Question Lyric Change UK's Hairspray's "You Can't Stop..."

[Owen22]

Posted: 9/27/20 at 8:53am

So...Michael Ball and the new cast of Hairspray were on BGT and when Motormouth Mabel's part of "You Can't Stop the Beat" came they had changed the lyric from "...tomorrow is a brand new day and it don't know white from black" to "..it SEES both white and black..."  I'm not sure the change.  Did they recognize the original is a lie (which of course it was but a nice lie), is the new lyric to appease white folks?  Is it to designate that we should celebrate our differences...?  I'm unsure...

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/27/20 at 9:12am

Race theory in the sixties was that race didn’t exist and was something invented by racism- that’s why you see black soul lyrics from the period describing people as black, white, yellow, red, green, blue, purple. It was believed that integration would not only fix racism, but ultimately erase the man made notion of race.

Race theory sixty years later suggests that acknowledging and celebrating racial differences and cultural variety is better than optimistically saying you “don’t see color.”

[Hairspray0901]

Posted: 9/27/20 at 10:56am

Marc Shaiman (Music and Lyrics, with Scott Whitman) wrote a public Facebook post about the lyric change on June 23. An excerpt from his post: “Please note in all future productions, the concept of colorblindness that was a goal in the past will be updated and improved, and the lyric will now be “and tomorrow is a brand new day and it sees both white and black”.

[Owen22]

Posted: 9/27/20 at 11:12am

Hairspray0901 said: "Marc Shaiman (Music and Lyrics, with Scott Whitman) wrote a public Facebook post about the lyric change on June 23. An excerpt from his post: “Please note in all future productions, the concept of colorblindness that was a goal in the past will be updated and improved, and the lyric will now be “and tomorrow is a brand new day and it sees both white and black”."

Thanks for clearing that up!!

Hopefully he had nothing to do with this horror:  https://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/tv/itv-accused-of-political-correctness-gone-mad-over-all-star-musicals-lyric-change/

[A.J.]

Posted: 9/27/20 at 12:46pm

Owen22 said: "Hairspray0901 said: "Marc Shaiman (Music and Lyrics, with Scott Whitman) wrote a public Facebook post about the lyric change on June 23. An excerpt from his post: “Please note in all future productions, the concept of colorblindness that was a goal in the past will be updated and improved, and the lyric will now be “and tomorrow is a brand new day and it sees both white and black”."

Thanks for clearing that up!!

Hopefully he had nothing to do with this horror: https://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/tv/itv-accused-of-political-correctness-gone-mad-over-all-star-musicals-lyric-change/"

I wasn’t aware of this “controversy” until now, but it seems very silly. 

 

It makes total sense to me to change the lyric for a revue-style show that doesn’t contain any context. Someone without prior knowledge of the themes/plot of Hairspray could definitely perceive the lyric as offensive.

[Princeton2]

Posted: 9/27/20 at 12:56pm

I'm surprised this performance has got as much love on Theatreboard as it has, Michael Ball was not good. The rest of the cast were great but I dont know if Michael was sick (even talking after he sounded almost lispy) or something but that's the worst I've ever heard him perform it.

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 9/27/20 at 10:44pm

Owen22 said: "Hairspray0901 said: "Marc Shaiman (Music and Lyrics, with Scott Whitman) wrote a public Facebook post about the lyric change on June 23. An excerpt from his post: “Please note in all future productions, the concept of colorblindness that was a goal in the past will be updated and improved, and the lyric will now be “and tomorrow is a brand new day and it sees both white and black”."

Thanks for clearing that up!!

Hopefully he had nothing to do with this horror: https://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/tv/itv-accused-of-political-correctness-gone-mad-over-all-star-musicals-lyric-change/"

How is that a “horror”? When it’s out of context of the musical, it makes total sense to change the lyric. Heck, the Original Broadway Cast did the exact same thing when they performed the song on the MDA telethon.

https://youtu.be/65HvuS3-hVg

If I was someone who didn’t know what the musical was about and was hearing it for the first time out of context, it’d definitely be jarring to hear the original lyrics sung so cheerily. If a high school show choir wanted to sing the song in a concert you still think the original lyrics would be appropriate?

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 4:08pm

It's kind of like those big band covers of Broadway songs on dancing reality shows. Like when they do "Steam Heat" they don't say "Come on, union, get hot!" they say "Come on, people, get hot!" I think any lyric change from the original takes the zing out, but it's a zing that won't work out-of-context.

[Owen22]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 5:05pm

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "It's kind of like those big band covers of Broadway songs on dancing reality shows. Like when they do "Steam Heat" they don't say "Come on, union, get hot!" they say "Come on, people, get hot!" I think any lyric change from the original takes the zing out, but it's a zing that won't work out-of-context."

Oh I get context. "Negro day" in a song with universal lyrics, about a universal subject would stop the show cold out of context. But this is a show specific song!! This is not Steam Heat.

Plus changing the line to "party" is just a bad, cringeworthy lyric...

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 6:32pm

It’s show specific when it’s in the show. When it’s performed outside of the show as a stand-alone number, it makes complete sense to change it. So strange that this is the hill you’d choose to die on. I don’t disagree that the lyric change is “cringey” (god, I hate that word) but not because it’s “PC”. It’s just not a great lyric.

[Owen22]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 6:44pm

seaweedjstubbs said: "It’s show specific when it’s in the show. When it’s performed outside of the show as a stand-alone number, it makes complete sense to change it. So strange that this is the hill you’d choose to die on. I don’t disagree that the lyric change is “cringey” (god, I hate that word) but not because it’s “PC”. It’s just not a great lyric. "

Honestly, when I use the word horror it was only because of the lyric change to "party." But then people started complaining about context.???? 

But I completely disagree with you that the song makes any sense out of context of the show. There is nothing universal about a bunch of kids who dance who are thought to be the nicest kids in town.

So yes I will die on my opinion because you are incredibly wrong.

 

Updated On: 9/28/20 at 06:44 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 7:38pm

When the touring show choir I used to be in did the song, the lyric was “double stamp day” in reference to the old-time deli that sponsored the group and was a popular lunch spot for teens getting take out.

[seaweedjstubbs]

Posted: 9/28/20 at 10:39pm

Owen22 said: "seaweedjstubbs said: "It’s show specific when it’s in the show. When it’s performed outside of the show as a stand-alone number, it makes complete sense to change it. So strange that this is the hill you’d choose to die on. I don’t disagree that the lyric change is “cringey” (god, I hate that word) but not because it’s “PC”. It’s just not a great lyric. "

Honestly, when I use the word horror it was onlybecause of the lyric change to "party." But then people started complaining about context.????

But I completely disagree with you that the song makes any sense out of context ofthe show. There is nothing universal about a bunch of kids who dance who are thought to be the nicest kids in town.

So yes I will die on my opinion because you are incredibly wrong.

"

You used the word “horror” and then linked to an article about people complaining about the lyric change being “too PC.” That insinuated that you also believed the lyric change was “too PC.” That’s why people brought up the context in which the song was being performed. No one randomly started “complaining about context.” 

Also, the fact that you think the song “doesn’t make sense out of context” (which I never argued it did) validates the lyric change even more.

 

This is such a dumb thing to argue about, I don’t even know why I’ve taken all this time to do so. Good night.