Feb 2022 ballad show-tune musical-theater
@kahlo2013's liner notes:
Prompt: Pretty
UPDATE: Tara Craig will bring this to life with music! Thanks, Tara!
This prompt was hard to write too as “pretty” is not a word commonly used in my vocabulary. I was never pretty. Born with crossed eyes, a little facial nerve palsy, and pigeon toes, and thin lips with a “strong chin” I was not the pretty baby in the nursery and was made fun of for my appearance much of my life.
As I learned to walk, before I had strabismus surgery, I was always running into things and always full of scabs and stitches. Various daredevil behaviors and general clumsiness as a kid led to other injuries from a broken nose to chipped teeth, none of which, too my mother’s dismay, were associated with a pretty phenotype and none that I wanted ‘fixed’.
I remember hearing my grandmother talk to my parents when I was about 4 saying, “Elizabeth will never be pretty but she is smart and very strong willed so I think she will be okay”. I think I have turned out okay but I have never been, nor have I ever embraced the word, pretty since that time.
So this is my take on pretty.
@taracraig's liner notes:
When I read these lyrics I related to them right away. To me this is in no way a woe-is-me story about a girl who wishes she was ‘pretty’ but rather the story of a girl who never subscribed to the norms of what a lady “should” be. A girl who had the courage to be who she was in spite of social expectations.
Liz tagged this as "show-tune" when she first posted the lyrics. I really wanted to capture that essence and am I'm hoping this has a musical theater vibe about it.
Liz Says: wow!!! I’m blown away and so very grateful for Tara’s incredible music! Phenomenal! I love the Sondheim music theater approach as she delivers this so perfectly with the pacing and phrasing. Most of all I am appreciate if Tara’s understanding and sensibility with character development in her delivery - it is fun and light feeling yet conveys the seriousness of the message I was hoping to convey.
V1
I was never pretty
I was never sexy
I was never…
should I say…
that… umm…petite
with glasses, chipped tooth
and unkempt hair
independence, strength
with tomboy airs
helped me not
really care
C1
I was only
all I could be
and all I could be
was me
I was never
pretty, sexy
or petite
V2
I was never perky
I was never giddy
I was never…
shall I say..
that… umm.. upbeat
with determination
and furrowed brow
curiosity, questions
with what, why and how
helped me get
by somehow
C2
I was only
all I could be
and all I could be
was me
I was never
giddy, perky
or upbeat
V3
I was never precious
I was never graceful
I was never…
dare I say..
that …umm… nice or neat
with pigeon toes
and scraped up knees
fighting spirit, courage
tenacity
helped me through
times of defeat
C3
I was only
all I could be
and all I could be
was me
I was never
precious, graceful
nice or neat
OUTRO
I am only
all I can be
and all I can be
is me
@daveyboy103 Feb 2022
You match with Liz's words so very well. Lovely work. I remember reading these words. loving them, and thinking there is no way I could do it but you have captured them perfectly.
@mikedebenham Feb 2022
Great collaboration. Sincere but funny. Liz's lyrics are really well judged for performance, and I love the tossed-off way Tara rushes through the end of the choruses, treating those traditional 'feminine virtues' with all the respect they deserve.
@jerrypettit Feb 2022
Just looking at @kahlo2013 's profile before coming here and OMG--she's got 42 works under her belt already and it's the 11th! Good grief--and she's churning out stuff of this quality?!!
Speaking of quality--I think this is the first song of yours that I've heard Tara. What a beautiful voice you have! A great arrangment, and you HAVE to have some "stage work" under your belt, amirite? You've got a perfect voice for that...
@sheilerk Feb 2022
So, when's opening night? You totally nailed the genre, and the prompt, in the very best way. The lyrics were beautifully written with just the right balance, and the performance carried them right to the level where they belong. These could slip into a Broadway show, or even something like the new Disney movie, Encanto. It even fits the theme in a lot of ways. Especially the really strong affirmation in the chorus. I don't think there are many people who don't need to hear that. All any of us can be is who we are, and we are enough!
@valeriecox Feb 2022
Oh yeah. Show tune all the way! Excellent way to bring this to life. I feel like I'm in the theater watching a musical, and I'm awestruck by the show already! Wonderful performance and arrangement. Great show tune lyrics. It would be a pivotal song for the character.
@katestantonsings Feb 2022
I second the comment below me; this could be in The Last Showman or a similar musical. The vocal delivery is so good. The lyrics are poignant and powerful. It makes me wish we saw souls/energy/auras and not appearances!
@tseaver Feb 2022
Wonderful collab: calls for a spotlight on the singer on a darkened empty stage.
@majormajormajormajor Feb 2022
Fantastic! Mid-first-act as we get our first glimpses of the *real* character of the protagonist, right? I absolutely get Sondheim, particularly Company(that's probably mostly because I've seen it so many times), but if so it also shows the Broadway history present in his influences- less R&H, there is a certain Gilbert and Sullivan feel to this too. Such a pleasure to hear this style :)
You two don't specify, but considering how well the lyrics work for this kind of song, I can't help but wonder where the idea to do that came from. Both elements are impressive in their own right, but I must confess I don't think it would ever have occurred to me, and it's just perfect!
@anthonykapfer666 Feb 2022
this is great. reminds me of something you’d hear in a musical or a disney movie. very well done. the vocals are amazing
@wrenarcher Feb 2022
This is just wonderful!
And I like how @owl said it... the rushed lines and pauses are quite funny. But the lyrics are very relatable... well, at least for me they are. It's like... like a song of affirmation. "All i can be is me."
This was just what I needed this morning. Thank you.
Muah!
@owl Feb 2022
Great vocals and playing, very moving lyrics (but funny, with those little rushed lines and pauses!) Charming collab!
@nadine Feb 2022
I don't listen to musical stuff (I even skip the song parts in Disney movies), but you made me listen to end because the performance is so good! Tara's voice works so well in this style. And the lyrics are great. Pretty indeed.
@ductapeguy Feb 2022
Wow. Not only show tune, but showstopper. So much depth and Truth in this song. What a great collaboration.
@humantornado Feb 2022
Great job with this! It sounds like a song from a Disney animated movie.