Invocation/Forget War Lyrics > Sondheim on Sondheim
Invocation/Forget War Lyrics
[PROLOGUS]
Gods of the theater, smile on us
You who sit up there stern in judgment, smile?on?us
You who look?down on actors
(spoken)
And who doesn't?
(sung)
Bless our?little company and smile on us
Think not about deep concerns
Think?not?about?dark dilemmas
[PROLOGUS & COMPANY]
We offer?you song and?dance
We offer you rites and revels
We offer you jokes and insults
We offer you grace and beauty
Bless our play and smile
[COMPANY]
Forget war, forget woe
Forget matters weighty and great
Allow matters weighty to wait
For a while
For this moment, this brief time
Frown on reason, smile on rhyme
Forget pomp, forget show
Forget laurels, helmets and crowns
Receive lovers, liars and clowns
For a while
For this moment, this brief span
Celebrate the state of man
[STEPHEN SONDHEIM, spoken]
That was the first part of a song called "Forget War", which was the original opening of Forum when Jerry Robbins was going to direct it. But Jerry decided not to, and he was replaced with George Abbott, and George Abbott didn't like the song. He couldn't hum it, he said. So out it went.
Last Update: October, 24th 2023
Sondheim on Sondheim Lyrics
- My Name Is Stephen Joshua Sondheim
- Invocation/Forget War
- Love Is in the Air
- Comedy Tonight
- Take Me to the World
- Ten Years After I Was Born...
- Talent/When I Get Famous
- Something’s Coming
- My First Professional Show...
- So Many People
- For Many Years, Hal Prince...
- You Could Drive a Person Crazy
- The Wedding Is Off
- Now You Know
- Hal Prince and I Did Six Shows Together...
- Franklin Shepard, Inc.
- Good Thing Going
- Sometimes a Song Changes Its Shape...
- Waiting for the Girls Upstairs
- The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened
- My First Serious Relationship...
- Happiness
- Fosca’s Entrance (I Read)
- Is This What You Call Love?
- Loving You
- God
- If You Ask Me to Write a Love Song...
- Losing My Mind / Not a Day Goes By
- A Lot of People Think...
- Opening Doors
- We Had Three Endings to Company...
- Multitudes of Amys
- Happily Ever After
- Being Alive
- Something Just Broke
- The Gun Song
- Jule Styne and I Realized with Gypsy...
- Smile, Girls
- I Suppose If There Is One That’s Closest...
- Finishing the Hat
- Beautiful
- I Had a Lot of Trouble with My Mother...
- Children Will Listen
- To Me, Teaching Is a Sacred Profession...
- Send in the Clowns
- I’ve Often Been Asked Why I Don’t Write...
- Company/Old Friends
- Anyone Can Whistle