Musicals with funny lyrics
I have been asked by a reader to please write something funny….I think it is a great time to do so…. so here goes.
I LOVE going to the theatre and laughing. LOVE it. I prefer comedies to sad stories. I want to see well rounded, true to life characters in hysterical circumstances. But it takes a lot of teamwork to make that happen. It is the writer’s job to create and develop the characters and then write the funny lines. It is then the director’s job to interpret those lines, give the actors blocking and business, and make the scene and dialogue funny.
In addition, I LOVE funny lyrics in songs. Lyrics are trickier. First…they should rhyme – NOT at all easy…..and they should fit the situation and jell with the music. And be funny on top of everything else.
So, with that said, here are some of my favorite funny lyrics in musicals:
SHREK – “Don’t Let Me Go” has one of my favorite lyrics of all time. The hero of the story is an ogre and his sidekick is a donkey. In this song, the donkey is persuading Shrek that he needs him. Here are the lyrics:
I’ll bring you soup, when you feel congested
I’ll bail you out, when you get arrested
I got your back, wha-wha-what, when things get scary
And I’ll shave it, when it gets hairy
25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE – while much of the written show is very funny, and there are all the ad libs that the show depends on because audience members become contestants,still it was the song that I was floored by. is “My Unfortunate Erection”. Not surprisingly, the song is often cut because it’s viewed as unsuitable for some audiences. But there’s no denying that it’s funny. Here are some of the lyrics:
My Unfortunate erection
is destroying my perfection
It is my recollection
That everything I once did
I did perfectly
CITY OF ANGELS – I love Cy Coleman. Here are some great lyrics from his song “You Can Always Count on Me”.
If you need a gal
To go without sal’ry and work too hard
You can always count on me
The kind of a pal
Who’d sneak you a file past the prison guard
Loyal to the “nth” degree
The boss is quite the ladies man
And that’s my biggest gripe
Till i showed up he’s never hired a girl cause she could type
I’m no femme fatale
But faithful and true as a saint bernard
Barkin’ up the wrong damn tree
You can always count on me
Have a great week.
Larry Little
Producer
