dolbinau
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George Hearn - Lyrics to the BalladAnother thing that kind of irritates me, even though I love George Hearn, is the contradiction between the Ballad of Sweeney Todd and the actual events of the musical.
"Sweeney was smooth, Sweeney was subtle, Sweeney would blink and rats would scuttle" - This is really not George hearn at all who is the opposite of 'Subtle', but rather, very angry.
"He hardly uses his fancy chair" (or something to that effect) in the final scene, I don't understand - he actually does, to kill people on, right?
Just after george hearn screams "At last my arm is complete again", the lyrics say "his voice was soft his manner mild"
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SomeoneLikeYou
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It's actually, "A lavabo and a fancy chair."
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Joshua
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| SomeoneLikeYou wrote: | | It's actually, "A lavabo and a fancy chair." |
In one of the Ballads it is "He hardly uses his fancy chair."
And another thing I hate (has nothing to do with George. Or maybe it does) is when it says "But what if none of their souls were saved they went to their maker impeccably shaved" and he never shaves anyone. He just goes straight to the throat-cutting.
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what_the_heck013
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I think "he hardly uses..." is the last one... because he's dead.
And I don't think the subtlety refers to his anger. It's more how discreet his killings are... which the exception of the judge, that is.
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Barberous
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I thought perhaps the Ballads, especially the first one, were sung by people who didn't know the real Sweeney but were swapping urban legends about the character. So the first picture of Sweeney we get is this mythical version that has survived, then we get the real story in the play proper. I agree that the lyrics don't always fit the Sweeney we see.
The line "he hardly uses his fancy chair" I interpret to mean "we're not really talking about Sweeney any more, this isn't just about freaks like him with their visible, identifiable schemes and tools, we're talking about Everyman, You and Me, and our hunger for revenge" etc.
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Sweeney Hyde
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| Joshua wrote: | | SomeoneLikeYou wrote: | | It's actually, "A lavabo and a fancy chair." |
In one of the Ballads it is "He hardly uses his fancy chair."
And another thing I hate (has nothing to do with George. Or maybe it does) is when it says "But what if none of their souls were saved they went to their maker impeccably shaved" and he never shaves anyone. He just goes straight to the throat-cutting. |
The impeccably shaved line is humorous...sarcastic too! It's one of my favorites!
I'm not a fan of George's screaming at the end of My Friends...I was at first...but yeah...it just doesn't quite fit...he's still my favorite though...
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Joshua
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| Sweeney Hyde wrote: | | Joshua wrote: | | SomeoneLikeYou wrote: | | It's actually, "A lavabo and a fancy chair." |
In one of the Ballads it is "He hardly uses his fancy chair."
And another thing I hate (has nothing to do with George. Or maybe it does) is when it says "But what if none of their souls were saved they went to their maker impeccably shaved" and he never shaves anyone. He just goes straight to the throat-cutting. |
The impeccably shaved line is humorous...sarcastic too! It's one of my favorites!
I'm not a fan of George's screaming at the end of My Friends...I was at first...but yeah...it just doesn't quite fit...he's still my favorite though... |
I like the humor in the line but it doesn't fit with the plot. But now that I think about it I can see it as more of the urban legend gossip type line.
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dolbinau
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| Joshua wrote: | | Sweeney Hyde wrote: | | Joshua wrote: | | SomeoneLikeYou wrote: | | It's actually, "A lavabo and a fancy chair." |
In one of the Ballads it is "He hardly uses his fancy chair."
And another thing I hate (has nothing to do with George. Or maybe it does) is when it says "But what if none of their souls were saved they went to their maker impeccably shaved" and he never shaves anyone. He just goes straight to the throat-cutting. |
The impeccably shaved line is humorous...sarcastic too! It's one of my favorites!
I'm not a fan of George's screaming at the end of My Friends...I was at first...but yeah...it just doesn't quite fit...he's still my favorite though... |
I like the humor in the line but it doesn't fit with the plot. But now that I think about it I can see it as more of the urban legend gossip type line. |
I'm not sure what you mean, I never took this as they were "literally" shaved, rather a bit of a humorous/innuendo "they were really shaved" meaning their throats-are-slit-kind-of shaven. (So Shaven is like synonymous with the action?)
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Sweeney Hyde
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| dolbinau wrote: | | Joshua wrote: | | Sweeney Hyde wrote: | | Joshua wrote: | | SomeoneLikeYou wrote: | | It's actually, "A lavabo and a fancy chair." |
In one of the Ballads it is "He hardly uses his fancy chair."
And another thing I hate (has nothing to do with George. Or maybe it does) is when it says "But what if none of their souls were saved they went to their maker impeccably shaved" and he never shaves anyone. He just goes straight to the throat-cutting. |
The impeccably shaved line is humorous...sarcastic too! It's one of my favorites!
I'm not a fan of George's screaming at the end of My Friends...I was at first...but yeah...it just doesn't quite fit...he's still my favorite though... |
I like the humor in the line but it doesn't fit with the plot. But now that I think about it I can see it as more of the urban legend gossip type line. |
I'm not sure what you mean, I never took this as they were "literally" shaved, rather a bit of a humorous/innuendo "they were really shaved" meaning their throats-are-slit-kind-of shaven. (So Shaven is like synonymous with the action?) |
Bingo.
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what_the_heck013
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| dolbinau wrote: | | I'm not sure what you mean, I never took this as they were "literally" shaved, rather a bit of a humorous/innuendo "they were really shaved" meaning their throats-are-slit-kind-of shaven. (So Shaven is like synonymous with the action?) |
CONGRATS! You just discovered the ironic and dark humor of Sweeney Todd.
I swear. Sondheim is truly the Shakespeare of musical theatre. There are just so many layers. And Sweeney is Sondheim's Hamlet.
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Ghost
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The "hardly uses", I think, refers to the fact that Sweeney almost instantly kills the patrons, so they don't spend too much time in the chair.
And yes, Hearn is not subtle or brooding. That's part of the reason I prefer Cariou.
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Webster
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Keep in mind folks, that he song is a ballad, which is categorized as a musical tall tale.
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what_the_heck013
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| Ghost wrote: | | The "hardly uses", I think, refers to the fact that Sweeney almost instantly kills the patrons, so they don't spend too much time in the chair. |
That's a good point.
And Webster, you really live up to your username 
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