Lyrics to Stephen Sondheim Songs

Here are the lyrics to the songs on the Sondheim pages,
just in case you want to sing along--and I hope you do!

NOTE: I am trying to restructure the lyrics pages by musical
instead of by composer. When I finally get the time, I will add
a separate page for the Sunday in the Park with George songs.
Until then, you can find the lyrics attached to the .kar files, or
if you need lyrics to songs that don't have .kar files, write to me
at fantine9@yahoo.com.


If there are any that I've forgotten, or to send me corrections
to the lyrics, if you'd like to request a MIDI of a certain song,
or if you'd just like to e-mail me, my address is:
fantine9@yahoo.com



"Beautiful" from Sunday in the Park with George


Changing . . . it keeps changing . . .
I see towers where there were trees.
Going, all the stillness,
the solitude, Georgie!
Sundays disappearing, all the time . . .
When things were beautiful.

All things are beautiful, Mother.
All trees, all towers, beautiful--
That tower beautiful, Mother.
See? A perfect tree.
Pretty isn't beautiful, Mother.
Pretty is what changes . . .
what the eye arranges
is what is beautiful!

Fading . . .

Changing, you're changing,

It keeps fading . . .

I'll draw us now before we fade, Mother

It keeps melting before our eyes!

You watch while I revise the world!

Fading, as we sit here!
Quick! Draw it all, Georgie!
Sundays disappearing as we look . . .

Whispered: Look! Look . . .

You make it beautiful.



"Finishing the Hat" from Sunday in the Park with George


Yes, she looks for me . . . . Good.
Let her look for me to tell me why she left me
as I always knew she would.
I had thought she understood.
They have never understood, and no reason that they should.
But if anybody could . . . .

Finishing the hat--how you have to finish the hat.
How you watch the rest of the world from a window
while you finish the hat.
Mapping out a sky . . . what you feel like, planning a sky . . .
What you feel when voice that come through the window
go, until they distance and die
Until there's nothing but sky.

And how you're always turning back too late
from the grass, or the stick, or the dog, or the light
How the kind of woman willing to wait's not
the kind that you want to find waiting
to return you to the night, dizzy from the height
Coming from the hat
Studying the hat
Entering the world of the hat
Reaching through the world of the hat like a window
Back to this one, from that.
Studying a face . . . stepping back to look at a face
Leaves a little space in the way, like a window
But to see . . . it's the only way to see

And when the woman that you wanted goes,
you can say to yourself, "Well, I give what I give!"
But the woman who won't wait for you knows
that however you live, there's a part of you
always standing by, mapping out the sky

Finishing the hat.
Starting on a hat.
Look, I made a hat--
Where there never was a hat!



"Children and Art" from Sunday in the Park with George


Marie: You would have liked him.
Mama, you would.
Mama, he makes things.
Mama, they're good.
Just as you said from the start
Children and art.
Children and art. . .

He should be happy.
Mama, he's blue.
What do I do?

You should have seen it.
It was a sight.
Mama, I mean it--
all color and light.
I don't understand what it was,
but, Mama, the things that he does--
they twinkle and shimmer and buzz.
You would have liked them.

Marie, spoken: Him . . . it. . . Henry! Henry!

George, spoken: It's George, grandmother.

Marie, spoken: Of course it is. I thought you were
your father for a moment. Did I ever tell you who
that was?

George, spoken: That is your mother.

Marie, spoken, sounding puzzled: That is correct!
Marie, singing: Isn't she beautiful?
There she is, there she is,
there she is, there she is.
Mama is everywhere.
He must have loved her so much.

This is our family, this is the lot.
After I go, this is all that you've got, Honey.

George, spoken: Let's not talk about that right now--

Marie interrupts, singing:Isn't she beautiful, though?
You would have liked her.
Mama did things no one had done.
Mama was funny, Mama was fun.
Mama spent money when she had none.

Mama said, "Honey, mustn't be blue.
It's not so much do what you like
as it is that you like what you do."
Mama said, "Darling, don't make such a drama.
A little less thinking, a little more feeling--"

George interrupts with an annoyed sound.

Marie:I'm just quoting Mama!
The child is so sweet,
and the girls are so rapturous.
Isn't it lovely how artists can capture us?

George, spoken: Yes, it is, Marie.

Marie: You would have liked her.
Honey, I'm wrong . . .
You would have loved her.
Mama enjoyed things.
Mama was smart.
See how she shimmers?
I mean, from the heart.

I know, Honey, you don't agree,
but this is our family tree.
Just wait 'til we're there, and you'll see.
Listen to me . . .
Mama was smart. . .
Listen to Mama . . .
Children and art . . .
Children and art . . .

Marie drifts off to sleep.


"Sunday" from Sunday in the Park with George


Chorus: Sunday, by the blue purple yellow red water
on the green purple yellow red grass
Let us pass through our perfect park
pausing on a Sunday

By the cool blue triangular water
on the soft green elliptical grass
as we pass through arrangements of shadow
toward the verticals of trees
Forever . . .

By the blue purple yellow red water
on the green orange violet mass of the grass
In our perfect park
made of flecks of light
and dark
and parasols

People strolling through the trees
of a small suburban park
on an island in the river
on and ordinary Sunday
Sunday . . .
Sunday . . . .


"Move On" (solo version) from Sunday in the Park with George


Stop worrying where you're going, move on
If you can know where you're going, you've gone
Just keep moving on.

I chose, and my world was shaken--so what?
The choice may have been mistaken
but choosing was not.
You have to move on.

Look at what you want,
Not at where you are,
Not at what you'll be.
Look at all the things you've done for me:
Opened up my eyes
Taught me how to see
Notice every tree!
Understand the light!
Concentrate on now!
I want to move on . . .
I want to explore the light.
I want to know how to get through
through to something new--
Something of my own!

Move on!
Move on!

Stop worrying if your vision is new.
Let others make that decision . . .
they usually do!
You keep moving on.
Look at what you want,
Not at what you are
Not at what you'll be
Look at all the things you gave to me.

See what's in my eyes, And the color of my hair,
and the way it catches light.
And the care, and the feeling
And the light, moving on!

We've always belonged together.
We will always belong together!
Just keep moving on.

Anything you do, let it come from you--
then it will be new.
Give us more to see.



"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" from Sweeney Todd


Chorus: Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd.
His skin was pale, and his eye was odd.
He shaved the faces of gentlemen
who never thereafter were heard of again.
He trod a path that few had trod,
did Sweeney Todd,
the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

He kept a shop in London Town
of fancy clients and good renown.
And what if none of their souls were saved?
They went to their Maker impeccably shaved
by Sweeney, by Sweeney Todd
the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Swing your razor wide, Sweeney,
hold it to the skies!
Freely flows the blood of those who moralize.

His needs were few, his room was bare:
a lavabo and a fancy chair,
a mug of suds and a leather strop,
an apron, a towel, a pail and a mop.
For neatness he deserved a nod,
did Sweeney Todd,
the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Inconspicuous, Sweeney was,
quick and quiet and clean, he was.
Back of his smile, under his word,
Sweeney heard music that nobody heard.
Sweeney pondered, and Sweeney planned,
like a perfect machine, he planned.
Sweeney was smooth, Sweeney was subtle
Sweeney would blink, and rats would scuttle.
Sweeney, Sweeney, Sweeney, Sweeney, Sweeney!

Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd.
He served a dark and hungry god.
To seek revenge may lead to hell,
but everyone does it, and seldom as well
as Sweeney
as Sweeney Todd
the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.



"Johanna" from Sweeney Todd


I feel you, Johanna, I feel you.
I was half convinced I'd waken
satisfied enough to dream you
Happily, I was mistaken, Johanna!

I'll steal you, Johanna, I'll steal you!
Do they think that walls can hide you?
Even now, I'm at your window
I am in the dark beside you,
buried sweetly in your yellow hair!

I feel you, Johanna,
and one day, I'll steal you.
'Til I'm with you then, I'm with you there
sweetly buried in your yellow hair!



"Green Finch and Linnet Bird" from Sweeney Todd


Johanna: Green finch and linnet bird,
nightingale, blackbird,
how is it you sing?
How can you jubilate,
sitting in cages,
never taking wing?
Outside, the sky waits,
beckoning, beckoning,
just beyond the bars.
How can you remain,
staring at the rain,
maddened by the bars?
How is it you sing anything?
How is it you sing?

Green finch and linnet bird,
nightingale, blackbird,
how is it you sing?
Whence comes this melody
constantly flowing?
Is it rejoicing
or merely halloing?
Are you discussing, or fussing,
or simply dreaming?
Are you crowing?
Are you screaming?

Ring-dove and robinet,
is it for wages,
singing to be sold?
Have you decided
it's safer in cages,
singing when you're told?
My cage has many rooms,
damask and dark.
Nothing there sings,
not even my lark.
Larks never will, you know
when they're captive.
Teach me to be more adaptive.

Ah, green finch and linnet bird
nightingale, blackbird,
teach me how to sing.
If I cannot fly,
let me sing.



"Wait" from Sweeney Todd


Slow, love, slow . . .
Hush, love, hush.
Don't distress yourself,
what's your rush?
Keep your thoughts
nice and lush.
Wait.

Slow, love, slow . . .
think it through.
Once it bubbles,
then what's to do?
Watch it close,
let it brew.
Wait.

I've been thinking flowers,
maybe daisies,
to brighten up the room.
Don't you think some flowers,
pretty daisies,
might relieve the gloom?
Ah, wait, love wait.

Easy now,
time's so fast.
Now goes quickly--
see, now is past!
Soon will come,
soon will last.
Wait.

Don't you know,
silly man--
Half the fun
is to plan the plan!
All good things come
to those who can wait.




"Any Moment" from Into the Woods


Anything can happen in the woods . . .
May I kiss you?
Any moment we could be crushed.
Don't feel rushed.

This is ridiculous, what am I doing here?
I'm in the wrong story!

Foolishness can happen in the woods.
Once again, please.
Let your hesitations be hushed.
Any moment, big or small,
is a moment, after all.
Seize the moment, skies may fall
any moment.

Days are made of moments
All are worth exploring.
Many kinds of moments:
None is worth ignoring.
All we have are moments
memories for storing
One would be so boring!

Right and wrong don't matter in the woods
only feelings. Let us meet the moment unblushed.
Life is often so unpleasant--
You must know that, as a peasant.
Best to take the moment present
as a present for the moment.

This was just a moment in the woods,
our moment, shimmering and lovely and sad.
Leave the moment, just be glad
for the moment that we had.
Every moment is a moment when you're in the woods.



"It Takes Two" from Into the Woods


(Wife) You've changed, you're daring
You're different in the woods.
More sure, more sharing
You're getting us through the woods.
If you could see . . . you're not the man who started
and much more open-hearted than I knew you to be.

(Baker) It takes two.
I thought one was enough,
It's not true.
It takes two of us.
You came through
when the journey was rough
It took you.
It took two of us.
It takes care.
It takes patience and fear and despair
to change.
Though you swear to change
Who can tell if you do?
It takes two.

(Wife) You've changed, you're thriving
There's something about the woods.
Not just surviving,
you're blossoming in the woods.
At home I'd fear we'd stay the same forever.
But then, out here,
you're passionate, charming, considerate, clever!

(Baker) It takes one to begin,
but then once you've begun
it takes two of you.
It's no fun
but what needs to be done, you can do
when there's two of you.
If I dare,
it's because I'm becoming aware of us.
As a pair of us,
each accepting a share of what's there.

(Both) We've changed. We're strangers.
I'm meeting you in the woods.
Who minds what dangers?
I know we'll get past the woods.
And once we're past,
let's hope the changes last
beyond woods, beyond witches and slippers and hoods
just the two of us.
Beyond lies, safe at home with our beautiful prize
just the few of us.
It takes trust.
It takes just a bit more, and we're done.
We want four, we had none, we've got three
We need one.
It takes two!



"No More" from Into the Woods


(Baker) No more questions, please.
No more tests.
Comes the day you say, "What for?"
Please, no more.

(Mysterious Man) They disappoint, they disappear,
they die, but they don't.

(Baker, spoken) What?

(Mysterious Man) They disappoint in turn, I fear
Forgive though, they won't.

(Baker) No more ridlles, no more jests.
No more curses you can't undo
left by fathers you never knew
No more quests!
No more feelings.
Time to shut the door.
Just . . . no more.

(Mysterious Man) Running away--let's do it.
Free from the ties that bind.
No more despair or burdens to bear
out there in the yonder.
Running away--go to it.
Where did you have in mind?
Have to take care: unless there's a "where"
You'll only be wandering blind.
Just more questions . . . different kind.

Where are we to go?
Where are we ever to go?

Running away--we'll do it.
Why sit around, resigned?
Trouble is, son, the farther you run
the more you feel undefined
for what you have left undone
and more, what you've left behind.

We disappoint, we leave a mess,
we die, but we don't.

(Baker) We disappoint in turn, I guess
Forget, thought, we won't.

(Both) Like father, like son.

(Baker) No more giants
waging war.
Can't we just pursue our lives
with our children and our wives?
'Til that happier day arrives,
how do you ignore
all the witches
all the curses
all the wolves, all the lies,
the false hopes, the goodbyes, the reverses?
All the wondering what even worse
is still in store?

All the children . . .
All the giants . . .

No more.



"No One is Alone" (solor version) from Into the Woods


No one here to guide you,
now you're on your own.
Only me beside you . . .
still, you're not alone.
No one is alone, truly.
No one is alone.

Sometimes people leave you
halfway through the wood.
Others may deceive you
you decide what's good.
You decide alone,
but no one is alone.

People make mistakes,
fathers, mothers,
people make mistakes
holding to their own,
thinking they're alone.
Honor their mistakes
everybody makes
one another's terrible mistakes.
Witches can be right,
giants can be good.
You decide what's right
You decide what's good.
Just remember . . .

Someone is on your side.
Someone else is not.
While you're seeing your side
maybe you forgot:
They are not alone.
No one is alone.

Hard to see the light now
just don't let it go.
Things will come out right now
we can make it so.
Someone is on your side
No one is alone.

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