Where's the Mate for Me? lyrics - Show Boat

Where's the Mate for Me? lyrics

Where's the Mate for Me?


RAVENAL
Who cares if my boat goes upstream,
Or if the gale bids me go with the river's flow?
I drift along with my fancy
Sometimes I thank my lucky stars my heart is free -
And other times I wonder where's that mate for me?
(MAGNOLIA begins again on the piano, off stage. He looks up.
She hesitates in her fingering at a certain point. He pantomimes
the serious anxiety a listener always feels, hoping she'll hit
the right note. He sits on a cotton bale and goes on with his
musing, idly tapping his cane on the ground)

RAVENAL
The driftwood floating over the sea
Someday finds a sheltering lee,
So, somewhere there surely must be
A harbour meant for me -
(MAGNOLIA enters on the upper deck of the show boat)
I drift along with my fancy -
Sometimes I thank my lucky stars my heart is free,
And other times I wonder where's the mate -
(He turns and sees MAGNOLIA. What a picture! A very young
face, and a fluffy dress all pink with flowers and everything -
and she is becomingly shy - yet bold enough to return his gaze -
and to speak first)

MAGNOLIA
Hello...

RAVENAL
(taken by surprise - an unusual thing)
Er - how do you do?

MAGNOLIA
Do you live here?

RAVENAL
No - I'm just a way-farer along the river

MAGNOLIA
So am I - which way are you going?

RAVENAL
Either way - where are you going?

MAGNOLIA
Anywhere Papa gives shows.

RAVENAL
(a trifle jarred)
Oh - are you a player?

MAGNOLIA
You mean like on the pianner? Yes - I play a little.

RAVENAL
Oh - was that you I heard just now -?

MAGNOLIA
Yes - that was me!

RAVENAL
(under his breath)
What a pity!

MAGNOLIA
What did you say, Mister?

RAVENAL
Er - when I asked you if you were a player - I meant -
are you an actress?

MAGNOLIA
Oh - no - but I'd give anything if I could be.

RAVENAL
Why?

MAGNOLIA
Because you can make believe so many wonderful
things that never happen in real life.

RAVENAL
But wonderful things do happen - this very day
I was standing here on the levee - feeling blue -
and suddenly I looked up, and -

MAGNOLIA
I must go now -

RAVENAL
Why?

MAGNOLIA
Well, you see, you're talking to me - and I don't know you -

RAVENAL
Does that really matter so much?


MAGNOLIA
N-no - not to me - but they say it isn't nice.

RAVENAL
If you like to make believe things, why can't
we make believe we know each other?

MAGNOLIA
Oh, yes - and we haven't seen each other for seventy-five
years, and you're my long-lost nephew - there's a scene
like that in a play called "The Village Drunkard."

RAVENAL
No - seventy-five years is too long - besides, I don't
think I'd like the idea of being your nephew. Let us
imagine that we've just met -

MAGNOLIA
But we really have.

RAVENAL
Yes - but let's just suppose that we've fallen in love
at first sight.

Last Update: December, 16th 2013


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Musical: Show Boat. Song: Where's the Mate for Me?. Broadway musical soundtrack lyrics. Song lyrics from theatre show/film are property & copyright of their owners, provided for educational purposes