Optimism of Musicals

     Without regard to the stereotype that gay men constantly sing Broadway show tunes, I hereby admit that my heart flutters with such great music.  Not just because of the snappy beat or dramatic vocals, but because of the lyrics.  Never have such inspirational, encouraging, optimistic and thankful words been put to song!  Here are some, with a snapshot of why they're great to listen and sing along to:

"If You Feel Like Singing, Sing" (Summer Stock, sung by Judy Garland). 

"We Speak the Same Language" (All American) "People needn't be so far apart, if the words they speak are from the heart."

"I Couldn't Have Done It Alone" (All American) "This honor should be not really for me but for all the folks behind the scenes that you never see.  So, I humbly bestow all my thanks to those wonderful guys in the ranks."

"A Step In the Right Direction" (Bedknobs & Broomsticks).

"Tomorrow" (Annie) "The sun will come out tomorrow.  Just thinking about tomorrow clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow..." 

"My Defenses Are Down" (Annie Get Your Gun) - being vulnerable when your heart is captured by another.  

"You're the Top" (Anything Goes) - how greatly can compliment your lover?

"I'm In Love with A Wonderful Guy" (South Pacific) "As gay as a daisy, a cliche coming true!... I'm as corny as Kansas in August, as high as a flag on the Fourth of July!"

"There's No Cure Like Travel" (Anything Goes).

"Be Our Guest" (Beauty & the Beast) - a guest in the gem on the cushion of hospitality; don't judge a book by its cover.

"This Is My Favorite City" (sung by Betty Grable) - civic pride

"The Merry-Go-Runaround" (Bing Crosby & Bob Hope) - having a crush on someone.

"Back to Syracuse" (Boys of Syracuse) - home sweet home does have its charms.

"I Just Want Love" - empty pockets but a heart full of love.  

"Put On A Happy Face" (Bye Bye Birdie) - I like the version sung by Jason Alexander, known as George from "Seinfeld".

"A Lot of Living to Do" (Bye Bye Birdie) - live fully.

"Cabaret" (same name) "Leave your troubles outside.  Life is disappointing?  Forget it.  In here, everything is beautiful."

"It's A Lovely Day Today" (Call Me Madam) - "I hope whatever you've got to do is something that can be done by two..."

"Seven Virtues" (Camelot).

"Johnny One Note" (sung by Carol Burnett) - hang on to whatever you do really well, and focus on that!

"June Is Busting Out All Over" (Carousel) - spring has sprung and "love is in the air"!

"Deep Down Inside" (Little Me) - find your inner humanity.

"Razzle Dazzle" (Chicago) - anything is possible against all odds.

"My Personal Property" (Sweet Charity) - she's full of such joy that she jokingly pretends all the public spaces in NYC are just for her.  I like Christine Noll's rendition.

"Some People" (Gypsy) "Some people can thrive in gloom living life in a living room.... but when I think of all the sights I gotta see, all the places I gotta be..."  I like it sung by Christine Andreas.

"You're Timeless To Me" (Hairspray, sung by Christopher Walken & John Travolta).

"Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" (Cinderella) anything can happen... especially with help from your Fairy Godperson!

"Pick Yourself Up" (sung by Clive Rowe & Jessica Martin) "Don't lose your confidence if you slip; be grateful for a pleasant trip.  Just pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and start all over again."  

"Our Last Summer" (Mamma Mia!) - have no regrets.

"The Company Way" (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) - don't settle for less; break out of your "comfort zone"; don't always play by the rules.

"What's This?" (Nightmare Before Christmas) - there's always something new to learn/discover, which just might be the best thing for you.  We don't know all there is to know.

"Zip A Dee Doo Dah" (Disney) - a happy song for a happy day

"I Don't Want To Show Off No More" (The Drowsy Chaperone) - do what you want to do; expand beyond the restrictive mould of others' expectations.

"I've Got Rhythm" (sung by either Ethel Merman or Bobby Darin) - with music in your heart, you'll be happy.

"We're In the Money" (Forty Second Street) - prosperity.

"Go Into Your Dance" (Forty Second Street) "If you've got an ounce of rhythm down in your shoes, then I'll change your point of view.  If you've been singing a sad and blue song, then go into your dance."

"They All Laughed" (Nice Work If You Can Get It) - don't listen to skeptics; press on and succeed by being unstoppable.

"Good Morning" (Singing In the Rain) - appreciate every new day's beginning.

"Before the Parade Passes By" (Hello Dolly, of course sung by Barbara Streisand) - participate in the "front" part of life, while you have time.

"It Really Was No Miracle" (Wizard of Oz) - unexpected things happen to solve problems.  Of course, we also all love "Over the Rainbow", too.

"Been A Long Day" (How To Succeed In Business) - don't be timid; don't assume that you can't ask someone out (or to do something).

"Flaming Agnes" (I Do! I Do!) "Used to find her sitting in the kitchen; mousey housewife was her name.  But the day her husband up and left her, Agnes started to flame!"

"I Could've Danced All Night" (My Fair Lady).

"Chop Suey" (Flower Drum Song) - cultural exchange.  More famous is "I Love Being A Girl".

"A Spoonful of Sugar" (Mary Poppins) "In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun".

"Always True To You In My Own Fashion" (Kiss Me, Kate) - is all about compromise to gain the greatest good.  Ha ha!

"I Am What I Am" (La Cage aux Folles) "You'll love us when you get to know us...  We face life, though it's sometimes sweet and bitter; face life with a little guts and lots of glitter!"

"On the Other Side of the Tracks" (Little Me) "I'm gonna give my inhibitions the axe."

"It's Today" (Mame, sung by Angela Lansbury) - celebrate!

"Travel A New Road" (Mame) - "before you find you're a dull fellow, punching the same clock, walking the same tightrope as everyone on the block... on the last day of your life, you'll be smiling the same young smile..."

"Let's Go Fly A Kite" (Mary Poppins) - enjoy the little things and pleasures in life.  Seize the moment.

"Gary, Indiana" (The Music Man) - he teaches this song to a young boy with a speech impediment, because the song avoids all the sounds that the boy struggles with, ergo giving the boy encouragement to vocalize more.

"The Sadder but Wiser Girl" (Music Man) - a "real" person is more fun to than a "posing" one.

"Pick-A-Little, Talk-A-Little" (Music Man) - gossip can be inaccurate and promotes biased misunderstanding.

"Dance: Ten; Looks: Three" (A Chorus Line) - all things are possible; learn your best strategy.

"You Can Fly!" (Peter Pan) - think of a wonderful thought; remain young at heart.  (and pixie dust helps!)

"Color My World" (Priscilla Queen of the Dessert) "Take the green from the grass and the blue from the sky and color my world with your love."

"We Can Do It" (The Producers) - goal-focused determination overcomes timidity.

"I Wanna Be A Producer" (The Producers) - leave the Rat Race / "grind" and pursue your dreams.

"I Love What I'm Doing" (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) - and I prefer Rachel York's version.

"Let's Start Tomorrow Tonight" (from TV's SMASH) "We'll prosper if we parlay... No time for sadness and sorrow."

"I'm Living Alone and I Like It" (sung by Sophie Tucker) - sometimes keeping things the way you like them is satisfying for the soul.

"Do-Re-Mi" (Sound of Music) - learning to make notes of a song: improvisation.

"I'm A Brass Band" (Sweet Charity) her heart is so full that she's bursting with joy and all kinds of music: "I'm the band at Macy's big parade, a wild Count Basie blast.  I'm the bells of St. Peter's in Rome.  I'm tissue paper on a comb!"

"Not For the Life of Me" (Thoroughly Modern Millie) "I ain't got nothing, so I ain't got nothing to lose!"

"I Wanna Live Each Night" (Miss Spectacular) - seize the day! "When is this crazy town is laid to rest, I'll still be doing what I do the best."

"Something's Coming" (West Side Story) "I don't know what it is, but it's gonna be great!" 

"I Feel Pretty" (West Side Story) - good self esteem is wonderful.

"It's A Grand Night for Singing" (State Fair).

Leisure Class

Everything here is quoted from an old book!  Read the lines below and determine if they apply to our modern society:

Contemporary "lords of the manor"--the businessmen who own the means of production--busied themselves in the economically unproductive practices of conspicuous consumption.  Their useless activities contribute neither to the economy nor to the material production of the useful goods and services required for the functioning of society.

It is the middle class (working class) who are usefully employed in the industrialised, productive occupations that support the whole of society.

The industrial production system requires workers to be diligent, efficient, and co-operative... whilst the owners concern themselves with making money and with the public display of their accumulated wealth.  

(Such behaviors survived from the predatory, barbarian past of the tribal stage of modern society).

Economic life of a modern society is based upon the social stratification of "tribal" and "feudal" societies, rather than upon merit.

In exercising political control, the leisure class retained their high social-status by direct and indirect coercion, by reserving for themselves all military force, and so withheld weapons and military skills from the lower social classes. Such a division (economic utility) rendered the lower classes dependent upon the leisure class, and so established, justified, and perpetuated the role of the leisure class as the defenders of society against natural and supernatural enemies (because the clergy also belongs to the leisure class).

To attain and retain greater status within their social class, low-status people emulate the respected, high-status members by consuming over-priced brands of goods and services perceived to be products of better quality. (perceived is the key word!)

People buy high-status goods and services, which they cannot afford, despite the availability of affordable products that are perceived as of lower quality and lesser social-prestige, and thus of a lower social-class. 

Businessmen make their money by manipulating the supply & demand among the social classes and their strata, for the same products at different prices.

Having a wife without an independent economic life (a profession or job), a man can display her as a form of his conspicuous leisure and as an object of his conspicuous consumption. 

Sport is socially and psychologically advantageous to community cohesion.  Yet, in itself, sport is an economic side effect of conspicuous leisure that wastes material resources. 

Certain physical and intellectual pursuits display the freedom of a person from having to work in an economically productive occupation.

Wealth or power must be put in evidence, for esteem is awarded only on evidence.  

The leisure class is supported by subordinated working classes that are employed in productive occupations.  The leisure class is composed of people exempted from manual work and from practicing productive occupations, because they belong to the leisure class.

Among the lower social-classes, a man’s reputation as a diligent, efficient, and productive worker is the highest form of pecuniary emulation available to him in society. 

Yet, among the strata of the leisure class, manual labour is perceived as a sign of social and economic weakness.

The working classes seek to emulate the standards of life and play of the leisure class.

Habitual consumption of products/services establishes a person’s standard of living.  Therefore, it is more difficult to do without products.

An objet d’art made of precious metal and gemstones is a more popular possession than is an object of art made of equally beautiful, but less expensive materials, because a high price can masquerade as beauty.

The function of clothes is to define the wearer as a person who belongs to a certain social class, not for protection from the environment.  

The symbolic function of clothes indicates that the wearer belongs to the leisure class, and can afford to buy new clothes when the fashion changes.

Society develops through the establishment of institutions (social, governmental, economic) modified in accordance with ideas from the past.  Politically, the leisure class maintain their dominance by retaining out-dated aspects of the political economy.

In pursuit of social advancement, and concomitant social prestige, people who rid themselves of scruple and honesty will more readily rise into a stratum of the leisure class.

As owners of the means of production, the leisure class benefit from, but do not work in, the industrial community, and do not materially contribute to the commonwealth (the welfare of the public).  But, they do consume the goods and services produced by the working classes.  

As such, the individual success of a person derives from their astuteness and ferocity (used for either endurance or coercion), which are traits nurtured by the culture of the consumer society.

The belief in the concept of “luck” is a reason why people gamble.  Likewise follows the belief that luck is a part of achieving success, rather than the likelier reason of social connections derived from a person’s social class and stratum.

The existence, function, and practice of religion in a socially-stratified society, is a form of abstract conspicuous consumption for the members of the person’s community.  As such, attending church services, participating in religious rites, and paying tithes, are forms of conspicuous leisure.

or

In a consumer society, how a woman spends her time and what activities she does with her time communicate the social standing of her husband, her family, and her social class. 

So, do you agree that such things apply to modern-day society?  Should they continue to exist that way?  No.

Well, this is nothing new.  In fact, it was documented during the age of Enlightenment, and again at the end of the "Gay 90s" in 1899 (seen below).  Has society changed?  Have people learned?  Or are too many people remarkably still playing the same "rat race"?   Maybe folks should act more like Gone With the Wind's Rhett Butler ("I'm not going to contort for you"), instead of Scarlett O'Hara ("sell people into slavery so I can get rich, but I don't wanna know what's happening").