My biggest problem with Rent

[yendi]

For all its flaws (swiping dialogue from Car Wash, killing puppies, etc) Rent --the Broadway musical, not the version that Chris Columbus shat on and called a movie -- remains a show that can move me, and one I can watch repeatedly.

But one thing constantly bugs me:

"One Song Glory" is a great song, both on its own and in the context of the play. It's a beautiful piece about the need to write something beautiful and meaningful, and it's also a damned fine rock piece.

"Your Eyes," the "one great song" Roger finally writes for Mimi, is ass on burnt toast. It's the worst song in the musical and a completely unmemorable piece of pap. No way could it bring someone back from the dead, and no way does an angel send anyone back to earth to listen to it.

Fortunately, all indications are that Mimi loves Roger for who he is as a person, not as a songwriter, so that's probably okay.

Comments

[nevacaruso.livejournal.com]

Heh. True. I adore "One Song Glory," while I can't even remember how "Your Eyes" goes.

[childofchaos.livejournal.com]

I agree lol On all accounts.

[sdaisyk.livejournal.com]

I agree. I always thought One Song Glory was more of a "hit song" then Your Eyes.

[eustaciavye.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU!!!! Your Eyes is awful. Its everything I hate about pop music distilled into one pile of dreck.

[matt_doyle]

AMEN. That bugs me every time. If I were a pr5oducer or a director, I'd scrap the number and have a new one written in its place.

[slitterst.livejournal.com]

Many things that normally would have been fixed/changed on a musical were left alone after Jonathon Larson died. It's the hidden secret in the theatre industry that so many folks think that show would have been made much better with proper workshoping.

[yendi]

*nod* I think about what other shows have gone through (Chess, for example), and I wish Rent could have had the same opportunities.

[greatcalvero.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. "Your Eyes" is awful. And not only does the terrible song bring her back, it brings her back instantly. It should have killed everyone else in the room.

I really like "One Song Glory" but the version of "Live in my House" that Tom Collins sings after Angel dies is the song that always gets me.

[slipjig.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Amen, comrade.

[stronae.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I never liked that song either. :/

[dragonheart97.livejournal.com]

Yes. But... if something it heartfelt enough, has its feeling behind it and portrays that to the one person it's meant for, then its point is made. It's not about how good the song is. It's about the fact that Roger, who had been emotionally shut off until he met her, found his will to live again because of her. And that he was able to come up with anything after wanting to die himself makes it far more meaningful than any million-selling hit.

Sorry, it just bugs me when people miss the greater picture over this song.

[yendi]

I'm well aware of the greater picture, due to the fascinating combo of having taken fifth-grade English and having a triple-digit IQ. Roger could have sung "The Love Theme From Pooty Tang," and the point of the scene would have been the same.

It does not, however, change in the slightest that the song itself just sucks. Just as I want dialogue to be good (even if any dialogue would work in a scene), I want the songs not to suck in a musical.

[chris-walsh.livejournal.com]

As a random aside...

...I kind of wonder what Rent would be like sung by the cast of Firefly.

(That one guy in the original cast keeps reminding me of Alan Tudyk/Wash, is why.)

[yendi]

Well, Joss would probably have done a better job with the movie than Columbus did.

[mydochas.livejournal.com]

Agree, 1000%. It's an incredibly crappy song. And yet the rest of his songs, especially "One Song Glory" are so awesome that I can kind of forgive it.

[jmspencer.livejournal.com]

I've always thought of "Your Eyes" as the "placeholder til I can write a better song oh fuck I'm dead" piece in the show