Waiting Lyrics
Waiting
Alice:Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah
A woman waits for marriage
A woman waits for children
She waits for her big Mal to come back home
At five o'clock
Or six o'clock
'Til it's nine o'clock
And there's no o'clock to ease the pain
Pain she can't explain
As the woman waits in the dark
For a spark that once was there
That isn't there, not ever there!
Alone and
Waiting and wailing
Whining and waning
Wanting and wasting and woe
Waiting, fixating
Debating, lose weighting
Ice skating, lacating- and so
We wait to laugh
We wait to cry
We wait for every hopeful breath
Waiting for a lousy, rotting,
Vicious, rancid, fetid,
Frenzied, fatal death
Song Overview
Review & Highlights
This track hits like a confession whispered too loudly. Carolee Carmello’s “Waiting” from The Addams Family barrels forward on jittery patter and big belt, turning Alice’s polite façade into comic fire. I hear two things at once: a laugh line and a bruise. The lyrics keep the joke alive while the pulse pushes her to say what she’s been swallowing. It’s brisk, it’s brash, and it leaves a sting.
Here’s the short map. The number drops right after the party game cracks open the room. Alice, dosed and over it, spells out what’s broken at home. The writing sets punchline against ache, and the orchestration keeps her sprinting. Twice the song nods to the word lyrics in a wry way, like the text itself is daring you to keep up.
Key takeaways: a showcase for comic mezzo who can flip from chirpy to volcanic, a clean snapshot of suburban rot, and a sneaky engine for the show’s turning point.
Verse 1
Rapid-fire domestic beats stack like overdue bills. Each rhyme tightens the noose of routine until you feel the air thinning. The voice rides light vowels, then digs in when the truth peeks out.
Chorus
The refrain isn’t sugary. It’s a chant. “Waiting” starts to feel like a life sentence, and the band leans into that treadmill feel. You can almost see the smile cracking.
Exchange/Bridge
The bridge snaps from bit to bite. Jokes escalate into barbed admissions. Harmony opens for a second, then slams the door, exactly how denial works.
Final Build
By the last surge, comedy and fury are welded. She stops asking for change and names the rot. Button lands high, bright, and a little feral. If you didn’t know Alice before, you do now.
Song Meaning and Annotations
The core message is simple: the mask slips. Alice has been the cheerful fixer, but the evening’s “truth game” guts that script. What we hear is routine curdling into resentment, spoken with a grin that won’t hold.
“These lines reference the marriage between her and Mal being ‘sad’ or ‘disappointing.’”That note nails the ground she’s standing on, and why the humor feels sharp, not cute.
The song’s rhythm is classic comedy-meets-catharsis: patter setup, belt payoff. It lets a performer weaponize perkiness.
“Mal may be spending time away from her because they are not in love.”The line reads harsh, but musically it’s sugar-coated, which is the point: denial wears pastels.
There’s a flicker of nostalgia in the middle, a reach back to what used to spark. The music brightens, then pulls away.
“She is speaking about the spark that was once in her relationship with her husband, Mal.”That quick glow makes the collapse feel worse, and funnier, which is the show’s favorite trick.
One word lands like a cymbal crash, almost shouted. It’s theater, not diary.
“This line is usually either screamed, or said suddenly and loudly.”The burst of volume is a mood swing you can dance to, a gag and a gasp in the same beat.
The last image skirts camp and taps fear. She leans into hyperbole because it’s safer than saying “I’m lonely.”
“This line is sang screaming or just loud and high pitched.”The sound sells the panic; the wit keeps it playable.
Message
It’s a suburban alarm clock. “Waiting” calls out the small delays that become a life. It teases first, testifies second, and refuses to apologize.
Emotional tone
Starts chipper, turns biting, ends blazing. The smile stays, the eyes stop smiling. That gap is the whole vibe.
Historical context
Premiering with a 2010 Broadway cast album, the number sits in a long line of musical-theater confession songs where comic women seize the mic and tell the room what’s actually happening. The macabre brand gives her permission to say the quiet part out loud.
Production
Orchestrations lean on bright woodwinds and a motoric groove, with brass hits that underline the punchlines. The arrangement keeps text intelligible while nudging the tempo just on the edge of breathless.
Instrumentation
Rhythm section holds a steady tick-tock, reeds chatter, brass punctuates, and strings smear into the big button. It’s crisp, like a sitcom cut to commercial, then back.
Key phrases and idioms
Domestic clock-talk and stacked -ing verbs create a treadmill syntax. It’s not poetry for the mantel. It’s language built to move a scene.
Metaphors and symbols
Time as a bully. The house as a stage set. Cheer as camouflage. Each metaphor is bright enough to laugh at and close enough to sting.
Creation history
Conceived for the show’s Act I dinner sequence, “Waiting” crystallizes Alice’s arc and tees up her later reconciliation. The recording session and commercial release locked the performance in the public ear, and regional translations kept the song alive abroad.
Key Facts
- Artist: Carolee Carmello
- Featured: Ancestors ensemble
- Composer: Andrew Lippa
- Producer: Andrew Lippa
- Release Date: June 8, 2010
- Genre: Musical theatre, show tune
- Instruments: rhythm section, woodwinds, brass, strings
- Label: Decca Broadway
- Mood: comic confessional, restless
- Length: 3:13
- Track #: 10
- Language: English
- Album: The Addams Family - Original Broadway Cast Recording
- Music style: patter-meets-belt with vaudeville tint
- Poetic meter: mixed meter with patter sections
- © Copyrights: © 2010 Decca Label Group
Questions and Answers
- Who wrote and produced “Waiting”?
- Andrew Lippa wrote the music and lyrics and produced the cast album track.
- When was the track released commercially?
- It landed on the Original Broadway Cast Recording released June 8, 2010.
- Where does “Waiting” sit in the show?
- Act I, during the dinner party game; it’s Alice’s candid outburst that tilts the evening.
- Has “Waiting” been adapted in other languages?
- Yes. In Brazil the number appears as “Esperando,” performed by Alice in Portuguese-language productions.
- Did the song or album chart?
- The album entered Billboard’s Top Cast Albums chart and appeared on the Billboard 200 in its release window.
Awards and Chart Positions
The Original Broadway Cast Recording reached the Top Cast Albums list shortly after release, and registered on the Billboard 200. Carolee Carmello’s work in the production drew major award nominations alongside the show’s broader recognition for design and score.
| List | Position | Date or Season | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard Top Cast Albums | #4 (weekly) | Week ending June 26, 2010 | Original Broadway Cast Recording |
| Billboard 200 | #139 (weekly) | June 2010 | Original Broadway Cast Recording |
| Drama Desk Awards | Nominated | 2010 | Carolee Carmello - Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical |
| Outer Critics Circle Awards | Nominated | 2010 | Carolee Carmello - Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical |
How to Sing Waiting?
Vocal range: roughly Ab3 to G#5 for Alice, sitting in a bright mix with a secure top. Treat the patter as story first, air support second. Aim for crisp consonants that never choke the legato.
Breath & tempo: it runs hot. Map silent breaths at punctuation, and use sneaky rib resets before the last climb. Keep the engine steady so the comedy lands without rushing.
Issues to watch: vowel drift on high brights, over-slammed consonants in patter, and a tendency to bark the button. Keep the mask: sweet tone, sharp text.
Character: smile like you’re fine, then let the eyes confess. Play the laugh, then let the truth through. Comedy is your cover.