Manhattan Sonata - Music

So many of you have asked me to upload this. I figured it can't hurt. Just don't judge my writing on this. It's not at all that it's bad, it's just EXTREMELY campy; however, it's supposed to be. A little backstory:

Firstly, it should be noted that the piece is a satire on one of Obama's many campaign slogan's, "Yes We Can." For the final round of auditions, we were given the topic of "coming together to achieve a goal." I was paired up with a lyricist whom I had never worked with before, and he came up with this idea. If you don't already know, Obama went to Columbia, so we thought it would be entertaining to poke fun at his time spent here by making him an over-exaggerated version of the man we see on the campaign trail. We were also told that, for the callback, we needed to incorporate a monster and some form of pasta (thus the macaroni reference). This gave Ben (the lyricist) the idea of the "apathy monster," a ferocious demon who steals caring of any form from whomever he encounters; his target: Columbia. Of course, being the inspiring leader he is, Obama comes in and saves the day by rallying the students care again and defeat the monster.

Now, before you judge this plot and these lyrics as compeltely rediculous, remember that it is SUPPOSED to be completely rediculous. For those who aren't familiar, the Varsity Show is a student-written musical put on every year at Columbia, satirizing college and Columbian life. This is the reason for the extreme campiness (especially in the short, but WAY over the top dance break, where they all dance on the tables in the dining halls). There was a 2 minute long introduction set-up sort of scene to this; however, I've chosen not to include that.

Also, in my own defense as a composer, Finale (the program I use to write music on) shows it's weaknesses in this. It sounds entirely computer generated, as the ending is actually orchestrated, and there are choral parts filled by fake choir ahhs. Just try your best to imagine this being played by real musicians and sung by real singers. Usually Finale sounds decent, but not so much on this...

At any rate, I unfortunately did not get the position of composer for the show; however, they were complimentary of my work. In a way, I'm somewhat glad, as this will give me a year to establish myself as a serious composer here before I go venturing off into the silliness of the Varsity Show. Right now, a friend and I are experimenting with Alice in Wonderland as a show, set in a very non-traditional way. We'll see how this progresses, and hopefully I'll have some music from that up soon. In addition to this, I'm hoping to have enough songs purely of my own written by the end of the school year to put on a demo CD so that I can start putting my name out there (scary, no?).

But I have rambled enough. Enjoy the over-the-top-ness that is "Yes We Can." Lyrics are written below the video.



"Yes We Can"
Music by Berkley Todd
Lyrics by Benjamin Weiner

OBAMA
Listen guys, we can make it right
We've come so far and we can win the fight
There's spirit left in you to take him on
A little caring left in you?

ENSEMBLE (spoken)
I think it's gone...

OBAMA
Listen guys, a part of you still cares
So rise up now an kick him down the stairs
Feel the fire, get up from your chairs
We'll be the last that evil monster scares

Yes we can!
Bring the hope back to this college land
Stand with me!
Our college needs us to set the caring free

(spoken) What do you say?

ENSEMBLE
We will rise!
End the boredom, apathy, and sighs
Let's take a stand!
Take my slightly sweaty hand

The halls will ring with people singing
Yes we fucking can!

LEAD ENSEMBLE MEMBER (ensemble ooh's in background)
In libraries and dining halls
We'll sing out songs and climb the walls
We'll go wild throw books and pepperoni

ALL (variously)
And jump on the tables...
And dance on macaroni!

(dance break)

ALL
Yes we can!
Bring the hope back to this college land
Let's take a stand!
Take my slightly sweaty hand

(variously)

Halls will ring as people sing
Yes we can!