Agony Lyrics – Into the Woods

Song Overview

Personal Review

“Agony” lands roughly one-third into Into the Woods, and every time I cue up Track 7 on the 1988 cast album, I still picture Robert Westenberg and Chuck Wagner swaggering around the stage like peacocks in crushed-velvet doublets. Sondheim gifts the princes a barcarolle that should glide like a gondola, yet they yank the rhythm into bombast—perfect for men who equate longing with volume.

When Agony resurfaced in the 2014 film, Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen literally tore their shirts beside a Hollywood waterfall, lamp-shading the joke but also proving Sondheim’s satire is bulletproof. Two years ago Gavin Creel and Joshua Henry took the baton, tightening the piece to a taut 2:26 and reminding Broadway that swagger can still swing.

Song Meaning and Annotations

The princes’ duet is musical one-upmanship. Each brother insists his suffering eclipses the other’s: one has a maiden who flees at midnight, the other a girl sealed in a tower. The punchline? Their misery is self-manufactured; they romanticise obstacles because ease would expose their shallowness. Sondheim underscores this by letting the melody rise a step higher with every fresh complaint—literally elevating the stakes, figuratively spinning wheels.

Listen closely to the orchestration: Jonathan Tunick lines the accompaniment with harp arpeggios that mimic lapping water, a wink to the Venetian barcarolle form. Meanwhile the princes crash through those waves on trip-hammered accents—rowboats captained by narcissists.

The lyric is a masterclass in comic overstatement. Notice how the internal rhymes (“sensitive, clever, well-mannered, considerate”) pile up like résumé padding. By the time Rapunzel’s Prince howls about climbing her hair, we grasp the absurdity: genuine love seldom needs a catalogue of virtues, nor a spotlight.

Verse Highlights

Opening Lament

Cinderella’s Prince frames his chase as existential: “Did I abuse her / Or show her disdain?” Self-pity disguised as introspection.

Mid-Song Brag

Both princes trade boasts—“Am I not sensitive, clever…”—each adjective a brick in their emotional fortress.

Final Couplet

“Agony that can cut like a knife— I must have her to wife.” The rhyme snaps shut like a trap, exposing the transactional heart beneath the poetry.

Annotations

In Agony Lyrics the two royal brothers of Into the Woods meet in the forest and, like competitive swans, preen over who suffers the greater romantic torment: Cinderella’s escapist suitor or Rapunzel’s tower-bound wooer. Sondheim turns their complaints into a gleeful send-up of story-book masculinity, lacing florid language with daft bravado. Below, the original annotation points are reshaped into prose that dances with the same wink-and-swagger as the song.

Overview

Agony— / Beyond power of speech, / When the one thing you want / Is the only thing out of your reach.

The princes trade verses like dueling opera stars, each certain his longing is the more exquisite. Cinderella’s Prince bemoans that “she keeps running away,” while Rapunzel’s Prince counters that his beloved would gladly flee if there only were doors in her tower. The gag, of course, is that both “agonies” are self-manufactured: pursuit thrills them more than possession. Sondheim lets us overhear two entitled swains discovering that desire grows only when the goal retreats.

Musical Techniques

The number is built on mock-heroic fanfares: leaping sixths, galloping accompaniment, and sudden melismatic flourishes—“Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah!.” That florid run becomes Rapunzel’s literal siren call and the Prince’s comic PTSD. Hyperbole fuels every line: “Far more painful than yours,” “What’s as intriguing—or half so fatiguing—.” Even the phrase “beyond power of speech” is undercut by the fact they sing an entire show-stopper about it.

Character Dynamics

• Mutual Ego Massage. Despite their contest, each brother props up the other’s vanity. Rapunzel’s Prince insists his sibling is “everything maidens could wish for,” reinforcing the fairy-tale résumé: sensitive, clever, considerate, heir to a throne.
• Narcissistic Blind Spots. The Cinderella Prince’s puzzled aside—“The girl must be mad”—reveals zero awareness that she might dislike his pursuit. Meanwhile, Rapunzel’s Prince brags about climbing her hair yet never questions the ethics of yanking on it.
• Foreshadowed Restlessness. Their mantra “I must have her to wife” returns in Act II as a resigned “Back to my wife,” implying that once the chase ends, so does the thrill.

Metaphor & Wordplay

Many lines operate on dual planes:

• “Ten steps behind” is both literal (Cinderella dashes off) and figurative (he can’t secure her heart).
• “Ten feet below” conjures the tower’s height and the Prince’s social inferiority in that moment of yearning.
• “Out of reach” sums up the entire ethos: what matters is the chase, not the catch.

Comic Hyperbole

What’s as intriguing / Or half so fatiguing / As what’s out of reach?

The line skewers their melodramatic self-pity. These pampered heirs claim fatigue from romantic effort while ignoring the literal labor of peasants—or even of Rapunzel herself, endlessly maintaining her cascading braid. Their “agony” is a luxury problem, making the aria both hilarious and quietly biting.

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Agony Into the Woods, Sondheim Lyrics, Cinderella and Rapunzel Princes song

Song Credits

• Featured Vocalists: Robert Westenberg (Cinderella’s Prince), Chuck Wagner (Rapunzel’s Prince)
• Producer: Jay David Saks
• Composer/Lyricist: Stephen Sondheim
• Conductor/Musical Director: Paul Gemignani
• Release Date: January 19, 1988
• Genre: Show Tune / Musical Theatre
• Instruments: 26-piece pit orchestra—woodwinds, horns, harp, strings, percussion
• Label: RCA Victor
• Mood: Melodramatic, Tongue-in-cheek
• Length: 2 : 50 (OBCR)
• Track #: 7
• Poetic Meter: Rolling 6/8 barcarolle
• Language: English
• Album: Into the Woods — Original Broadway Cast Recording
• Copyright ©: 1988 Reynwood Music / RCA Records

Songs Exploring Similar Themes of Unattainable Desire

“Johanna” — Sweeney Todd. Anthony’s serenade drips with earnest longing, yet the object of affection is locked behind shutters and guardians. Where “Agony” mocks privilege, “Johanna” mourns innocence, both illustrating love filtered through distance.

“Stars” — Les Misérables. Javert’s ode to celestial order channels obsession rather than romance. Like the princes, he cannot accept what lies beyond reach, but his agony spirals into fanaticism instead of farce.

“On the Steps of the Palace” — Into the Woods. Cinderella freezes time to weigh options; ironically, her hesitation becomes the very obstacle the princes crave. Sondheim flips the lens, granting the pursued a voice and exposing pursuit itself as a kind of self-inflicted torment.

Questions and Answers

Why did Sondheim choose a barcarolle?

The lilting 6/8 suggests romantic calm, which the princes immediately over-inflate—comedy through contrast.

Is “Agony” purely comedic?

Yes and no; laughter coats a critique of entitlement, revealing how privilege rebrands frustration as tragedy.

How does the 2014 film version differ?

Pine and Magnussen’s shirt-ripping visual gag literalises the bravado hinted at on stage.

Was the reprise always included?

Stage revivals retain it, but Disney cut the reprise for pacing, prompting fan laments.

What vocal range dominates?

B2–E4 for both princes; the trick lies in diction, not high notes.

Awards and Chart Positions

• 1989 Grammy — Best Musical Show Album (Original Cast)
• 2023 Grammy — Best Musical Theater Album (2022 revival; includes “Agony”)
• #3 Billboard Top Album Sales (Jan 2015 film soundtrack, week ending 17 Jan)

How to Sing?

Breath Management. Each “Agony—!” rides a long crescendo. Inhale on the eighth-note rest before the downbeat, release through the vowel “a-GO-ny,” then reset quickly for the next boast.

Articulation. Sondheim’s tongue-twisters (“sensitive, clever, well-mannered”) demand forward placement; think patter, not bel canto.

Characterisation. Over-sell the melodrama—arched eyebrows, hand to the heart—but let the final “I must have her to wife” soften, hinting at genuine ache beneath the pomp.

Fan and Media Reactions

“Joshua Henry’s voice literally sounds like clouds.” — YouTube commenter on official 2022 video