My Weird Journal Title
So, not that any of you necessarily wanted to know, but the title of my journal actually does mean something. It's a very small part of a song that I love. A Sondheim song, of course, because he seems to be the person I'm quoting, if ever I'm quoting anyone. And so, I'll post the lyrics to that song. It's starts out sorta specific to the situation in the play, and then moves on to grander themes. As do most of Sondheim's songs. This is from Into the Woods And, yes, I'm very gay.
As a small set up - this song is sung by The Baker's Wife, who has just cheated on her husband, The Baker (obviously) with Cinderella's Prince (don't ask).
Was that me? Was that him?
Did a prince really kiss me?
And kiss me?
And kiss me?
And did I kiss him back?
Was is wrong?
Am I mad?
Is that all?
Does he miss me?
Was he suddenly getting bored with me?
Wake up, stop dreaming,
stop prancing about the woods!
It's not beseeming,
what is it about the woods?
back to life,back to sense,
back to child, back to husband,
who can live in the woods?
There are vows, there are ties
there are needs, there are standards,
there are shouldn'ts and shoulds.
Why not both instead?
There's the answer, if you're clever.
Have a child for warmth,
and a baker for bread,
and a prince for . . . whatever.
Never!
It's these woods.
Face the facts, find the boy,
join the group, stop the giant,
just get out of these woods!
Was that him? Yes it was.
Was that me? No it wasn't.
Just a trick of the woods.
Just a moment,
one peculiar passing moment,
must it all be either less or more
either plain or grand?
Is it always 'or'?
Is it never 'and'?
That's what woods are for.
For these moments in the woods.
Oh, if life were made of moments,
even now and then a bad one,
but if life were made of moments,
then you'd never know you had one.
First a witch, then a child,
then a prince, then a moment . . .
who can live in the woods?
And to get what you want,
even just for a moment,
these are dangerous woods.
Let the moment go.
Don't forget for a moment though.
Just remembering you've had an 'and'
when you're back to 'or'
makes the 'or' mean more
than it did before.
Now I understand!
And it's time to leave the woods
I bolded the parts that most directly related to the title of my journal.
Ugh, I so love that song, and that play, and could just start analyzing the shit out of it, and talk about how it has so many layers of meaning . . . and then maybe I'd be going too far and making it seem like more than it is . . . but if you're ever going through a rough patch in your life, something difficult, this play is amazing. Because going into the woods is like taking those journeys you don't want to take, the ones that scare you, in order to come out the other side a better person. All mentions of cheating aside. It's the unknown.
But the reason I chose those words is that I really like the idea that you can have an experience that makes something else mean more. Sometimes it's making the choice to give something up that makes the other thing mean all the more. And it's those amazing moments in our lives that color everything else that happens. We need those moments to keep going, and we need the in-betweens to make those moments matter.
So, yeah, that's that.
As a small set up - this song is sung by The Baker's Wife, who has just cheated on her husband, The Baker (obviously) with Cinderella's Prince (don't ask).
Was that me? Was that him?
Did a prince really kiss me?
And kiss me?
And kiss me?
And did I kiss him back?
Was is wrong?
Am I mad?
Is that all?
Does he miss me?
Was he suddenly getting bored with me?
Wake up, stop dreaming,
stop prancing about the woods!
It's not beseeming,
what is it about the woods?
back to life,back to sense,
back to child, back to husband,
who can live in the woods?
There are vows, there are ties
there are needs, there are standards,
there are shouldn'ts and shoulds.
Why not both instead?
There's the answer, if you're clever.
Have a child for warmth,
and a baker for bread,
and a prince for . . . whatever.
Never!
It's these woods.
Face the facts, find the boy,
join the group, stop the giant,
just get out of these woods!
Was that him? Yes it was.
Was that me? No it wasn't.
Just a trick of the woods.
Just a moment,
one peculiar passing moment,
must it all be either less or more
either plain or grand?
Is it always 'or'?
Is it never 'and'?
That's what woods are for.
For these moments in the woods.
Oh, if life were made of moments,
even now and then a bad one,
but if life were made of moments,
then you'd never know you had one.
First a witch, then a child,
then a prince, then a moment . . .
who can live in the woods?
And to get what you want,
even just for a moment,
these are dangerous woods.
Let the moment go.
Don't forget for a moment though.
Just remembering you've had an 'and'
when you're back to 'or'
makes the 'or' mean more
than it did before.
Now I understand!
And it's time to leave the woods
I bolded the parts that most directly related to the title of my journal.
Ugh, I so love that song, and that play, and could just start analyzing the shit out of it, and talk about how it has so many layers of meaning . . . and then maybe I'd be going too far and making it seem like more than it is . . . but if you're ever going through a rough patch in your life, something difficult, this play is amazing. Because going into the woods is like taking those journeys you don't want to take, the ones that scare you, in order to come out the other side a better person. All mentions of cheating aside. It's the unknown.
But the reason I chose those words is that I really like the idea that you can have an experience that makes something else mean more. Sometimes it's making the choice to give something up that makes the other thing mean all the more. And it's those amazing moments in our lives that color everything else that happens. We need those moments to keep going, and we need the in-betweens to make those moments matter.
So, yeah, that's that.