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.

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.

Automobile in America,Chromium steel in America,Wire-spoke wheel in America,Very big deal in America!Immigrant goes to America,Many hellos in America,Nobody knows in America,Puerto Rico's in America!I like the shores of America!Comfort is yours in America!Knobs on the doors in America!Wall-to-wall floors in America!

Unless the object of the singer__ affection is a vampire, surely what Hart means is unphotogenic. Only vampires are unphotographable, but affectionate _-enic_ rhymes are hard to come by.

I chose and my world was shaken, so what? The choice may have been mistaken, the choosing was not.