Next To Normal lyric question
Next To Normal lyric question
LipstickLola
Chorus Member Joined: 4/6/15
#1Next To Normal lyric question
Posted: 5/1/15 at 6:53pm
I don't understand Diane's last line in Next To Normal.
She sings:
Day after day,
Wishing all our cares away.
Trying to fight the things we feel,
But some hurts never heal.
Some ghost are never gone,
But we go on,
We still go on.
And you find some way to survive
And you find out you don't have to be happy at all,
To be happy you're alive.
I don't understand the last part. What does she mean when she says "To be happy, you're alive". Is she still not happy? is she not alive? I guess i just dont understand.
brldisteach2
Stand-by Joined: 11/28/11
#2Next To Normal lyric question
Posted: 5/1/15 at 7:00pm
She is alive, and she's saying that you can be sad and/or depressed, but still be happy to be alive. In other words, just because you're not happy, it doesn't mean you want to die.
#2Next To Normal lyric question
Posted: 5/1/15 at 7:02pm
I've always assumed it had something to do with her coming to terms with her illness and the loss of her son. Diana's still not happy by the textbook definition, but she knows she can at least learn to live with her illness and try to have a "normal" life, thereby appearing to be happy.
"Was uns befreit, das muss stärker sein als wir es sind." -Tanz der Vampire
LipstickLola
Chorus Member Joined: 4/6/15
#3Next To Normal lyric question
Posted: 5/1/15 at 7:09pm
But doesn't "You don't have to be happy at all" and "to be happy you're alive" contradict each other? She has come to the realization that she will never be happy but she doesnt have to be happy to keep going in life. She is resigning herself to a zombie and giving up cause she knows you dont have to be happy to get through life.
#4Next To Normal lyric question
Posted: 5/1/15 at 7:18pm
"But doesn't "You don't have to be happy at all" and "to be happy you're alive" contradict each other? She has come to the realization that she will never be happy but she doesnt have to be happy to keep going in life. She is resigning herself to a zombie and giving up cause she knows you dont have to be happy to get through life."
Happy is not a binary/categorical variable with two stages: happy and not happy. The whole idea is that being "happy" and being "happy to be alive" are two different things. It isn't implied she'll never be happy. It's simply implied that she is no longer suicidal even if she isn't completely happy right now.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
hanabana
Leading Actor Joined: 5/12/12
#5Next To Normal lyric question
Posted: 5/1/15 at 8:32pm
I had a much more optimistic take on these lyrics. In my opinion, it means that life is a gift, and in order to appreciate life, we all have to see that life has its ups and downs, and thus we have to face the unhappy things and acknowledge them instead of pretending they do not exist. SPOILERS (obviously)... I think when Diana lost her memories of her son, Dan thought that she would be happier if she did not have to face the tragedy (as he himself kept on trying to forget it), but that backfired because the key to appreciating life is facing everything that comes your way. So when she sings those lyrics at the end, I think she actually is finding some happiness in her life, while she is not really happy since she is still dealing with depression, she is starting to see that life is a gift with little things to be happy about (like appreciating her daughter perhaps). That's just my take on this.
#6Next To Normal lyric question
Posted: 5/1/15 at 8:34pm
She's saying you don't have to be happy (or glad or joyful) to be appreciative of the fact that you aren't dead.
"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
