You Can Only Work with What You Get Lyrics
You Can Only Work with What You Get
[BETELGEUSE]You've got a weird head
[LYDIA]
Your stench is distressing
[BETELGEUSE]
I may be dead, but you're just depressing
[LYDIA]
Oh yeah?
Well, you look like a statue that's been crapped on by birds
[BETELGEUSE]
Yeah, you look like one?of?Dracula's?turds!
[LYDIA]
You make me?sad
[BETELGEUSE]
You've got terrible?breath
[LYDIA]
No. You look like a clown that's found crystal meth!
Not enough smarts
[BETELGEUSE]
Not enough spunk
[LYDIA]
Hey, maybe I'm nuts
[BETELGEUSE]
Maybe I'm drunk
[BOTH]
But it's kinda awesome that we met!
And you can only work with what you get
[BETELGEUSE]
Like when little miss Muffet met with that spider
[LYDIA]
Or wh?n Siegfried and Roy hung out with that tiger
[BOTH]
W?'re a great pair!
[LYDIA]
Like Trump and his hair!
[BETELGEUSE]
Like Einstien and the atom!
[LYDIA]
Like King Kong and Manhatten!
[BOTH]
Can't make an omelet without breaking an egg!
[LYDIA]
Oh yeah
[BOTH]
And you can only work with what you get
Isn't this swell!
[LYDIA]
We're like tectonic plates!
[BETELGEUSE]
It's great when we grate!
[BOTH]
Cause no one survives
Don't we just gel!
[LYDIA]
Like Tina and Ike!
[BETELGEUSE]
Lance Armstrong and a bike!
[LYDIA]
Like polygamist's wives
[BETELGEUSE]
You look like a dwarf
[LYDIA]
Oh, you're gross and you're dirty
[BETELGEUSE]
Your voice is awful
[LYDIA]
Ew, what is that? Herpes?
[BETELGEUSE]
Yes
[BOTH]
There's so much to hate
But I still wanna risk it
Because though it ain't great
It's probably kismet
And it feels good to sing a swing duet!
But you can only work with what you get
[BETELGEUSE]
C'mon girl!
[BOTH]
Aren't we a pair!
[BETELGEUSE]
Like Cortez and the Aztecs!
[LYDIA]
Like smallpox and a blanket!
[BOTH]
We get the job done!
A breath of fresh air!
[BETELGEUSE]
Like a virus in a sauna!
[LYDIA]
Like Sodom and Gomorrah!
[BETELGEUSE]
It's just good old-fashioned fun
We're such a safe bet, Hal Burton should fund us
[LYDIA]
Good idea! This is better than when Native Americans met Columbus!
[BETELGEUSE]
Like crack and a den!
[LYDIA]
Marilyn Monroe and men!
[BETELGEUSE]
Like fire in a kitchen!
[LYDIA]
Like Jews and Mel Gibson!
[BOTH]
We're hardly working up a sweat!
And we'll probably regret that we ever met!
We can't get upset, don't forget!
You can only work with what you get!
You can only work with what you get
[BETELGEUSE]
And I got you, babe
Song Overview
Review and Highlights
Quick summary
- Cut duet from early development of the Broadway musical - a fast swing piece where Beetlejuice and Lydia roast each other, then admit they make a useful pair.
- Issued officially on Eddie Perfect’s compilation Beetlejuice: The Demos The Demos The Demos (digital release October 30, 2020) by Ghostlight Records.
- Studio source runs about 3:15, with Perfect voice-doubling the roles over a tight rhythm section.
- Key and tempo listings commonly mark it around C major at ~118 bpm; a bright shuffle feel keeps the patter buoyant.
- Perfect has described the piece as “a top hat and cane swing song,” written to spotlight the duo’s chaotic chemistry.
Creation History
Before the show locked its final structure, the writing process toyed with how friendly - or feral - the Beetlejuice/Lydia partnership should sound. This duet lands on a gleeful middle: punchline-heavy, vaudeville-slick, and a bit wrong on purpose. It was later trimmed as the plot tightened, then rescued for the 24-track demos drop - a Halloween surprise album collecting cut songs and pitch demos across 2014-2019. Press notes and streaming listings tied the release to Ghostlight’s digital rollout, while a label upload and Perfect’s own channels made the track easy to hear in full.
Song Meaning and Annotations
Plot
There is no plot advancement in the strict sense; this sits like a character sketch. Beetlejuice and Lydia trade over-the-line disses - “you look like a clown that’s found crystal meth!” - then concede the obvious: “you can only work with what you get.” It frames them as combustible partners who make sense together, even when they absolutely shouldn’t.
Song Meaning
Under the zingers sits a thesis about compromise and complicity. Lydia is furious, Beetlejuice is shameless, and both are lonely. The duet says the quiet part: sometimes your teammate is a mess, and sometimes you are too. The swing pocket keeps it light so the subtext can sneak in - they are choosing each other, for better and worse.
Annotations
“Yes.”
A quick aside that fan annotators linked to a later gag in the show where Beetlejuice brags about a sexually transmitted infection. The demos lyric acts like a seed for that kind of boundary-pushing joke - a reminder that the character thrives on saying the unsayable.
Style, production, and references
The arrangement plays like a compact big-band nod: brushed kit into snappier backbeat, walking bass hints, guitar stabs, and crisp brass pads. Lyrically, it walks a line - quickfire pop-culture references (Siegfried and Roy, King Kong and Manhattan) and taboo-button jokes that underline why this lived best as a development sketch rather than a story scene. According to Playbill and BroadwayWorld’s rollouts, the demos album exists to showcase exactly these “what if” moments that were cut for pacing or tone once the show matured.
Key Facts
- Artist: Eddie Perfect
- Featured: Duet as Beetlejuice and Lydia (both voiced by Perfect)
- Composer: Eddie Perfect
- Producer: Eddie Perfect (demos compilation)
- Release Date: October 30, 2020
- Genre: Musical theatre - swing-pop
- Instruments: Vocal, rhythm section, guitars, keys, brass/woodwind pads
- Label: Ghostlight Records (Sh-K-Boom Records)
- Mood: Tart, playful, conspiratorial
- Length: 3:15
- Track #: 12 on the demos compilation
- Language: English
- Album: Beetlejuice: The Demos The Demos The Demos
- Music style: Up-tempo swing duet with patter
- Poetic meter: Conversational rhyme, rapid couplets
Canonical Entities & Relations
| Eddie Perfect - wrote and performed - You Can Only Work with What You Get |
| Ghostlight Records - released - Beetlejuice: The Demos The Demos The Demos (digital) |
| Beetlejuice and Lydia (characters) - duet in - the 2015 cut song demo |
| Album press (Playbill, TheaterMania, BroadwayWorld) - announced - release timing and context |
Questions and Answers
- Was this number ever performed on Broadway?
- No - it was cut in development. The official release is the demo recording on the 2020 compilation.
- Why was it cut?
- Tone and pacing. The piece is hilarious but pauses the narrative. Later drafts kept their dynamic but moved that energy into scenes that push the plot.
- Who sings on the released version?
- Eddie Perfect sings both parts on the demo album - a writer-performer showcase.
- How fast is it?
- Aggregator listings pin it near 118 bpm in C major, with a swing feel that makes the patter sit forward.
- Where does it sit on the compilation?
- Track 12, between other 2015 cuts and later drafts.
- Is there official streaming?
- Yes - Apple Music, Spotify, and an official “Provided to YouTube” upload via Ghostlight’s digital distribution.
- What does the lyric style tell us about the characters?
- They weaponize wit. The insults are a stress test; the chorus is a handshake. It’s banter as boundary setting.
- Did any of its ideas survive into the final show?
- The cheeky, punchline-forward banter did. You can hear kinship in later scenes where their uneasy alliance hardens.
How to Sing You Can Only Work with What You Get
Snapshot: Approx. 118 bpm, common time with swing; key center C major on popular analyses. Duet requires comic timing, crisp diction, and on-a-dime dynamic shifts.
- Tempo and pocket: Count straight 4 with a laid-back swing. Lock consonants to the drum backbeats so the jokes land clean.
- Diction: Over-articulate the punchlines, then relax the vowels on “we’re a great pair” and the title hook to show the thaw.
- Breath plan: Map breaths before dense insult lists. Quick sips between internal rhymes keep momentum without gasping.
- Flow and rhythm: Keep verses a hair on top of the beat; lean back on the chorus to signal alliance.
- Accents: Mark references (King Kong, Manhattan, etc.) with tiny lifts - don’t shout the joke, frame it.
- Ensemble balance: If two singers perform it, trade volume leadership: Beetlejuice slightly louder in verses, Lydia forward on the hook.
- Mic craft: Pop filter your plosives; step off the capsule on shouted tags like “C’mon girl!”
- Pitfalls: Rushing the patter, flattening swing into straight 8s, and over-selling edgy lines. Precision beats volume here.
Additional Info
“You Can Only Work with What You Get” is a tidy case study in why demo anthologies matter. The final show found other paths, but this sketch preserves an alternate vibe - breezy, jazzy, a little vaudeville. As stated in TheaterMania’s release piece, the collection let fans hear how the voice of the show evolved. American Songwriter’s interview drilled down on this very duet, with Perfect calling it a swing number built to capture the characters’ caper-ready chemistry. Playbill and BroadwayWorld anchored the release date and label details; Apple Music and Spotify carry the track, and Ghostlight’s “Provided to YouTube” upload makes it one click away. It’s the good kind of paper trail.
Sources: Ghostlight Records; Playbill; BroadwayWorld; TheaterMania; Apple Music; Spotify; American Songwriter; Eddie Perfect - SoundCloud; YouTube official audio.