't question the true-blue fandom of any Sondhead who opted out of be-de and chose to go with my original target word, leap, instead.

[Bobster]

I want another clue to this be-de thing before I use leap.