Kansas City Lyrics – Oklahoma

Song Overview

Personal Review

“Kansas City” bursts onto the ear like a postcard from 1906—bright, cheeky, and peppered with Midwestern marvel—where Will Parker can’t help but marvel at radiators, skyscrapers and burlesque shows in just over two minutes of rollicking fun. By tapping into Rodgers’s lilting waltz-meets-hoedown melody and Hammerstein’s homespun dialect, James Davis and Mary Testa deliver these lyrics with playful gusto, evoking both small-town wonder and Broadway bravado. This track, clocking in at 2:03, feels like a wink across the prairie—an affectionate satire of turn-of-the-century progress.

Song Meaning and Annotations

In this 2019 revival, “Kansas City” serves as a comic interlude, spotlighting Will Parker’s wide-eyed amazement at modern conveniences—radiators, telephone lines, skyscrapers and a racy burlesque. Rodgers’s music here is stripped to a seven-piece bluegrass ensemble—bass, cello, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar and accordion—that lends the scene an intimate, vernacular pulse rather than big-band pomp.

Hammerstein’s lyrics are suffused with humor and regional twang, deploying anapestic tetrameter to mimic hoofbeats and heartbeats. The opening couplet

I got to Kansas City on a Frid’y
By Sattiday I learned a thing or two

sets up both the time-warp charm and linguistic playfulness—“Sattiday,” “modren,” “womern”—as if Will Parker is teaching the audience to slow-dance with progress itself.

As the song unfolds, he recounts whispering into a “Bell Telephone” only to hear “a strange womern…start in to talk,” then marvels at skyscrapers “seven stories high” and house-comforts like indoor cisterns and burlesque shows for fifty cents. It’s a running gag of early-machine-age astonishment, a satire of wonder that underscores both the optimism and absurdity of technological marvels.

The orchestration by Daniel Kluger channels a rustic string band—removing the original 28-piece orchestral throb in favor of close-knit banjo and fiddle interplay. This choice amplifies the humor: every modern invention is delivered with a wink and a pluck, turning progress into a folk spectacle.

Ultimately, “Kansas City” advances the plot by reminding the audience that this territory is on the brink of transformation—its characters are not only tilling soil but tilting their hats at steam engines and streetlamps. It’s a brief, vivid vignette of frontier optimism, wrapped in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s seamless fusion of musical theatre and Americana.

Verse Highlights

Verse 1

Will’s clipped, rhythmic delivery—“I got to Kansas City on a Frid’y”—captures his eager step; notice the ellipsis between “I learned a thing or two” and the spoken aside “To you?” which breaks the fourth wall with comic timing.

Chorus

Everythin’s up to date in Kansas City
They’ve gone about as fur as they can go

Song Credits

• Featured: James Davis & Mary Testa
• Producer: Daniel Kluger & Dean Sharenow
• Music: Richard Rodgers
• Lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II
• Release Date: November 22, 2019
• Genre: Pop; Soundtrack; Broadway; Musicals
• Instruments: Seven-piece ensemble—bass, cello, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar, accordion
• Label: Decca Broadway
• Length: 02:03
• Track #: 4
• Language: English
• Album: Oklahoma! (2019 Broadway Cast Recording)
• Music Style: Show tune with bluegrass twang
• Poetic meter: Primarily anapestic tetrameter with occasional iambic substitutions

Songs Exploring Themes of Modernity

While “Kansas City” revels in the marvels of turn-of-the-century innovation, “New York, New York” (On the Town) shares a kindred spirit—both celebrate emerging urban landscapes. While Will Parker marvels at indoor plumbing and electric lights, sailors Chip, Ozzie and Gabey toast skyscrapers and neon in Frank Loesser’s ode to the city that never sleeps. Both songs turn geography into character, using place-based wonder to propel narrative and reveal personality.

“Ya Got Trouble” (The Music Man) offers a satirical counterpoint: instead of marvel, Harold Hill warns of moral decay via a pool hall. Meanwhile, Kansas City’s curiosity is communal joy, Hill’s is communal fear—twin sides of societal change.

“All That Jazz” (Chicago) dives into the seductive allure of modern entertainment, much like Parker’s burlesque interlude. In contrast to Kansas City’s homespun humor, Chicago’s razzmatazz fuses torch song glamour with cynical edge—two snapshots of early-20th-century Americana, one intimate and rural, the other glitzy and urban.

Questions and Answers

When was “Kansas City” released?

It was released on November 22, 2019 as track 4 on the 2019 Broadway Cast Recording of Oklahoma!

Who wrote “Kansas City”?

Music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

How long is the track?

The song runs 2 minutes and 3 seconds

Where was it recorded?

Recording took place at John Kilgore Sound & Recording; Reservoir Studios; and Steel Cut Audio in New York City

What is the song’s role in the show?

It provides comic relief and thematic contrast by showcasing turn-of-the-century marvels before the plot returns to farm-stead drama.

Awards and Chart Positions

The cast album debuted at No. 2 on the Cast Album Billboard charts, second only to Hamilton and ahead of blockbusters like Dear Evan Hansen and Wicked.

It garnered a Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album at the 2020 ceremony.

Oklahoma!’s 2019 revival also won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

How to Sing?

Aim for a bright-baritone or mid-low tenor register with clear diction to sell the humor—think Will Parker’s wide-eyed grin. Breathe before each line to accommodate the brisk 2/4 pulse, and lean into a slight Midwestern twang on words like “sattiday” and “modren.” For the burlesque punchline (“she proved that everything she had was absolutely real”), inject playful emphasis and allow the band’s plucked strings to lead your phrasing.

Fan and Media Reactions

“James Davis comes purty close with his sung and danced ‘Everything’s Up to Date in Kansas City.’” Nystagereview

“Testa has fun with Aunt Eller's orneriness and adds to the evening’s singing (in a traditionally non-singing role).” Nystagereview

“How is it that the coolest new show on Broadway in 2019 is a 1943 musical usually regarded as a very square slice of American pie? The answer arrives before the first song is over…” Ben Brantley, The New York Times

“This cast album features Tony Award-nominated orchestrations by Daniel Kluger for a band of seven…with the vernacular throb and straightforwardness of country and western ballads.” Rodgers & Hammerstein Official Site

“The album debuted at #2 on the Cast Album Billboard charts, just behind Hamilton…” Rodgers & Hammerstein Official Site