Random 3 A.M West Side Story question...

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/24/08 at 3:17am

This could be asked in any WSS thread, but it's 3 AM and I am bored.

But are "womb to tomb" and "sperm to worm" lyrics that Sondheim wrote? Or are they "hip" catch phrases that Laurents added in?


Anyone?
Updated On: 12/24/08 at 03:17 AM

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 12/24/08 at 4:45am

It is 4:35 am and I am also bored and annoyed that I could not get back to sleep.

What song did those words "womb to tomb" and "sperm to worm" connect to? They are certainly not sung. I think Laurents wrote them. I was 17 when I first saw WEST SIDE STORY, the same age as many of the gang members, and I would have to say that I never heard those expressions uttered by anyone in the real world. Have those expressions been retained in the current production?

[Usnavi]

Posted: 12/24/08 at 4:58am

it is 4:56 am and i too am bored. from what i can decipher, mr. laurents was trying to be clever and turned out the phrase "womb to tomb" as if to illustrate from the womb (from birth) to the tomb (death). don't ask me to try to explain "sperm to worm" 'cause i'm still trying to figure that one out.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/24/08 at 5:20am

NOT lyrics, but dialogue. This has already been discussed in one of the WSS Story boards.

Sperm to Worm: really? don't see how its that difficult to understand, but you are not alone in that. Basically: we are together from before conception to after death. The worms refer to being buried underground after death. You know: the worms crawl in; the worms crawl out; the worms play pinnochle (sp?) on your snout....remember that song???

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/24/08 at 9:37am

"Frabba jabba," "womb to tomb" and "sperm to worm" are Arthur's genius, not Steve's.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/24/08 at 11:34am

For the 1961 film-version, "sperm to worm" was changed to "birth to earth".

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/24/08 at 11:52am

Well, technically they are lyrics. They are part of the quintet.

Aren't they based on some sort of real cliche or expression? There's the variant "cradle to tomb" in "Cabaret."

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/24/08 at 12:14pm

According to someone in another thread the "slang" and saying used were purposefully made up...so that it couldn't be attributed to anything specific.