Sondheim Rips the Great Lyricists

[AllenLowe]

There'll be fifteen minutes of kissing,

And then you'll holler, "please don't stop!"

There'll be fifteen minutes of teasing,

fifteen minutes of pleasing,

Fifteen minutes of blowing my top

[AllenLowe]

in case anyone's wondering if there's a point to all of this, I just thought of one: if you're trying to write the kind of lyric that has an informal and off-hand humor to it, these are good examples. Just trying to help.

[ghost of miles]

Hello, I must be going

I cannot stay

I came to say

I must be going

I'm glad I came

But just the same

I must be going

Perhaps a fitting commentary on this thread as well!

[JSngry]

Songs? Really? Still?

[ghost of miles]

Songs? Really? Still?

Love is here to stay, dude.

[JSngry]

So are horses, magnificent creatures creatures, they, but...I don't ride one to work.

Or from!

[ghost of miles]

So are horses, magnificent creatures creatures, they, but...I don't ride one to work.

Or from!

Love and horses...uh oh... haven't we ridden down this road before?

[JSngry]

And doesn't Basie show up at some point?

[Larry Kart]

So are horses, magnificent creatures creatures, they, but...I don't ride one to work.

So I shouldn't f--- my horse anymore?

[Chuck Nessa]

Unless you want to be saddled with a new nickname.

[Larry Kart]

Unless you want to be saddled with a new nickname.

Nay. I would bridle at that.

[ghost of miles]

Gents, I think it's high time we reined in these remarks and corralled our punning tendencies.

[Larry Kart]

Gents, I think it's high time we reined in these remarks and corralled our punning tendencies.

What do you mean "we," Kemo Sabe?

[Chuck Nessa]

Whoa!

[ghost of miles]

Gents, I think it's high time we reined in these remarks and corralled our punning tendencies.

What do you mean "we," Kemo Sabe?

I'll see your Kemo Sabe and raise you 40 acres and a mule.

[JSngry]

[AllenLowe]

I though this thread was over - are you guys gonna make me post more irrelvant lyrics?

[ghost of miles]

No more Lowe blows, please!

[JSngry]

And no more Alan Sherman, please.

[Hoppy T. Frog]

There's a sincerity and depth to the best of these kinds of lyrics that we Anglos just can't begin to fathom, I think.

Yes, "Ass n' titties" IS pretty amazing.

[AllenLowe]

as is Allan Sherman.

[JSngry]

Of course.

[AllenLowe]

Somewhere, overweight people,

Just like me,

Must have someplace where folks don't count every calorie.

Somewhere, over the rainbow,

Way up tall,

There's a land where they've never heard of cholesterol.

Where folks can eat just what they want

And still be trim and slim and gaunt,

You'll find me-

Where every little thing I taste

Won't wind up showing on my waist,

Or worse-behind me.

Somewhere, overindulging is divine.

If their waistlines aren't bulging,

Why then, oh why does mine?

If bluebirds weighed as much as I

You'd see some big fat bluebirds in the sky

Edited November 24, 2010 by AllenLowe

[paul secor]

People can judge for themselves - PBS is broadcasting Sondheim! The Birthday Concert tonight at 9 p.m. (at least in NYC).

I'm not a Sondheim fan & don't know if this will be representative of his work, but it should at least provide a taste for those who are unfamiliar with his songs.

[crisp]

Not directly jazz, but certainly jazz-related when a songwriter of Sondheim's stature rips lyricists such as Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Hammerstein, and others. It's in his new book, "Finishing the Hat."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/stephen-sondheim-rips-all-the-dead-lyricists-but-only-one-live-one-himself/article1775255/

This piece is rather disingenuous. I've had a flip through the book, and he's far from scathing of all dead lyricists, offering admiration for Frank Loesser and Dorothy Fields among others.

Bearing in mind that Sondheim is something of a pedant (evident in both his art and his criticism), I don't see much to object to here. That Lorenz Hart and Ira Gershwin were routinely technically clumsy is beyond doubt. That they didn't exactly ruin the songs they wrote suggests that the human ear is willing to overlook clumsiness if there are sufficient good ideas in the writing (and Hart and Gershwin were brimming with good ideas). As Loesser and Fields tend to be overlooked in favour of Hart and Gershwin, I welcome anything that redresses the balance.