The Sondheim Lyrics Chain

Started by KathyB, Jul 10, 2017, 09:48 AM

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Leighton

Your arms entwined
You steal below
And far behind
At the edge of day
The bong of the bell of the buoy in the bay
And the boat and the boy
And the bride are away!
Self indulgence is better than no indulgence!

KathyB

Some get a boot 
From shooting off cablegrams
Or buzzing bells
To summon the staff,
Some climbers get their kicks
From social politics

Leighton

Anita's gonna get her kicks
Tonight.
We'll have our private little mix
Tonight.
He'll walk in hot and tired,
Poor dear.
Don't matter if he's tired,
As long as he's here
Tonight!
Self indulgence is better than no indulgence!

scenicdesign71

If it's not some alarm, it's a backfire.
Either that, or the blatt of a horn.
It's but one of the joys of the city: the noise.
Sir, as sure as the day I was born,
That was a shot.

[...]

What a perfect day!


KathyB

See?
A perfect tree.
Pretty isn't beautiful, Mother,
Pretty is what changes.
What the eye arranges
Is what is beautiful.

scenicdesign71

Twenty minutes to arrange
Those bloody awful flowers—
          (Bang!)
Can I get away with more?
          (Bang, bang, bang!)
Then I have to brush my hair,
And that could take me hours...


I count no fewer than six additional instances of "my hair" in the canon!  (And at this rate, it's entirely possible that I'm missing more; I just stopped counting at six, and that's not even including the one from "Bang!", cited above).



KathyB

I found two of them. ("my hair"s) Now I have to find the other four.


scenicdesign71

#607
For what it's worth, the seemingly most-obvious occurrence of "my hair" may not be immediately familiar, because it didn't appear in the original Broadway production — or on the original B'way cast album — of the show for which it was written.  It was actually written later, for a subsequent production of that show, and is now "optional": the song in question serves a useful dramaturgical purpose, but not an absolutely essential one, and it does lengthen an already-long evening; accordingly, it has appeared in some, but not all, subsequent productions and cast recordings.

In a similar vein, "Bang!" (above), was of course cut from A Little Night Music and might therefore be unfamiliar to casual fans of the show or its composer, though the song did resurface in the revues Marry Me A Little and Putting It Together (and on their various recordings, as well as the 1985 compilation A Collector's Sondheim).

But none of the other five instances (that I have in mind) are obscure in that sense, all having appeared in their respective shows' original B'way productions, and on their OBCRs; and having remained, unchanged as far as I know, in their respective libretti, performances and recordings ever since.  One of the shows in question is, admittedly, among SJS's less-often produced; but I'd wager that many of those who have heard its score would cite the song that includes the "my hair" lyric as a highlight.

Also, I'll go ahead and say that none of these six instances (or seven, including "Bang!") is obscure in the sense of being "hidden" in chorus or counterpoint: all occur in clear, easily-understandable solo lines — though none of the songs in question is itself a beginning-to-end solo; most are technically duets, while one is part of a larger group extravaganza.

Finally, these seven lyrics (including "Bang!) come from a total of five different shows:  two of the shows each contain two distinct "my hair" references, unrelated musically (these aren't reprises or developments of the same material) and narratively (in both shows, the two instances are sung by different characters).  So, five different shows, but still seven different women — and they are all women, ranging from very-young to approaching-middle-age — singing seven different songs in which they mention their own hair.  (If we leave out "Bang!", it's still five shows, but six women — including two characters from a single show, who are rarely onstage together and largely unaware of each other's existence — singing six different songs.  Their upper age range might run a little lower with Desirée out of the mix, but among the six remaining, one or two might be eyeing middle age from a cautious distance).


KathyB

I now have found four occurrences of "my hair."

Bobster

Hurry up and do my hair Cinderella!
Are you really wearing that?