Where's the Mate for Me? lyrics
Where's the Mate for Me?
RAVENAL
Who cares if my boat goes upstream,
Or if the gale bids me go with the river's flow?
I drift along with my fancy
Sometimes I thank my lucky stars my heart is free -
And other times I wonder where's that mate for me?
(MAGNOLIA begins again on the piano, off stage. He looks up.
She hesitates in her fingering at a certain point. He pantomimes
the serious anxiety a listener always feels, hoping she'll hit
the right note. He sits on a cotton bale and goes on with his
musing, idly tapping his cane on the ground)
RAVENAL
The driftwood floating over the sea
Someday finds a sheltering lee,
So, somewhere there surely must be
A harbour meant for me -
(MAGNOLIA enters on the upper deck of the show boat)
I drift along with my fancy -
Sometimes I thank my lucky stars my heart is free,
And other times I wonder where's the mate -
(He turns and sees MAGNOLIA. What a picture! A very young
face, and a fluffy dress all pink with flowers and everything -
and she is becomingly shy - yet bold enough to return his gaze -
and to speak first)
MAGNOLIA
Hello...
RAVENAL
(taken by surprise - an unusual thing)
Er - how do you do?
MAGNOLIA
Do you live here?
RAVENAL
No - I'm just a way-farer along the river
MAGNOLIA
So am I - which way are you going?
RAVENAL
Either way - where are you going?
MAGNOLIA
Anywhere Papa gives shows.
RAVENAL
(a trifle jarred)
Oh - are you a player?
MAGNOLIA
You mean like on the pianner? Yes - I play a little.
RAVENAL
Oh - was that you I heard just now -?
MAGNOLIA
Yes - that was me!
RAVENAL
(under his breath)
What a pity!
MAGNOLIA
What did you say, Mister?
RAVENAL
Er - when I asked you if you were a player - I meant -
are you an actress?
MAGNOLIA
Oh - no - but I'd give anything if I could be.
RAVENAL
Why?
MAGNOLIA
Because you can make believe so many wonderful
things that never happen in real life.
RAVENAL
But wonderful things do happen - this very day
I was standing here on the levee - feeling blue -
and suddenly I looked up, and -
MAGNOLIA
I must go now -
RAVENAL
Why?
MAGNOLIA
Well, you see, you're talking to me - and I don't know you -
RAVENAL
Does that really matter so much?
MAGNOLIA
N-no - not to me - but they say it isn't nice.
RAVENAL
If you like to make believe things, why can't
we make believe we know each other?
MAGNOLIA
Oh, yes - and we haven't seen each other for seventy-five
years, and you're my long-lost nephew - there's a scene
like that in a play called "The Village Drunkard."
RAVENAL
No - seventy-five years is too long - besides, I don't
think I'd like the idea of being your nephew. Let us
imagine that we've just met -
MAGNOLIA
But we really have.
RAVENAL
Yes - but let's just suppose that we've fallen in love
at first sight.
Last Update: December, 16th 2013