Waiting for the Girls Upstairs Lyrics > Sondheim on Sondheim

[YOUNG BUDDY]
Hey, up there!

[YOUNG BEN]
Way up there!

[YOUNG BUDDY & YOUNG BEN]
Whaddaya say, up there?

[BUDDY]
Hey, up there!

[BEN]
Way up there!

[BUDDY & BEN]
Whaddaya say, up there?

[BUDDY, spoken]
I see it all. It's like a movie in my head that plays and plays. It isn't just the bad things I remember. It's the whole damn show
(sung)
Waiting around for the girls upstairs
After the curtain came down—
Money in my pocket to spend
"Honey, could you maybe get a friend for my friend?"

[BEN]
Hearing the sound of the girls above
Dressing to go on the town—

[BUDDY]
Clicking heels on steel and cem?nt—

[BEN]
Picking up the giggles floating down through the v?nt—

[BEN & BUDDY]
Goddamnedest hours that I ever spent
Were waiting for the girls upstairs

[BUDDY]
Hey, up there!

[BEN]
Way up there!

[BUDDY]
Whaddaya say, up there?

[BEN]
That's where the keys hung and
That's where you picked up your mail...
[BUDDY]
I remember...
Me and Ben
Me and Ben
We'd come around at ten
Me and Ben
And hang around the wings
Watching things
With what-the-hell-was-his-name
You know, the old guy—?
Max! I remember!

Anyway
There we'd stay
Until the curtain fell
And when the curtain fell
Then all hell broke:

Girls on the run
And scenery flying
Doors slamming left and right—

[BEN]
Girls in their un-
Dies, blushing but trying
Not to duck out of sight—
[BEN, BUDDY]
Girls by the hun-
Dreds waving and crying
"See you tomorrow night!"

Girls looking frazzled and girls looking great
Girls in a frenzy to get to a date
Girls like a madhouse and two of them late...
And who had to wait?
And wait?
And wait
And wait

[PHYLLIS]
Waiting around for the boys downstairs
Stalling as long as we dare
Which dress from my wardrobe of two?
(One of them was borrowed and the other was blue)

[SALLY]
Holding our ground for the boys below
Fussing around with our hair—

[PHYLLIS]
Giggling, wriggling out of our tights

[SALLY]
Chattering and clattering down all of those flights—

[SALLY & PHYLLIS]
God, I'd forgotten there ever were nights
Of waiting for the boys downstairs

[BEN & BUDDY]
You up there!

[SALLY]
Down in a minute!

[BEN & BUDDY]
You two up there!

[PHYLLIS]
Just keep your shirts on!

[BEN & BUDDY]
Aren't you through up there?

[SALLY & PHYLLIS]
Heard you the first time!

[BEN & BUDDY]
Look, are you coming or
Aren't you coming 'cause
Look, if we're going
We
Got to get going 'cause
Look, they won't hold us
A table at ringside
All night

[SALLY & PHYLLIS]
Coming, we're coming
Will you hold your horses
We're coming, we're ready, be
There in a jiffy, we're
Coming, we're coming
All right!

[YOUNG SALLY]
Hi

[YOUNG BEN]
Girls...

[YOUNG PHYLLIS]
Ben...

[YOUNG BUDDY]
Sally...

[YOUNG SALLY]
Boy, we're beat

[YOUNG BUDDY]
You look neat

[YOUNG PHYLLIS]
We saw you in the wings

[YOUNG BEN]
How are things?

[YOUNG PHYLLIS]
Did someone pass you in?

[YOUNG BUDDY]
Slipped a fin
To what-the-hell-was-his-name
You know, the doorman

[YOUNG PHYLLIS]
Al?

[YOUNG BUDDY]
No

[YOUNG SALLY]
Big?

[YOUNG BUDDY]
Fat

[YOUNG PHYLLIS]
Young?

[YOUNG BUDDY]
Bald

[YOUNG SALLY]
Harry!

[YOUNG BUDDY]
Yeah

[YOUNG SALLY]
Okey doaks

[YOUNG BUDDY]
Come on, folks

[YOUNG PHYLLIS]
And where we're gonna go?

[YOUNG BEN]
A little joint I know

[YOUNG SALLY]
What?

[YOUNG BUDDY]
Great new show there

[YOUNG PHYLLIS]
Hey, I thought you said
Tonight's be Tony's—

[YOUNG BUDDY]
This joint is just as grand

[YOUNG SALLY]
We girls got dressed for
Dancing at Tony's—

[YOUNG BEN]
This joint is in demand

[YOUNG SALLY & YOUNG PHYLLIS]
Ta-ta, goodbye, you'll
Find us at Tony's—

[YOUNG BUDDY & YOUNG BEN]
Wait till you hear the band!

[YOUNG SALLY & YOUNG PHYLLIS]
You told us Tony's
That we'd go to Tony's
Then Ben mentioned Tony's—
Well, someone said Tony's

[YOUNG BUDDY & YOUNG BEN]
I told you Tony's?
I never said Tony's!

[ALL WOMEN]
There's dancing at Tony's—
All right, then, we'll go!

[ALL MEN]
When's Ben mentioned Tony's?
It's ritzy at Tony's—
All right, then, we'll go!

[BUDDY]
Waiting around for the girls upstairs
Weren't we chuckleheads then?

[BEN]
Very young and very old hat—
Everybody has to go through stages like that

[BUDDY, BEN, SALLY & PHYLLIS]
Waiting around for the girls upstairs—
Thank you, but never again
Life was fun, but oh, so intense
Everything was possible and nothing made sense

[ALL]
Back there when one of the major events
Was waiting for the girls
Waiting for the girls
Waiting for the girls upstairs
Last Update: October, 24th 2023