That lyric from Generations from Children of Eden is my single favourite terrible lyric of all time... sometimes I listen to that song on repeat when I get up in the morning because it makes me laugh
It's especially horrible because it references evolution, which is contradictory to the concept of the story of Adam and Eve. Obviously, it's fictional, but it's just weird in the context of the show.
Not a classic like those referenced at the link, but I'll never forget an off-off-Broadway musical starring the husband of a friend:
"Marriage means monogamy, They'll never make a hog of me."
Not a perfect rhyme, but the first lines of the opening number and sung several times. I still don't know what the authors thought it meant.
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As for the original link, I like (or rather don't like) most of the examples, but shame on the writer for not knowing Carolyn Leigh's work.
"And I'll be up like a rose bud, high on the vine. Don't thumb your nose, Bud, take a tip from mine."
Perhaps not Leigh's best lyric (see, instead, most of LITTLE ME), but the rose bud isn't a symbol of victory, it's something that is high ("I'll be up"). And "Take a tip from mine" means keep you nose up (and your spirits, too).
The character singing is not an intellectual. If we're going to damn Sondheim for a reference to hara-kiri (a mistaken criticism since the character is singing an Irving Berlin song in a Follies, not speaking in her own vernacular), then we have to allow Leigh to write for a character who is no wordsmith.
This won't be another road that I didn't take Not another day with the same mistake Not another cake that I didn't bake Not another Snow White that I didn't wake
I actually love that line about the beelzebubble bursting.
Here's my submission: "Ode to the Brooklyn Bridge" from KELLY
Oh you mammoth suspension Liking’ the Bowry with Red Hook Permitting a free exchange of ideas and bringing civilization as we know it to both sides Of the Brook
Oh you big big bastion Stretching’ across the watery ditch Ya don’t bitch Ya just stick it out And it’s sticking out all over you (?????) Majestic monument who don’t say boo
Oh you great big bridge Connecting Brooklyn with New York You don’t squawk you just do ya job And it’s a hell of a job you do Connecting Lynbrook with Yoooork, New!
Did that really just happen? Have I actually understood? This weird quirk I've tried To suppress or hide Is a talent that could Help me meet the Wizard If I make good So I'll make good
Indeed a lot of Victor/Victoria is terrible. Especially, Louis Says.
I know they say of Marie Antoinette My reputation is a go-getter So when I met Louis Sixteenth of Bourbon t'was so disturbin', I thought a Bourbon Once in ev'ry while would keep me smiling. Louis says he's king of France Not by chance that I wed him They all do as Louis says. My, oh, yez... I just bed him.
Updated On: 11/25/14 at 03:27 AM
The inept, stupid, or foolish ones don't bother me nearly as much as the forced, strained, smug, self-congratulatory, gee-look-how-clever-I-am ones that assault both our ears and common sense.
Things like "While her withers whither with her, " and "a matador coercin' a bull."
What bull.
And to think that we are told that this person is a great lyricist. Hell, the same people decree him to be a great composer, too, despite all evidence being entirely to the contrary.
After spending the weekend seeing some truly amazing shows, including the absolute perfect On The Town, I don't think I shall take anything you say seriously again. You are clearly some contrived troll here to upset people - and I must say Good Job, for you had me going there for a minute. And I'd anyone is "smug, self-congratulatory, gee-look-how-clever-I-am" it's you hon.
"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir
Yes dearie - it's all a conspiracy. People have spent 50 years pretending to like someone's work they don't really like just to irritate you.
Incidentally, I would agree that those are pretty crappy lyrics. They just happen to be in shows that also have a lot of really great lyrics.
...And I can't think of a single lyricist who didn't write an occasional clunker. It's just that Sondheim - along with Porter, Hammerstein, Berlin, Gilbert, and Harnick (among a few other "greats") - are more consistently good than most.