Stephen Sondheim Agony
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Did I abuse her
Or show her disdain?
Why does she run from me?
If I should lose her,
How shall I regain
The heart she has won from me?
Agony!
Beyond power of speech,
When the one thing you want
Is the only thing out of your reach.
[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
High in her tower,
She sits by the hour,
Maintaining her hair.
Blithe and becoming and frequently humming
A lighthearted air:
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-
Agony!
Far more painful than yours,
When you know she would go with you
If there only were doors.
[BOTH]
Agony!
Oh, the torture they teach!
[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
What's as intriguing-
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Or half so fatiguing-
[BOTH]
As what's out of reach?
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Am I not sensitive,
Clever,
Well-mannered,
Considerate,
Passionate,
Charming,
As kind as I'm handsome
And heir to a throne?
[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
You are everything maidens could wish for!
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Then why no-?
[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
Do I know?
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
The girl must be mad!
[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
You know nothing of madness
Till you're climbing her hair
And you see her up there
AS you're nearing her,
All the while hearing her:
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-
[BOTH]
Agony!
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Misery!
[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
Woe!
[BOTH]
Though it's different for each.
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Always ten steps behind-
[RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE]
Always ten feet below-
[BOTH]
And she's just out of reach.
Agony
That can cut like a knife!
I must have her to wife.
