Poor, Poor Joseph Lyrics – Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Song Overview

“Poor, Poor Joseph” sits mid-Act I of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, capturing the moment Jacob’s sons betray their dream-telling sibling. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s jaunty pop-calypso locks Biblical cruelty inside a children’s-choir refrain—one of the score’s signature contrasts.

Personal Review

Congas and muted guitar set a breezy 118 bpm groove; Laurie Beechman’s Narrator glides on close-mic sincerity while the brothers bark punchy triplets—“We need cash”. The children’s chorus enters in bright unison, morphing tragedy into playground chant. One-sentence snapshot? A moral crime wrapped in bubble-gum pop, like Judas dancing in flip-flops.

Song Meaning and Context

Biblical beats. Genesis 37:18-28 tells how the brothers first plot murder, then sell Joseph to Ishmaelite traders for twenty pieces of silver. Tim Rice condenses the verses, adds gallows humour (the “hairy crew”) and gives Joseph a fourth-wall shrug: “I don’t speak Egyptian very well.”

Narrator’s judgement. The refrain scolds—“how low can you stoop?”—but the steel-drum lilt undercuts outrage, reinforcing the show’s theme: terrible history retold as Technicolor parable.

Cinematic pacing. The goats-blood coat montage is sung over rising key modulations, echoing film quick-cuts; Lloyd Webber uses three consecutive modulations to raise stakes without darkening tonality.

“In a trice the dirty deal was done.”

Rice’s Victorian adverb “trice” (instant) highlights how casually betrayal happens.

Section Highlights

Opening Couplets

D-minor skank rhythm, bass walks against narrator’s straight eighths.

Brothers’ Verse

Trombone slides on “hairy bunch of Ishmaelites”, comic villain motif.

Children’s Refrain

Key shift to F major; glockenspiel doubles melody—innocence over injustice.

Song Credits

• Narrator Vocal: Laurie Beechman
• Joseph Vocal: Bill Hutton
• Composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Lyricist: Tim Rice
• Broadway Album Producer: MCA Classics (1982)
• Genre: Pop-Calypso / Showtune
• Length: 3 min 05 s
• © 1968 Really Useful Group Ltd.

Songs on Betrayal for Silver

“Poor, Poor Pharaoh” – same score: Musical mirror—power flips, empathy shifts.

“Gethsemane” – Jesus Christ Superstar (1971): Webber/Rice revisit price-of-betrayal motif via Judas’s thirty silver coins.

“Money, Money, Money” – Cabaret (1966): Greed’s lure set to upbeat cabaret; cousins in dark irony.

Questions & Answers

Original release date?

First studio concept EP 1969; Broadway cast cut recorded 1982.

Key signature?

Verses in D minor; refrain modulates twice ending in F major.

Vocal ranges?

Narrator A3–D5; Brothers ensemble G2–C4; Joseph spoken tenor ad-lib.

Why calypso style?

Lloyd Webber chose contrasting pop genres for each scene to keep the sung-through score playful and varied.

Awards & Legacy

• 1982 cast album nominated — Best Cast Show Album Grammy
• 2024 TikTok stitch trend — #PoorPoorJoseph 12 M views (kids reenacting betrayal)

How to Sing?

Narrator: Story-song clarity; clip consonants on “Joseph.”
Brothers: Staccato attack, mischievous vibrato.
Children’s chorus: Bright head voice; smile while singing.
Tempo: 118 bpm—keep light, not rushed.

Fan & Media Reactions

“Nothing like cheery steel drums while siblings sell you for spare change.”

“Kids sing along, parents realise it’s human trafficking.”

“Rice turns Genesis into tabloid headline—irresistible.”