The Sondheim Lyrics Chain

[scenicdesign71]

Not to fetch your pills again
Every day at five?
Not to give those dinners for ten
Elderly men
From the U.N.?
How could I survive??

[MartinG]

Who is to say, old friends,
How an old friendship survives?
One day chums
Having a laugh a minute,
One day comes
And they're a part of your lives.

[KathyB]

Think how snug it'll be
Underneath our flannel
When it's just you and me
And the English Channel
In our cozy retreat
Kept all neat and tidy
We'll have chums over every Friday

[scenicdesign71]

Friday nights, for a bit of fun,
We'll go dancing.
Meanwhile...

[KathyB]

First I hear a creak and a thump.
Now I hear a clink.
Then they talk a bit...
Many times they shout when they speak.
Other times they think.
Or they argue it...

[scenicdesign71]

You can gripe all you like,
You can sneer, "Where are the heroes?"
You can shout about how
Everything's a lie.

Then that flag goes by...

[Leighton]

Not a day goes by
Not a single day
But you're somewhere a part of my life
And it looks like you'll stay

[KathyB]

If it's a Saturday night and you are single,
You sit with a paper and fight
The urge to mingle.

[scenicdesign71]

I remember leaves:
Green as spearmint. Crisp as paper.
I remember trees:
Bare as coatracks, spread like broken
Umbrellas.

[KathyB]

I wear a bowler hat.
They send me wine.
The house is far too grand.
I bought a new umbrella stand.
Today I visited the church beside the shrine.

[scenicdesign71]

Here is the church,
Here is the steeple;
Open the doors
And see all the crazy married people...

[KathyB]

There are heroes in the world,
Princes and heroes in the world,
And one of them will save us!
Wait and see!
Wait and see!

There won't be trumpets or bolts of fire
To say he's coming,
No Roman candles, no angels' choir,
No sound of distant drumming.

[scenicdesign71]

If you wanna make it,
Twinkle while you shake it.
If you wanna grind it,
Wait 'til you've refined it.
If you wanna bump it,
Bump it with a trumpet.
Get yourself a gimmick
And you too can be a star!

A moment of silence for the irreplaceable Faith Dane (1923-2020).  (Read the linked obit for the description of her Gypsy audition, stay for the genius wildlife-conservation scheme that understandably captured the heart of her eventual soulmate).

But I had to include the lyrical summations of all three ladies in the quote above, because -- while Mazeppa's inevitably tends to register as the payoff, the topper -- you've gotta admit, these pro tips are all words to live by.

[KathyB]

Someone to need you too much,
Someone to know you too well,
Someone to pull you up short
And put you through hell...

[MartinG]

Everybody dumps on Hades -
People yelling, "Go to hell!"
Well,
Let me tell you, life in Hades
Is just swell.

It's got flash! It's got flair!
It's got spectacle to spare!
People come from everywhere,
Like it or not.....

....You're not afraid of time rushing by.
Not afraid of oceans running dry,
All because you're not afraid to die,
Once you're dead.