Sing A Rebel Song

"“Momma / please take our advice / we aren’t the Lunts / I’m not Fanny Brice / Momma, we’ll buy you the rice / if only this once you wouldn’t think twice.” It’s so complicated but effortless. Look at all the inner rhymes there—“once” and “Lunts,” and all the “ice”s, and the wordplay of “once … twice,” you have to wonder what comes first. As a lyricist, I know you often start with the last line and work backward. And the playfulness of the Jule Styne music, a melodic waltz, is perfectly matched."

- Marc Shaiman on why “If Momma Was Married” is a perfect song, as told to Rebecca Milzoff in New York Magazine. (via fuckyeahstephensondheim)

(Source: New York Magazine, via fuckyeahstephensondheim)