The WORST Lyrics in Broadway Love Songs // Valentine's Day Special
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ค. 2024
- OHMYGOD HEY!
Today I am finally bringing you one of my most requested videos from the last year - a second edition of my least favourite lyrics from Musicals!
This time, in celebration of Valentine's Day I am highlighting the dissatisfying, illogical and nonsensical lyrics from the rich repertoire of Broadway Love songs - stay tuned until the end of the video to see if you agree and feel free to comment below with your least favourite love song lyrics!
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Reminder: I'm a huge fan of all of these musicals and their composers and this video is not intended to detract from the huge success all of them have had on stage! Everything stated in this video is my opinion and should not be taken as fact!
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I hope you've enjoyed this video, if you'd like to see more of the Stagey content I'm making including exclusive musical previews, West End interviews and general theatrical madness, subscribe to my channel! ⬇️
/ mickeyjotheatre - บันเทิง
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The fact that “I learned Math so I can learn Love” wasn’t included here is a travesty
Honestly, that entire song. "I am filled with calcu-LUST." 😂😂
@@therpgwriter8459 what show is that from again? It sounds familiar
@@goatpie882 it's Mean Girls, the song "Stupid With Love." I have ironic love for it. It's super campy.
Who liked this to block them 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪
Alright, I fully know that you’re being a bit snarky here but I have arrived regardless to defend Les Mis because it is my bound duty in life.
Totally agree that A Heart Full of Love is super saccharine and nobody’s favorite song from the show. But I do feel that you’ve skimmed over a bit of the subtext in the part of the lyrics that you picked on. The back and forth between Cosette and Marius and how they’re experiencing this first love is, in my mind, actually a way to emphasize how different the places they are arriving at this moment from are. Marius is normally more grounded, serious - a student. He’s falling head over heels in this ethereal, dreamlike way that is wildly unlike him. Hence, I am lost/do I dream? He has no idea how to conduct himself. Cosette, on the other hand, has lived a life that is dissociative and hidden from her - as emphasized by her conversation with ValJean right before her moment with Marius. She is tired of nebulous answers about life and dreams of something solid, something real. So to her, experiencing this confession of love is grounding, is finally something she can hang on to that makes sense to her in her life. Hence, I am found/I’m awake.
Thanks for accepting this Les Mis stan’s rambling. Great video!
Yes yes yes!! Exactly my thoughts!!
Points have been made 👏👏👏
I’ve never thought of it that way. That adds a lot of depth to lyrics
She's also well-studied and remarkably confident for someone so isolated. This song could EASILY be played as her seizing the moment, taking control and breaking rules because she's so self-assured
yeah, I literally had to stop watching when he called Cosette whiny and uninteresting. like tell me you don't actually know what you're talking about without telling me-
“Dedicated to sopranos who need to shut up.” That…is so iconic.
also why is Raouls idea of a good proposal moment ... when Christine is calming down from the soprano version of a panic attack. like dude TIMING
Obsessed with 'the soprano version of a panic attack' 🤣
@@MickeyJoTheatre thanks loll
Just one thing about Audrey's make up on little shop of horrors... What I always interpreted was the reason why she used the make up was due to her abusive relationship with the dentist , she used it to cover the bruises... So when he says "show me your face clean as the morning" was meaning I want to see your trauma , but yeah the purified thing always was weird
I like "Kiss Me" from Sweeney Todd because it's like, Anthony is stuck on his grand romantic love because he thinks he's in some grand romantic musical where he'll sweep the girl off her feet and live happily ever after, but Johanna is just freaking out about being caught with some guy that she figured out can get her out of her situation. The lyrics of the song are sure among the weakest in the show, but the song itself is pretty funny because it's like they're in two entirely different musicals singing to each other.
Also I feel like the, um... silly? lyrics in "A Heart Full of Love" are fine just because the rest of the show is SUPER SERIOUS so having a saccharine love duet makes for good contrast. I feel like this song is one of the ones that probably sounded better in the original French version, though.
I stand by the lyrics in Kiss Me for exactly the reasons you describe. The musical never pretends that Anthony and Johanna have a remotely healthy relationship, and that song just emphasizes how thoroughly not on the same page they are
‘We all resent this song until Eponine comes in’ honestly this is so true
I always thought the "youth" in Something Good was supposed to be in reference to one's teenage years rather than another word for childhood, but that's just me.
I completely agree. This has always been my interpretation too.
@@CalliopeMoEP looking back in time to when they did something that made them worthy of their current love. Going back in time - “somewhere in my youth or (even further back) my childhood”. But not as far back as Laurie Anderson took it in Smoke Rings 😂
Yeah, like I get his confusion because people sometimes say "youth" to just generally mean "a period of time when you were young", but in context I'm sure the song means teenager years to young adulthood, like the "childhood" part is up to age 12 and "youth" is 13 through 20.
It’s not just you. That’s literally what “youth” means, at least when the song was written. Any older book or older person that says “youths” are referring to teens or very young adults. So, the song really is referring to two distinct periods of time.
What didn't make sense to me is that Maria is a novice nun. She's never done ANYTHING good? Isn't that the point of her vocation??
I think the “It’s up that I fell” is referring to Elphaba defying gravity. Wicked is probably my favorite musical, but my favorite love song is “In a Crowd of Thousands” from Anastasia. It’s just so heartfelt and phenomenal! I try not to think of the lyrics that much, but it’s hard when they just make absolutely no sense. 😂
When I say I try not to think of the lyrics that much I mean in like the weird theater songs, not “In a Crowd of Thousands.” Just thought I would clarify. 😆
I love you for trying to make that Wicked lyric make sense but I feel like I can't unhear the nonsense now. "In a Crowd of Thousands" is a beautiful song, not necessarily a bop I listen to all the time but just a beautiful scene captured in a song.
Well, I tried. Will agree it isn’t a bop, but it is a beautiful song. I can’t believe you actually responded though. 😂
I love in a “crowd of thousands” too. It sounds so simple, pure, and sweet. And the best part is how their stories align in the middle. Beautiful writing.
In a crowd of thousands is probably the best love song written for the musical theatre stage, imo. Just pulls you in, and you hang on every word and moment.
The Sweeney Todd song, that was the point. She saw him as a way out, it’s really blatant.
Sondheim also thinks straight people need to calm down.
“Do I love you because you’re beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you?” is one of the greatest lyrics to any love song.
And overall this is one of the most beautiful love songs ever.
Yoav Nachtailer But not as good as Ten Minutes Ago
People bagged on George Lucas when he used almost exactly this line in Star Wars 😂
All of Cinderella's lyrics are just really, really good and makes you think things and I still hum Ten Minutes Ago YEARS after having performed that stinkin musical.
These lyrics are even clarified in the following line, "are you the sweet invention of a lover's dream or are you really as wonderful as you seem?" It's not meant to be all about looks, it's describing the feelings people often feel when they're in love- I'm meeting this person and they are just so awesome, can this even be real? And they like me back? How is this possible? It's the prince asking- is it really possible that I met someone who is so perfect? I think it's super sweet and really relatable.
Actually, I do indeed root for Cosette and Marius. Wanting Marius to end up with Éponine is like wanting Prince Charming to end up with the stepsister instead of Cinderella. Cosette lost her mother, was abused by the Thernadiers, and is kept in the dark by Valjean about her own past in addition to his. I think she deserved that happiness with someone who was her equal (Marius). Everyone likes Éponine because she's the sad unrequited love interest, and while she is my favorite in the show, her infatuation with Marius is just that: infatuation.
Eponine was also abused by her parents, I'm pretty sure
Y'know what? You're right and you should say it.
You don't even have to compare the two girls' lives (because having a sadder life doesn't determine how much you "deserve" to have your love requited). The only question that matters is "Is Eponine a better match for Marius than Cosette is?" and honestly, I don't see any reason to think she would be.
Sure Marius and Eponine have known each other longer than a _single day,_ but like? Big whoop. Does that make their connection, such as it is, any less shallow than the one he has with Cosette? I'm not convinced it does.
I mean, it's not like they're best friends or anything. Marius considers her _a_ friend, but like, he's got a literal army of friends, I doubt Eponine is even in the top 3. At the end of the day, the impression I get is that she's just some girl he sees around town and is friendly towards because he's a friendly guy.
And from Eponine's side of things, I feel like her infatuation with Marius is rooted more in what he represents than who he is as a person. She just wants SOMEONE to love her and to give her a better life than the one she has on the streets. It doesn't _have_ to be Marius, he's just the most convenient name and face she can assign to that fantasy.
no literally. if you don't root for marius and cosette i genuinely feel sorry for you
and everyone like Éponine because she has the better song
I get your point, but Cosette telling Marius to be quiet and just be the beautiful himbo that he is, is my favorite thing she does in the whole show.
EXACTLY. Also, in the novel, she jokes about him calling him an "insufferable to look at pedant" a few years into her marriage, and that's my favourite piece of characterization there
When he said "my conclusion is that heterosexual people need to calm down" I DIED. That was my first big laugh in a while. I just discovered you and you are a gem of a channel for this theater crazy heart. Thank you so much!
Okay, about The Last Five Years: I think the reason Cathy responds to Jamie's proposal first with "I am not always on time" is because being "on time," by which I mean being on time to catch up with Jamie (his success) has always been Cathy's biggest insecurity. Some songs before their marriage (chronologically) hint at that--Climbing Uphill sees her trying and failing to not be under a man's shadow (and in the show, immediately followed by the next song.... which just shows how those efforts are all in vain), and the Schmuel Song is basically Jamie encouraging her to take her time. And as we see in the moments after their marriage (chronologically), feeling inferior to Jamie does catch up on her and become one of the hurdles she could not get over (not to mention there is Jamie's big ego there). So I always feel those lines characterize Cathy's response to Jamie's proposal perfectly and realistically. Unconfident as she is, she backs off first, wrestles with the thought, and then takes that leap of faith.
Not thought of this interpretation of next ten minutes before but I like it, Brava!
Yes!!! I couldn’t agree more!!
TL5Y utilizes time (and the passage thereof) as a really effective motif, not only in its central concept but in big and small details throughout the show, and I think “The Next Ten Minutes” epitomizes this and highlights how different Cathy and Jamie’s worldviews really are. Jamie lives moment to moment, taking each day as it comes, “moving too fast”; Cathy is an ambitious planner but pragmatic and cautious, and though she fears stagnation more than anything, she can get stuck in loops of self-doubt. TL5Y’s central conceit illustrates this excellently, with Jamie’s story playing out as he lives it while Cathy’s story plays like a reflection on their relationship, but I think this theme is really embedded throughout.
When Jamie asks, “Will you share your life with me / for the next ten minutes?”, he not only reflects his value of living for the moment but asks Cathy to do the same (and, in my opinion quite crucially, he frames this as her giving him something, rather than a mutual give-and-take). Cathy’s response functions exactly as you said; as Jamie asks her for these small intervals building upon one another, she reiterates her insecurity that she can’t keep up with him.
Ultimately, though, Jamie’s proposal offers a tentative future while Cathy longs for a certain one. I think time plays a part in this, too. Jamie is asking for her to catch up with him at every interval, for the next ten minutes and the next ten minutes and the next ten minutes, but Cathy needs to know that she doesn’t have to keep pace with him to be loved by him. So she asks for “forever” while Jamie repeats “for the next ten minutes.”
And though her shift from cautious to enthusiastic might seem odd, it makes so much sense for Cathy, as you said. It’s a similar pattern to “Goodbye Until Tomorrow,” in which she begins the song looking forward to the next time Jamie calls and ends it dreaming of “the rest of [her] life.”
TL;DR…. Yes, I completely agree!!!
Agreed; The Next Ten Minutes is one of my favourite songs from that show!!
For the wicked lyrics. I’ve always taken it as Fiyero saying that even when he falls he feels like he is floating because he is so in love with her.
It is not a bad lyric, but when Anita sings in West Side Story, I like the Island Manhattan, somebody says, I know you do. It always makes me laugh.
Yeh, we all know because she just bloody well told us she did.
Haha, hadn't thought of that before but now it's ALL I'll hear, thanks ;)
i hear it every time and love it, it's funny but it's also how people do talk
Okay. I always understood "I know you don't" which didn't make sense to me xD
Apparently it was adlibbed
For me it's so perfect because it mimics how people talk!!! Like when people in the black community (in the US) would say "I know that's right !"
Suprised you didn't talk about Beneath a Moon-less sky - Love Never Dies
Does it even need to be talked about
Though definitely a couple rough ones in there
Although I never minded the lyrics from that one much, it's just an uncomfortable song to listen to, but the lyrics aren't the worst. But once upon another time on the other hand... 'once upon another time, our story had only begun / you chose to turn the page, and I made choices too. Ever since that other time, we did what we thought must be done / and now we have no choice. We do what we must do' (especially 'and I made choices too', like, what the heck? Who thought that was good?)
'once upon another time, I knew how our story would end / and maybe I was wrong, but now the moment's gone. Were it still that other time, I'd make time itself somehow bend / but now I'm not that strong, and time keeps moving on'
It's just a boring song with terrible lyrics that makes me wish I was listening to a better musical (like the original phantom especially, makes you super nostalgic for that) to an extent that the rest of the musical isn't quite bad enough to warrant, and on top of that, it serves absolutely no purpose to the plot!
And then they keep it in the show every time it gets remade for... Idk, some reason, I'm sure
It's got a pretty tune, but I'd consider it worse than BAMS cause the lyrics are definitely worse and at least BAMS serves a plot purpose. Regardless of if you like the plot, at least it's moving it forward. BAMS literally is pointless and sucks (except pretty melody)
NOOOO WHY DID YOU MAKE ME REMEMBER THIS
I have to defend Les Mis here. Marius has not known Cosette for only a few hours, he has been stalking her for months.
Ah peak love material
Wha- ? WHAT ?!
In the book yes, Not in the musical, it is the same day in the misical
I agree with most of your choices apart from two.
In 'As Long As You're Mine' from Wicked, the lyrics “it’s up that I fell” I always thought was a juxtaposition of the idea that we always think of it as 'falling' for someone, but as Fiyero is insinuating that Elphaba makes him feel like falling and defying gravity at the same time. I think it's clever, and it ties in with all the Ozian words in the show like 'rejoicify' and 'disgusticified'.
In 'Who Wants To Live Forever' from We Will Rock You, the lyrics "touch my tears with your lips" are a reference to kissing the tears or the pain away. And yes, you can kiss someone's teary cheek. If you are going to be annoyed by anything in We Will Rock You, it should be the story, not the music. Hahaha.
I took All I Ask Of You to be ironic - just as with all naïve love songs. They’re too young and foolish to know that their superficial idea of love doesn’t even match what they’re saying in the moment.
Particularly in contrast with the Phantom’s idea of love.
“I would take the stars out of the sky for you. Stop the rain from falling if you asked me to.” Love songs (especially those lovely, cheesy 70’s classics) are full of offering the impossible
I think the lyrics to "Kiss Me" from SWENET TODD are brilliant and extremely funny (as well as showing the difference between each character's objective in the moment.) And, how many lyricists even know what a reticule is, let alone be able to fit it into a song? AND, I really enjoy your videos, so no problem that we may not agree now and then.
Thats why I love Johanna! Kiss me has to be one of my favourite songs, it's fun to sing. Its like help I'm panicking and it really reminds me of when I panic. I don't pay attention when I panic its "just oh shit oh shit oh shit shit Im doomed", and someone will be like "we can just tell someone-" and then I'll just continue panicking "doomed!" And the fact that Johanna doesn't see him as much other than an escape route really helps with her characterisation, and then she's like wait maybe I like him a little. And the even though I did not know your name! Just shows how one sided it really is. I love it.
I gotta defend All I ask of you because I think it’s very sweet. When Raoul says “No more talks of darkness, forget these wide eyes fear” (which I never really thought about but it’s such a clever metaphor) he’s trying to confort Christine which is great because it’s exactly what she wants (“All I want is freedom, a world with no more night”). What I like about All I ask of you is exactly that, it’s because the things they offer is what the other wants. It’s especially important for Christine’s character because after all the Phantom’s self-centred nonsense, she gets to be with someone who wants to give her what she needs rather than ask her to give stuff. Maybe it’s something that you can only really appreciate when you feel a similar sense of distress to Christine but All I ask of you is always so dreamy and reassuring to me, I hear the violin swell at the beginning of Why have you brought us here and I feel safe
I think that the only one i'd quarrel with is the 'I heard a noise' in Sweeney todd BECAUSE, at least to me when I listened to it, it just came across as him brushing her off. Not that she wasn't listening, just that he was dissmissing her concerns...and IDK but I like that
It adds to the noone in this musical is a good person if you think about it thing that Sweeney's got going on
HOWEVER take this with a grain of salt because I will defend this musical into eternity, I love it so much
In defense of Crazier than you: kinky shit like that is normal in the context of the Addams Family
Lmao as someone who just played Wednesday, I can confirm
I think that the example you used for suddenly Seymour actually works far better in the context of the show. When the audience knows he's going to end up being a manipulative, power hungry character in the end it adds a little more foreshadowing to the song. I like that he comes off as a bit creepy and controlling because, he is.
With the sound of music one, I believe that childhood and youth used to be used differently. Youth is like your teenage years, when you’re young and naive but on the brink of growing up. Childhood is when you’re actually a child.
exactly. 'youth' is more 15-25.
Yeah this guy takes things awfully literally. The only one I REALLY agreed with was the "cut your love with a knife" part because if that IS a phrase, nobody's said it in decades. His suggestion of "I'll shoot you with cupid's arrow, and this crossbow" was better.
Yes! It’s not used that way much anymore, but every older book that refers to “youths” always means characters in their teens or early 20s.
For the Cinderella song, my immediate thought is how you can feel so attracted to someone both physically and emotionally that you start to wonder if it's one or the other. But it's been ages since I watched it, so I could be missing some context.
Regarding "Something Good", you can kinda tell why Richard Rodgers normally partners with a lyricist -- because this is the result if he writes the songs on his own.
I just heard an interview with Seth Rudetsky where he talked about this regarding I Have Confidence. He took serious issue with "when you wake up, wake up! It's healthy." He said it doesn't make sense because I'm already awake, so why do I still need to wake up?!
“Wake up! It’s hell--thy” is a pun!
@@queenmotherhane4374 that's not the problem....it's "when you wake up, wake up." If you've already woken up, you can't wake up again.
The line actually makes sense considering that in those days, “youth” meant teens and early twenties. The words did not mean the same thing as they are referring to distinct periods in life.
It is one of Rodgers' weakest songs. But Rodgers wrote an excellent Broadway score, both music and lyrics, right after Hammerstein died: No Strings (1962). That came before the new songs Rodgers added to the movie of The Sound of Music in 1965. I think that by the time he got around to writing the lyrics for "Something Good" he may have been a bit sick of both Maria and the Captain, and just wanted to get the song over with and move on to another project.
I am Cosette and Marius stan and actually do like Heart Full of Love. It's just so pure and innocent and incredibly naive. Like them less after reading the book, but in the musical I do root for them.
Haha what? How are they different in the book?
@@goatpie882 when Marius first saw Cosette, he thought she was plain (it’s heavily implied that she isnt attractive at all - it’s why the convent nurses were excited to take her in). So, he paid her no mind and then she bloomed and Marius noticed. So, they watched each other for a few weeks/months.
I think i liked them less after, because they were so in love with each other they forgot that other people existed.
Plus, Marius was so focused on honouring Thenadier for his father that he enabled him a bit. 😆
@@elizabethheyn5365 Isn't the age gap also pretty iffy? I think he's like, 21 and she's 15.
@@jonwalker9587 it is, but given the time it was written that’s a pretty small age gap. Usually it was guys in their 30ss
As somebody who has played Prince Topher, my director was extremely close to cutting "Do I Love you Because you’re Beautiful" for most of the rehearsal process as he felt exactly the same as you.
The way it ended up working for us (and how I played it) is to use 'beautiful' in more of the way he feels drawn to Ella as a person (as she is the first person to genuinely connect with him and believe he can do the kingdom right through his own character rather than scorn him for problems created behind his back or suck up to him with hidden motives) rather than him commenting on her physical appearance.
I'm bothered by basically _all_ the lyrics in Someone To Believe In from Newsies.
They're just so.... _trite._
"Til the moment I found you, I thought I knew what love was.
Now I'm learning what is true: That love will do what it does."
//
"We was never meant to meet-- then we meet; who knows why?"
//
"Something to believe in for even a day
One day may be forever, but that's okay. That's okay!"
????
I know I'm very late to this party, but I have to defend "Kiss Me," which is one of my favorite Sondheim songs. Johanna is distracted by every noise she hears, or thinks she hears, because she is **mortally terrified.** This **horrible** old man (the Judge) has just announced that he's going to marry her on Monday, and it's already Friday! Not only is she distracted, she's frightened half out of her wits. And Johanna explains herself with one of the all-time best lyrics ever: "If he should marry me Monday / What shall I do? I'll die of grief. / It's Friday--virtually Sunday! / What can we do with time so brief?" That "It's Friday--virtually Sunday!" just kills me every time, because it's the perfect encapsulation of a state of panic--in four words!
I won't presume to "explain" the lyric of "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?" to you, because you made it clear in the video that you already get the point. I just happen to think that the Prince's introspective question is lovely and intriguing. And remember, he's a Prince: The woman he's considering marrying is not only going to be the mother of his children but also, one day, the Queen of his kingdom. So the question whether she's really this wonderful person or he's just imagining it all is a question of some importance to him. And I know the scene is always staged so that he's singing it directly to her and she seems to be responding to the words, but I always think of the song as introspective, reflecting his thoughts more than something he's actually saying aloud to her. (I think if I were directing the show I'd stage it that way, with her looking out the window at the moonlight or whatever, and him standing behind her, "musing to himself," as they say. After all, if he were really speaking aloud to her, what could she possibly answer? "Yes, I really, really am the most wonderful woman in the world," or "Naah, I'm really a bitch"?)
I'm cool with "He pruified you"
Seymour just chopped up her abusive ex the day before or whatever, he sees himself as a savior, he's DEEP in the plant's ego trip. Suddenly Seymour is a thoroughly chilling song of manipulation. Like sure he doesn't hit her, but she doesn't know him at ALL in his current form
"I think she sees him as a way out." Yeah. They think they're the protagonists of a love story, not the side characters of a slasher movie.
Okay while those two are just a flip in tone, I do actually have a VERY different view of The Last Five Years, but... I just... I'll save it for later because I know I'll have a lot to defend.
was on board for most of your other video, but this time you're mostly pointing out that relationships come across as flawed when that's exactly what the song is meant to convey like Suddenly Seymoure or Kiss Me.
Had to come here to say that the Jekyll and Hyde line makes perfect sense. Jekyll is already feeling insecure, having been rejected by the board regarding his experiments. He was insulted, basically called crazy, and while Emma may not know the extent of it, she knows he's hurting and he's questioning things. I think she says, "Who do you see there? Someone you know, or just a stranger?" because she's challenging Jekyll to realize that even though he's shaken up right now, there are still some constants in his life, and she is one of those. She's not some flighty girl, she's the woman who is going to stand by him, no matter what.
Okay, but some favorites (in the hopes of perhaps rekindling your love of Broadway love songs).
-Fiddler on the Roof, Do You Love Me, “So you love me? I guess I do. And I suppose I love you too. It doesn’t change a thing, but even so, after twenty-five years it’s nice to know.”
-Being Alive and Marry Me a Little from Company
-Right This Way, I’ll Be Seeing You, “I’ll be looking at the moon but I’ll be seeing you.”
-Last Five Years, Next Ten Minutes, “I don’t know how anybody survives in this life without someone like you.”
-A New Brain, Sailing, “I’d rather be sailing, and then come home to you”
-Baby, I Chose Right, “when I look at you, I know I chose right.”
-Thoroughly Modern Millie, I Turned the Corner, “Your smile like home to me, your heart familiar.”
-Light in the Piazza, Light in the Piazza, “the light in the piazza: my love.”
-Rags, Wanting, “then I turn around, there he is, and the room is bright where he is.”
-Shrek, Big Bright Beautiful World (reprise), “I see it now. I’ll let it in. I’ll tear down the wall and clear a spot for two.”
-Next to Normal, Perfect for You, “we’ll be the one thing in this world that won’t hurt.”
-Next to Normal, Hey #3, “You look like a star.”
A love song lyric I’m not a fan of (from a song/show I love) is when in Great Comet of 1812 in the song The Ball, Anatole sings “is it my fault that you’re enchanting?”, which is basically implying that it’s fine that he’s seducing her and having her cheat on her fiancé because he can’t keep it in his pants and he thinks she’s real pretty which really bugs me tbh
(And I know that not caring/knowing what consequences his actions have and stuff is an actual character trait of his, so I get the intention of the line, it just annoys me because of the meaning)
yeah helene and anatole are def trying to groom her xD it's very dangerous liaisons of them
Oh man, it gives me the ick 100%, in the best way. Anatole is so slimy and predatory behind the charm and handsome smiles, I loooove that line for being so awful! 😅
Worst lyrics ever are from UNEXPECTED SONG from SONG AND DANCE:
Now, no matter where I am
No matter what I do
I see your face appearing
Like an unexpected song
An unexpected song
That only we are hearing
Not only does she mix metaphors, (see your face appearing /song we are hearing) but what the hell is an "unexpected song"? Who has ever heard a song and said to themselves, "Gee, I didn't expect that song."
Oh my god these least favorite lyrics videos are beautiful. I think most good broadway musicals NEED to have good lyrics, both because of all the amazing lyricists that existed and because of its theatrical nature. Kinda off topic, but these remind me of some love songs with (personally) the best lyrics. Like someone else mentioned in the comments, In a Crowd of Thousands; the beautiful beginning of come home with me and Wedding Song (Hadestown); and of course duets Howard Ashman wrote (one of which referenced in the video and I YELLED I KNEW).
My only quibble is that "Something Good" is not commonly performed in the stage versions of The Sound of Music, and if you've heard "An Ordinary Couple," (the song sung in its stead), it becomes a little hard to complain about "Something Good." Unless of course you prefer your Broadway shows with a designated nap segment 😆
All I Ask of You is so sweet though. Raoul' cutesy giggles are so adorable!! And Phantom's bit is just perfection
Beneath a Moonless Sky is good too but we gotta admit it's freaking fanfic
Wonder if "it's up I fell" alludes to life getting better. You know how people say they marry up, like into money.
Maybe he meant that the falling under her spell is actually a good thing this time?
Your under her spell is often a bad thing
Just popping in to say I love your literal take on things. That is almost exactly how my brain works, so hearing someone follow the same thought processes was amazing.
You’re so savage 🤣 I love it! 🙌🏻
The thing I love about Jason Robert Brown songs is that he’s able to capture the mood of the moment through the music so perfectly that it doesn’t really matter what’s being said during the song but you feel so swept up in the emotion of it (bridges of Madison county score is a stellar example of this!). So I feel like the Next Ten Minutes works so well - although if you were to read the lyrics in isolation it would seem quite odd. Tired of love songs where there are these huge declarations that to love someone until their dying day, what JRB does with this song fits both of personalities of the characters so well. I could similarly go on about how I love each of the songs in the last five years (especially goodbye until tomorrow) but that would make this a very long comment! Love your videos btw! ❤️
I'd love to hear you talk about the entirety of Bright Star. I love that show but the lyrics are just baffling.
The worst one I can think of is “For Crying out loud” from Bat out of Hell.
I get that the song was written way before the musical was conceived, but For Crying out Loud you two, stop singing about how “chilly” it is in California, when you are in post-apocalyptic Manhattan!
Is it a hot take that Joanna doesn't actually love Anthony? I thought that was the text.
Julie Andrews make us believe every word when she sings 'Perhaps I had a wicked childhood. Perhaps I had a miserable youth...etc." It's not a bad number. It's not as good as "Something Wonderful" (The King and I). I love the "ok, time for the grownup song" broadway numbers.
Kiss Me is amazing exactly *because* it highlights her PTSD and how Anthony is more of an escape route than a person she knows that well. Every character in Sweeney Todd other than Anthony is warped, setting her up here as not quite right is really important for later when good boy™ Anthony can't kill the man who's keeping her imprisoned and she does it herself with zero hesitation.
The song is him trying to sing about his love for her while she's in this panicked state, and while it does sacrifice the idea that this is some perfect romance it still does make clear that she does like him back when he hesitates and she insists he kiss her.
I think cosette gets a lot of flack that she doesn’t fully deserve.
I like her story of her doing the best she can as a kid in a terrible situation.
I love her relationship with Jean-valjean ad her dad. He wanted her to want for nothing and she didn’t. The only thing she wanted was Marius. And yes, while like almost everyone on the planet, I wanted him with Epione, I loved how Jean-Valhean saved Marius for Cosette before he died and I can picture them being very happy together.
As for the lyrics I think they were both so lovestruck, they were signing different thoughts.
He felt lost.
Her “i’m awake” was wow, for the first time I am awake and completely distracted as to not hear what he said.
But I get your point there.
The musical does Cosette and Marius such a disservice. They are both so isolated that, in the novel, they make eye contact at a park and grow fiercely dependent on the sight of each other for months without exchanging a word. They have this incredibly idealistic, unspoken fascination with each other that only exists because of the loneliness they've experienced. But A Heart Full of Love makes it look like they just met and doesn't give any sense of Cosette's emotional state.
@@Amy3422 good point. It has been a while since I read the book so I forgot that part.
I think I got past the love at first sight thing because the characters were based off Victor Hugo and his significant other. Forgot which one at the time so I figured they were encapsulating on that.
But if the musical focused in the loneliness aspect, it would bring more context and understanding of Marius and Cosette and than make it even sadder for Epione because she felt the same as well, loneliness wise anyways.
@@gabrielleduplessis7388 I think it was himself and Juliette Drouet, but he put some of his daughters into Cosette and Eponine as well.
@@Amy3422 interesting. Thanks.
@@Amy3422 The garden courtship and "first love" aspect is based on his courtship with his wife, Adele Foucher. The threats of Theodule and Courfeyrac are perhaps inspired by the Sainte-Beuve affair. Cosette's background and personality(?) and the date of their wedding is based on Juliette Drouet. And then Valjean's loss of Cosette was inspired by how he felt about his daughters. Basically he really idealized Cosette into the perfect wife/daughter and "corrected" his marriage through her...
I believe Eponine could have been influenced by his daughter Adele Hugo.
Falling up was the scarecrow, you said? The no-brain empty-head scarecrow? Sounds like explanation enough to me...
Jekyll&Hyde, while I'll acknowledge there are some strange choices all over that libretto, I think the implication is that he knows her better than she knows herself
While I agree that Fiyero's "it's up that I fell" is super awkward, I think the intention to reiterate the idea of "defying gravity."
All I ask of you is my 2nd favorite phantom song and my go-to when I wanna scream to the heavens lol
I don’t super love the lyric in Next Ten Minutes when they sing, “till there’s no one left who has ever known us apart.” Like I guess if you don’t think about it AT ALL it’s kind of romantic? But given even the briefest of thoughts, they’re basically saying they can’t wait till everyone they’ve ever known is dead. Like....?
I agree, but I think that's intentional. The Next ten minutes is a romantic song, but it's also (at least I think) supposed to be full of red flags and warning signs that the relationship won't last (which the audience already knows anyway)
No..what it is saying is their love and marriage will outlast all of their friendships.
Just loved this one!
I don't know if this is a love song but I always took it like that. It is another day from rent. It isn't so much a lyric as much as the whole premise of the song. He, validly, doesn't want to get with someone using crack since he is recovering from it. All of his friends think he should just be with her and live life. I don't like that. It annoys me. I stand with Roger.
so um... in Wicked I never heard the "It's up that I fell" I always heard it as "Some how I'm feeling the stuff that I felt every moment" like he finally recognizes those feelings he felt for her all along. I will never listen to thids song the same way again.
I saw Starlight Express for the first time in 2000 on the West End. But I'd gotten off the plan flight from Australia and just bought a cheap ticket to something - having loved ALW - that was cheap. To this day I don't know if it's just a weird damn play or I think it'd weird cause I saw it 4 hours after arriving in Heathrow after 2 days of plane time...
By the year 2000, Starlight Express had gone through so many changes it was a mere shadow of the original.
What about
“ if you treat me bad I’ll say you’re bad”
Or
“ I will say you make me mad “
You should comment that on his "worst lyrics in musicals period" not worst lyrics in musical LOVE SONGS
This is brilliant 😂
In defense of “it’s up that i fell” fiyero starts the verse with “maybe im brainless maybe im wise” i hear it as maybe it makes sense maybe it doesn’t but i feel elevated by my love for you 🤷🏾
Also just thought of this… “somehow ive fallen under your spell…somehow Im feeling its up that I fell!!! Literally DEFYING GRAVITY!!! I stand behind the lyric!
I loove your pillow cases! Where did you get them?!
I think Company is the best collection of love songs there is. Though maybe a lot of them wouldn't be thought of as love songs they all capture a real aspect of the messy experience of love.
3:52 it’s actually meant to contrast with fantines I dreamed a dream it’s cosette saying the life her mother dreamed of us becoming a reality for her :)
That's a nice idea, although Fantine singing I Dreamed a Dream in solitude and then never subsequently meeting her daughter would make it difficult for Cosette to reference it ;)
Re: All I Ask of You
I thought the idea was that they both want a whole lot, but don't want to burden each other. So they keep backtracking requests. "Say you need me with you now and always - no, just let me go anywhere you go - no, just love me, that's all I ask" etc.
I completely forgot that Lisa's name was changed to Emma in the final production. I listen to the concept album so much more since I feel it's a bit more clearer to hear the lyrics. But I understand this change. I struggled to understand that Lisa and Lucy were two different characters so making it Emma and Lucy makes sense. Honestly there are some changes I didn't like in comparison to the Concept version. That said, "Take me as I am", very weak song. If I compare that to "No one knows who I am" which I guess would be the best of Lucy's comparison it's more raw and emotional. There's also "Lisa Carew" which was, in my opinion, a better Lisa/Emma song where she talks about why Dr.Jekyll really stood out to her and why she is staying by her choice to marry him.
Literally the comet of 1812 has a lyric about the girls feet 😭
i don't know how many other people already said it but the phantom of the opera's line of "no more talk of darkness" can only work in my opinion if it's meant as a sort of attempt to get her to snap out of her thinking about the phantom but they don't have the grace to make the awkward interpretation of him saying christine should shut up, since it's hard to communicate the difference and phantom is... i'm not sure but i'm gonna call it outdated. i like all i ask of you because it's more about her wanting him to help her with her fear of the phantom than them being in love with each other, and that's the problem with love songs and romance stuff in media, people never got told the difference between loving someone and "being in love", add to that weird sexist vibes and it's gross.
"Maybe you can rekindle my love for Broadway love songs."
Listen to "Love to me" from "The Light in the Piazza" or "Younger Than Springtime" from "South Pacific".
You forgot the classic from ‘Oklahoma!’ : ‘Don’t start collecting things, give me my rose and my glove.’ WHY?! #Banal
I got the impression that these are lyrics he doesn't like from shows he does like, so maybe he doesn't like Oklahoma? Or maybe I'm projecting because I saw it for the first time recently and absolutely hated it.
I'm not sure if theses particular Jekyll and Hyde lyrics changed between the 1994 album (aka the only one I really listen to) and the Broadway version, but at least in the concept album, the line that bothered me was never that one, it was the one right after
'if you are wise, you will see me there' which, okay, fine. But then: 'love is the only danger. Love meaning me, love meaning you'
Literally, it's just so meaningless. They're the danger to their own love, which isn't totally wrong I guess? I guess it could mean, love could make you see me in a way that I'm actually not, but that's not at all what the song was worried about the rest of the time
Like... That line always made no sense to me, it felt like a warning that barely made sense to begin with, didn't need to exist, and didn't really go anywhere either. She stood by him and yeah, he changed, but it had nothing to do with her. And he never started seeing her as someone she wasn't. If anything, the warning could be for her I guess cause she actually did kinda do that
I feel like I'm contradicting myself a lot, sorry, but that line always bothered me. Having broken it down for myself here, it doesn't bother me as much, but it still just feels like unnecessary filler lol
Also, a line that I don't like is in a song from the German translation of next to normal. (It's a fine line in English, it's just the way it got translated)
'richtig für dich', the German version of perfect for you
The ch in both richtig and dich and the g in richtig make similar sounds, and hearing it three times in such a short amount of time just isn't pleasant. Idk how well I could explain it, but listen to it if you're curious. And then they repeat it multiple times and sometimes with words that have similar sounds
'manchmal ein Kiffer, doch ich
Ich bin vielleicht richtig, __ (didn't get this word/phrase) richtig, richtig für dich'
It's a fine enough sound once or twice, but just over and over how it is... No. Please stop, Henry
Never liked that about that song
Wicked, So Good, not a love song, but close: "I ask forgiveness for the things I've done you blame me for" Like how super passive aggressive is that? It's the classic "I'm sorry you were offended by me" apology. And then the backhanded reply: "But then I guess we know there's blame to share... It's a VERY snarky jab back and forth in a song that's otherwise heartfelt, to be hastily glossed over by the conclusion: "and none of it seems to matter anymore."
I think the reason most Broadway love songs are bad is because most Broadway love STORIES are disappointing. They very rarely involve two interesting and well-developed characters; more often, they involve one interesting character and a "satellite love interest" (usually the woman) whose only noteworthy traits are that she is loved by the hero and she may or may not love him back. These kinds of "romantic" plots don't provide much fertile ground for good songs. Most of the time, I embrace the melodies (because I have a weakness for sweet melodies) and tweak the lyrics in my head.
Trying to think of some romantic ballads I enjoy without reservation. I rather like "When You're Home" and "Sunrise" from In the Heights, largely because I like both Benny and Nina. I'm sure I'll think of more later.
Hahaha "It's not better to fall up than to fall down, you're still falling"
Did i full on re-enact this whole video to my friend in a coffee shop today? Yes i did
Stephen Sondheim had a farm, E-I-E-I-O. I'm wheezing.
I forgot how greatly hilarious matchmaker lyrics are “make me a match. Find me a find. Catch me a catch”
My very very favorite musical theatre love song is Sibella from Gentleman's Guide. It's beautiful, the lyrics are great, it gives a great sum up of the two characters' relationship, and I love it so so much
I've been in two productions of Sweeny and the first that closed in three days and was only contractually obligated to do the show, that kiss me, was terrible. Then I was in a really great production that ran a while and the main couple doing kiss me it came off hysterical. I didn't totally think it was a love song it was more comedic. The main Johanna was 14 and her us was 16 the director wanted the age to be as it is in the story so the uncomfortable factor hung over the show. The 14 year old played it so hysterical.
If we are allowed to include jukebox musicals ... "Your Song" when he sings "If I was a sculptor but then again... no"
I mean... ok?? lol What was he gonna do as a sculptor??
The way I see it is it's a shy young man trying to express his love in stumbling words, trying to come up with comparisons but falling short, to the point where he can't even finish a thought.
The worst lyrics are in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella. You couldn't pay me to see that show. (Actually, maybe you could, but just for comedic value.)
They rly are it pains me cus it could have been sooo good
Nah mane, i love A Heart Full of Love. their voices fit so well together!
One of my least favorite is from Tonight in West Side Story. So many bizarre lyrics. "Today the world was just an address, a place for me to live in, no better than alright. But here you are, and what was just a world is a star." And there's another line about "suns and moons all over the place." Between the odd language and empty metaphors it just takes me out of it everytime.
Not the Sondheim slander🤨
@@agnessofiacastrocarvalho774 Just my opinion. If you enjoy the lyrics, good for you. At least Sondheim could usually manage to use the appropriate number of syllables for the music, unlike Mean Girls.
@@agnessofiacastrocarvalho774 sondheim also slandered west side story's lyrics a lot and said Bernstein often insisted some of the lyrics he wrote were included when they weren't really... good
True. It has stunning vocal though, so I'll give it a pass none the less
dude I thought the suddenly Seymour song said "(something something..) confide you"
and I loved it, like "I can confide in you, trust you"
the fuck is "purify you"
The most honest and therefore best love song in musical theatre is definitely "Say it somehow" in "The Light in the Piazza", exactly because they have nothing to say to each other than singing "aah aah aaaaaah".
The first comment of (hopefully) many having just found your channel via Cinderella.
First off - WHICH love song from Starlight Express? The original was brilliant, with Stephanie Lawrence belting “Only He” (best performance ever - there’s a version on TH-cam from some variety show), followed up by the duet version “Only You”. None of the subsequent love songs could hope to match up - they all felt like “well, yes, it’s a love song, but it’s just a generic love song that really doesn’t FIT this show.
All I Ask Of You is, I believe (and as someone else mentioned), meant to be ironic, in that they are essentially asking the impossible, ending each set of asks with the title. It only really works when you think of it that way.
And my least favourite lyric? Is it part of the book, or part of the song “Raise You Up”? Anyway. The entire musical is about accepting people for who they are. Celebrating our differences. Changing the World by changing your mind. And Lauren (whose character I think they completely butchered for the musical - in the film, she was smart, sassy and the brains behind the revamped factory, but in the musical is just… well I’ll leave it there…) comes in, stops the music and asks those four questions, ending with the one that kills the whole premise of the show (for a very cheap laugh?): “…and you still like girls?”. Dreadful!
I always interpreted "it's up that I fell" to mean that his world has been turned upside down (in a good way) and he's feeling disoriented.
I disagree with the Kiss Me lyric! That's the joke!
With Wicked, it's that he's fallen head over heels for her, that he's seeing the world upside down and he's falling up instead of down
Mickey: Sopranos that need to shut up.
Me: ??
Mickey: So Cosette
Me: Oh okay mood
Enjoyed this 🤣🤣🤣
I’m so glad Kiss me was cut from the st movie, I hate it so much!
I’ve always through that Wicked lyric was ‘And somehow I’m feeling so glad that I fell’. I know that doesn’t sound very similar to the true lyrics but maybe my brain just wanted something that makes more sense
I feel like "It's up that I fell" makes sense. Reminds me of a Panic! At the Disco lyric in Silver Lining, "We've been falling, falling, it's like we fell to the top." like the outside perspective is that they have fallen but the internal view is that they have actually risen. With Fiero this works in two ways, in one the outside perspective of going from Glinda to Elphaba would be considered a downgrade but he feels as if he's moved up. And then the second was is that he's fallen in love and under her spell and instead of falling down he still feels like he has moved up in life.
what are your thoughts on the disney jr musicals?
Ugh. Don't get me started on "Suddenly Seymour", as well. That "he purified me" lyric has always gotten stuck in my craw.
Oh my gosh we just did Addams family at my high school and we all HATED Crazier Than You we would roast that song constantly
“Sopranos that need to shut up” truer words have never been spoken