Post by Salzmank on Feb 1, 2019 5:32:47 GMT
No idea if anyone will be interested, but I thought it was fun to wonder about… In Stephen Sondheim’s Finishing the Hat, he has a fascinating introduction about the reasons for and craft of rhyming, and he makes a passionate and (I think) ironclad case for perfect (i.e., actual) rhymes in lyric-writing.
Anyway, he contrasts his case with an argument made by another songwriter, whom he describes as “…one of pop music’s most successful lyricists…,” who “…ventured out of pop into musical theater once—and with a hit show, I might add”:
The problem is that Sondheim never identifies this other songwriter, only referring to him as “X.” So, does anyone have any idea who “X” might be?
Several online commenters thought it may be The Who’s Pete Townshend, who wrote a single hit musical, The Who’s Tommy (1992). I really have no idea.
Thanks in advance.
Anyway, he contrasts his case with an argument made by another songwriter, whom he describes as “…one of pop music’s most successful lyricists…,” who “…ventured out of pop into musical theater once—and with a hit show, I might add”:
I hate all true rhymes. I think they only allow you a certain limited range…. I’m not a great believer in perfect rhymes. I’m just a believer in feelings that come across. If the craft gets in the way of the feelings, then I’ll take the feelings any day. I don’t sit with a rhyming dictionary. And I don’t look for big words to be clever. To me, they take away from the medium I’m most comfortable with, which is Today…
Several online commenters thought it may be The Who’s Pete Townshend, who wrote a single hit musical, The Who’s Tommy (1992). I really have no idea.
Thanks in advance.