What do you think is the cleverest Broadway lyric? I'm thinking best use of rhyme, but anything witty, really.
The first thing that comes to mind to me is, "When a person's personality is personable, He should not sit like a lump. It's harder than a matador coercin' a bull To try to get you off of your rump."
Oh, and everything from "A Little Priest." Updated On: 2/1/10 at 04:31 PM
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra
Salve, Salve Regina
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
To me a clever lyric is one that is not identified as such when first heard.
And oh, the towering feeling Just to know somehow you are near. The overpowering feeling That any second you may suddenly appear.
Twin interior rhymes, one masculine, one feminine in the A line and a masculine rhyme in the B line. Effortlessly clever, but knowing about Lerner, these four lines probably took a week to write.
"If my life weren't funny, it would just be true. And that would be unacceptable."
--Carrie Fisher
Set to the cadence of a locomotive train, the lyrics from Rock Island from The Music Man:
Cash for the merchandise, cash for the button hooks Cash for the cotton goods, cash for the hard goods Cash for the fancy goods Cash for the noggins and the piggins and the frikins Cash for the hogshead, cask and demijohn. Cash for the crackers and the pickles and the flypaper Look whatayatalk. Whatayatalk, whatayatalk, whatayatalk, whatayatalk? Weredayagitit? Whatayatalk? Ya can talk, ya can talk, ya can bicker ya can talk, ya can bicker, bicker bicker ya can talk all ya want but it's different than it was. No it ain't, no it ain't, but ya gotta know the territory.
I'm partial to the lyrics in Please, Hello personally.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
On the steps of the Palace, but especially the last few lines...very clever
Now it's he and not you Who is stuck with a shoe, In a stew, in the goo, And you've learned something, too, Something you never knew, On the steps of the palace.
Can-Can has really clever lyrics, I think. I especially like:
If in Deauville ev'ry swell can It is so simple to do, If Debussy and Ravel can, 'Twill be so easy for you. If the Louvre custodian can, If the Guard Republican can, If Van Gogh and Matisse and Cézanne can, Baby, you can can-can too. If a chief in the Sudan can, If the hefty Aga Khan can, If the camels in his caravan can, Baby, you can can-can too.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
In view of her penchant For something romantic, De Sade is to trenchant And Dickens too frantic, And Stendhal would ruin The plan of attack, As there isn't much blue in 'The Red and the Black.'
De Maupassant's candour Would cause her dismay, The Brontes are grander But not very gay, Her taste is much blander, I'm sorry to say, But is Hans Christian Andersen ever risque? Which eliminates A...
Who takes care of the caretaker's daughter When the caretaker’s busy taking care? Gee! Oh gosh, oh gee That’s what worries me. I know the caretaker must take care And while he's taking care she's alone somewhere But who takes care of the caretaker's daughter While the caretaker’s busy taking care?
Who lays the bricklayer's daughter While the bricklayer's busy laying bricks? Gee! Oh gosh, oh gee That’s what worries me. I know that the bricklayer lays lots of bricks And you could too if you knew his tricks But who lays the bricklayer's daughter While the bricklayer’s busy laying bricks?
"I long-ago realized that this country is a nation of
morons, when it comes to knowledge of anything outside, or beyond, pop culture." Steve Slezak
Wear your hair down And a flower Don't use makeup Dress in white She'll grow older by the hour And be hopelessly shattered By Saturday night
Cheyenne Jackson tickled me. AFTER ordering SoMMS a drink but NOT tickling him, and hanging out with Girly in his dressing room (where he DIDN'T tickle her) but BEFORE we got married. To others. And then he tweeted Boobs. He also tweeted he's good friends with some chick on "The Voice" who just happens to be good friends with Tink's ex. And I'm still married. Oh, and this just in: "Pettiness, spite, malice ....Such ugly emotions... So sad." - After Eight, talking about MEEEEEEEE!!! I'm so honored! :-)
Also, not so much for rhymes (though they are great), "Exhibit A" from Sondheim's SATURDAY NIGHT is hilarious for the way builds on itself musically and lyrically.