Quotes by Lyricists - Page 2

On his way offstage, the president shook hands with Lin and said, "I'm proud of you, man." (In a gesture of self-restraint, Lin had stuck to the performance calendar they had announced before learning that President Obama was coming, the one that said Javier Muñoz would play Hamilton that afternoon.)
Lin-Manuel Miranda
You are perfectly cast in your life. I can't imagine anyone but you in the role. Go play.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Do I love you because you're beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you? Am I making believe I see in you, a woman too perfect to be really true? Do I want you because you're wonderful, or are you wonderful because I want you? Are you the sweet invention of a lover's dream, or are you really as beautiful as you seem?
Oscar Hammerstein II
My country, 'tis of thee,Sweet land of liberty,Of thee I sing;Land where my fathers died,Land of the pilgrims' pride,From every mountainsideLet freedom ring!My native country, thee,Land of the noble free,Thy name I love;I love thy rocks and rills,Thy woods and templed hills;My heart with rapture thrills,Like that above.Let music swell the breeze,And ring from all the treesSweet freedom's song;Let mortal tongues awake;Let all that breathe partake;Let rocks their silence break,The sound prolong.Our father's God to Thee,Author of liberty,To Thee we sing.Long may our land be bright,With freedom's holy light,Protect us by Thy might,Great God our King.
Samuel Francis Smith
I choose me bristles with prideYes, I doA broom for the shaftAnd a broom for the flumeThough I'm covered with soot From me 'ead to me toesA sweep knows 'e's welcomeWherever 'e goes
Richard M. Sherman
Loneliness Ends With Love
Al Lerner
In past wars only homes burnt, but this timeDon't be surprised if even loneliness ignites.In past wars only bodys burnt, but this timeDon't be surprised if even shadows ignite.
Sahir Ludhianvi
Time alone is the gift of self-entertainment - and that is the font of creativity
Lin-Manuel Miranda
And I would have answered:"The knottier the branch, the more twisted and misshapen, the more bent people called it, the harder it is to find it a place among the smooth planks, the more people agree that it should be thrown on the fire, the more useless it is, the more unsuitable for anything except letting one's imagination run riot, the more I covet it, the more I yearn to weigh it in my hand, the more I long to let my whittling knife be guided by its knots and veins...Yes, bring that piece to me...
Sjón
The past places no absolute limit on the future.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
...Who knows what death, anxiety of the living, Who knows what loneliness, end of the lovingI could say to myself of the love (I had): Let it not be immortal, since it is flame But let it be infinite while it lasts.
Vinicius de Moraes
The dumbing down of the country reflects itself on Broadway. The shows get dumber, and the public gets used to them.
Stephen Sondheim
TRINA:I'm tired of all the happy men who rule the world.Their smile, their smile's their pedigree. They smile, but not for me.I'd like the chance to hideIn their world.I'm happy, but I'm not at ease with that whole world.
William Finn
And although we adore men individually, we agree that as a group they're rather stupid.
Richard M. Sherman
There's a hole in the world like a big black pit who are filled with people who are filled with shit.
Stephen Sondheim
I know my sister like I know my own mind, you will never find anyone as trusting or as kind.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Music blows lyrics up very quickly, and suddenly they become more than art. They become pompous and they become self-conscious ... I firmly believe that lyrics have to breathe and give the audience's ear a chance to understand what's going on. Particularly in the theater, where you not only have the music, but you've got costume, story, acting, orchestra. There's a lot to take in.
Stephen Sondheim
If I cannot fly, let me sing.
Stephen Sondheim
Words make you think. Music makes you feel. A song makes you feel a thought.
E.Y. Harburg
Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos.
Stephen Sondheim
From every mountain side Let Freedom ring.
Samuel F. Smith
So if you care to find me/Look to the western sky/As someone told me lately/Everyone deserves the chance to fly!/And if I'm flying solo/At least I'm flying free/Tell those who'd ground me/Take a message back from me/Tell them how I am defying gravity!/I'm flying high defying gravity/And soon I'll match them in renown./And nobody in all of Oz/No Wizard that there is or was/Is ever gonna bring me down!/
Stephen Schwartz
I prefer neurotic people. I like to hear rumblings beneath the surface.
Stephen Sondheim
I'm through accepting limits''cause someone says they're soSome things I cannot changeBut till I try, I'll never know!Too long I've been afraid ofLosing love I guess I've lostWell, if that's loveIt comes at much too high a cost!
Stephen Schwartz
Like a comet pulled from orbit, As it passes a sun. Like a stream that meets a boulder, Halfway through the wood. Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But because I knew you, I have been changed for good It well may be, That we will never meet again, In this lifetime. So let me say before we part, So much of me, Is made of what I learned from you. You'll be with me, Like a handprint on my heart. And now whatever way our stories end, I know you have re-written mine, By being my friend... Like a ship blown from its mooring, By a wind off the sea. Like a seed dropped by a skybird, In a distant wood. Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But because I knew you, Because I knew you, I have been changed for good.
Stephen Schwartz
I've heard it said that people come into our lives for a reasonBringing something we must learnAnd we are led to those who help us most to grow If we let them and we help them in return.
Stephen Schwartz
[WASHINGTON]It’s alright, you want to fight, you’ve got a hungerI was just like you when I was youngerHead full of fantasies of dyin’ like a martyr?[HAMILTON]Yes[WASHINGTON]Dying is easy, young man. Living is harder
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Give into love or live in fear.
Jonathan Larson
I had spent the dayfriendless, lonely and sad,a stranger to myself.After drowning the dayon the sea shore,I walked backto my empty houseon the deserted street.The momentI opened the door,the book on my tableflipped its pagesand said:"Friend,Where were youfor so long?
Gulzar
I think Lafayette wants to rap in French now. I have to go learn some French.Damn it, Lafayette
Lin-Manuel Miranda
I think Lafayette wants to rap in French now. I have to go learn some French.Damn it, Lafayette.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
I think Lafayette wants to rap in French now. I have to go learn some French.Damn it, Lafayette
Lin-Manuel Miranda
I think Lafayette wants to rap in French now. I have to go learn some French.Damn it, Lafayette.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
One man gathers what another man spills
Robert Hunter
(His WIFE, understanding everything, wants him to stay. MARVIN wants to go. Or MARVIN wants to stay. She wants him to go. Anyway, he's going.)
William Finn
When clouds of pain loom in the skyWhen a shadow of sadness flickers byWhen a tear finds its way to the eyeWhen fear keeps the loneliness aliveI try and console my heartWhy is it that you cry? I askThis is only what life impartsThese deep silences withinHave been handed out to all by timeEveryone’s story has a little sorrowEveryone’s share has a little sunshineNo need for water in your eyesEvery moment can be a new lifeWhy do you let them pass you by?Oh heart, why is it that you cry?
Javed Akhtar
I'd rather be nine people's favorite thing than a hundred people's ninth favorite thing.
Jeff Bowen
The worst thing you can do is censor yourself as the pencil hits the paper. You must not edit until you get it all on paper. If you can put everything down, stream-of-consciousness, you'll do yourself a service.
Stephen Sondheim
Music straightjackets a poem and prevents it from breathing on its own, whereas it liberates a lyric. Poetry doesn't need music; lyrics do.
Stephen Sondheim
One difference between poetry and lyrics is that lyrics sort of fade into the background. They fade on the page and live on the stage when set to music.
Stephen Sondheim
[HAMILTON]I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
Lin-Manuel Miranda
But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,If I am dead, as dead I well may be,You'll come and find the place where I am lying,And kneel and say Ave there for me,And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be,For you will bend and tell me that you love me,And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me
Frederick Weatherly
Got no checkbooks, got no banks. Still I'd like to express my thanks - I've got the sun in the mornin' and the moon at night.
Irving Berlin
God will answer you prayers better than you think. Of course, one will not always get exactly what he has asked for....We all have sorrows and disappointments, but one must never forget that, if commended to God, they will issue in good....His own solution is far better than any we could conceive.
Fanny J. Crosby
[BURR]I am the one thing in life I can control.
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other path, no other way, no day but today.
Jonathan Larson
The heart may freeze, or it can burn. The pain will ease and I can learn. There is no future, there is no past. I live this moment as, my last.
Jonathan Larson
Life is 10 percent what you make itand 90 percent how you take it.
Irving Berlin