Tiger, Tiger Lyrics — Apple Tree, The

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

• Work: The Apple Tree (Broadway, 1966), Act Two in the "Lady or the Tiger?" playlet.
• Placement: Barbara is alone with the worst kind of knowledge: she can decide Sanjar's fate, and either way she loses him.
• Who sings it: Princess Barbara (Barbara Harris on the original cast recording).
• Why it matters: It is the act's nervous breakdown in miniature - jealousy, duty, and a crowd-ready ritual closing in.

The Apple Tree (1966) - stage musical - Non-diegetic. Princess Barbara spirals as the arena trial approaches and she realizes her signal can send Sanjar to death or to another woman's arms. It matters because the fable stops posing a clever question and shows the cost of being forced to choose in public.

"Tiger, Tiger" is where the shiny court pageant cracks and you can finally hear blood rushing under the brocade. Barbara has been smart, strategic, even smug earlier in the sequence. Here, strategy turns into self-interrogation. The lyric is sharp and fast, like someone pacing a corridor and arguing with herself in real time.

The song's punch is the collision of impulses. She wants him alive. She wants him hers. She hates herself for wanting him dead and hates herself for imagining him married to someone else. That is the grim genius of the act: the kingdom has turned love into a trial, and Barbara ends up as the person holding the lever.

Creation History

Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick wrote Act Two as a stylized adaptation of Frank R. Stockton, framed by a Balladeer. Masterworks Broadway album notes describe this moment as Barbara realizing she will lose her man either way, which is exactly what the number dramatizes: jealousy as a trap disguised as choice. The cast recording documents the song as part of the October 23, 1966 session credited to Barbara Harris under Elliot Lawrence's baton.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

In the "Lady or the Tiger?" segment, Captain Sanjar is sentenced to the arena trial: he must open one of two doors, one hiding a tiger and the other hiding a woman he must marry. Barbara learns which door holds the tiger, then notices the beautiful Nadjira being led toward the arena - meaning Nadjira could be the woman behind the other door. Barbara is left with a decision she cannot survive cleanly, and she sings "Tiger, Tiger" as the ritual builds.

Song Meaning

The song is a portrait of jealousy as moral vertigo. Barbara is not choosing between good and bad, she is choosing between two ways of losing, while the kingdom calls it justice. The title phrase is both literal (the arena beast) and psychological (the predator inside her thoughts). As stated in MTI's synopsis, Barbara understands that either outcome takes Sanjar away, and that knowledge is the fuel of the song.

Annotations

"Tiger, tiger, I hope you're hungry."

It is a horrifying line because it is a wish and a dare at the same time. The lyric dares the tiger to do what Barbara cannot admit she wants, then immediately recoils from the thought. The comedy is black, but it lands because the feeling is real.

"I'll cheer you on from the stands."

That image nails the act's cruelty: the arena needs spectators. Barbara imagines herself as a spectator to her own crime, which shows how the kingdom's ritual has invaded her mind.

"Sanjar, Sanjar, what am I saying?"

The self-correction is the heartbeat of the number. Desire flashes, shame slams the brakes, desire flashes again. The song is built out of that start-stop guilt, which is why it feels like thought rather than performance.

Touchpoints and craft

The fable roots itself in an old story, but the psychological engine is modern: intrusive thoughts, moral bargaining, and a public system that rewards spectacle. Barbara Harris sells it by sounding as if she is trying to keep her voice steady while her mind refuses to cooperate. According to MusicBrainz and major platform listings, the track clocks in around two minutes, which makes the compactness part of the impact: it is a short scene that burns hot.

Technical Information (Quick Facts)

• Song: Tiger, Tiger
• Artist: Original Broadway Cast of The Apple Tree
• Featured: Barbara Harris
• Composer: Jerry Bock
• Lyricist: Sheldon Harnick
• Music director and conductor: Elliot Lawrence
• Release Date: January 1, 1966 (common digital catalog date for the cast recording)
• Recording Date: October 23, 1966
• Genre: Musical theatre
• Instruments: Pit orchestra, solo vocal
• Label: Masterworks Broadway (catalog editions)
• Mood: Anxious, jealous, darkly comic
• Length: About 1:58 to 2:03 (varies by catalog entry)
• Track #: 15 (common cast recording sequence listings)
• Language: English
• Album: The Apple Tree (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Music style: Character solo, rapid thought-stream writing
• Poetic meter: Mixed, speech-led theatre prosody

Frequently Asked Questions

Who sings "Tiger, Tiger" on the 1966 cast recording?

Barbara Harris performs it as Princess Barbara in Act Two.

What moment in the story does the song cover?

Barbara realizes she may lose Sanjar either to the tiger or to marriage with Nadjira, right as the arena ritual is about to begin.

Why is the lyric so aggressive toward the tiger?

Because it lets Barbara voice a forbidden thought - wishing for death - then immediately recoil from it.

Is this connected to William Blake's "Tiger, tiger, burning bright"?

The phrase echoes a famous English poem title, but in this show it functions as direct address to the arena beast and as a metaphor for Barbara's jealous impulse.

How long is the track on the original album?

Most catalog listings place it near two minutes, with slight variations by edition.

Is this a comedy song?

It uses dark humor, but the scene is psychologically serious: Barbara is in a panic because her love has become a public choice.

Does the song appear in licensed materials and official song lists?

Yes. It is included in MTI song lists for The Apple Tree, and discographies list it as a Barbara Harris track in the Act Two sequence.

Is there an official music video?

Not in the pop sense. The standard official presence is an auto-generated audio upload tied to the cast recording catalog.

What comes right after it in Act Two?

The arena sequence continues, leading into "Which Door?" and the final choice beat framed by the Balladeer reprise.

Awards and Chart Positions

"Tiger, Tiger" is cast-album repertoire rather than a pop single, so the major milestones belong to The Apple Tree as a Broadway production. The show ran on Broadway from October 18, 1966 to November 25, 1967 and earned significant Tony recognition, including a Best Actress in a Musical win for Barbara Harris. According to Wikipedia's production history and awards section, the show also received a Best Musical nomination, among other major nominations.

Additional Info

There is a reason this short solo is a theater kid dare. It is not built like a standard "I want" song. It is built like a mind arguing with itself. The lyric swings between relish and remorse, then snaps back to the arena reality. That structure gives performers room to act, not just sing.

Archives also preserve the song's paper trail. The New York Public Library finding aid for the Jerry Bock papers lists "Tiger, Tiger" among production materials and lyrics drafts, evidence of how much work went into shaping even the compact corners of Act Two. According to MTI's synopsis, the line of thought behind the number is brutal and simple: Barbara is going to lose her man either way, and the song is the sound of her trying to live inside that fact.

Key Contributors

Sources

Sources: Masterworks Broadway album notes (The Apple Tree - 1966), MTI Europe synopsis and MTI song list, MusicBrainz release entry for The Apple Tree (1966 OBC), Apple Music album track listing, UCLA Library catalog entry, New York Public Library archives finding aid (Jerry Bock papers), Musicals 101 lyrics PDF, Wikipedia (The Apple Tree), YouTube (official audio upload)