Prologue

Prologue Lyrics

Song Prologue
Artist Stephen Sondheim
Album Into the Woods (1987 Original Broadway Cast)
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[00:01.54] Once upon a time
[00:05.99] I wish...
[00:07.03] in a far-off kingdom
[00:08.64] More than anything...
[00:09.87] lived a fair maiden,
[00:10.74] More than life...
[00:11.41] a sad young lad
[00:12.28] More than jewels...
[00:13.03] I wish...
[00:13.51] and a childless baker
[00:15.56] More than life...
[00:16.43] I wish...
[00:16.99] with his wife.
[00:17.72] More than anything...
[00:18.59] More than the moon...
[00:19.59] I wish...
[00:20.15] The King is giving a Festival.
[00:22.00] More than life...
[00:23.24] I wish...
[00:23.67] I wish to go to the Festival.
[00:25.27] More than riches...
[00:26.07] and the ball...
[00:26.63] I wish my cow would
[00:27.93] give us some milk.
[00:28.23] More than anything...
[00:29.84] I wish we had a child.
[00:31.26] Please, pal-
[00:32.00] I want a child...
[00:33.29] Squeeze, pal...
[00:34.29] I wish to go to the Festival.
[00:35.76] I wish you'd give us some
[00:36.14] milk or even cheese...
[00:36.75] I wish...
[00:41.13] You wish to go to the Festival?
[00:42.74] The poor girl's mother had died,
[00:44.03] You, Cinderella, the Festival?
[00:45.51] You wish to go to the Festival?
[00:47.12] The Festival?!
[00:48.26] The King's Festival?
[00:49.81] And her father had taken for his new wife
[00:51.97] The Festival...
[00:53.26] a woman with two daughters of her own.
[00:55.17] Look at you nails!
[00:55.85] Look at your dress!
[00:56.77] People would laugh at you-
[00:57.58] Nevertheless,
[00:58.40] I still want to go to the Festival
[01:00.06] And dance before the Prince.
[01:06.63] All three were beautiful of face, but vile and black of heart.
[01:11.39] Jack, on the other hand, had no father, and his mother-
[01:14.59] I wish...
[01:16.03] Well, she was not quite beautiful-
[01:17.08] I wish my son were not a fool.
[01:20.54] I wish my house was not a mess.
[01:23.74] I wish the cow was full of milk.
[01:26.21] I wish the walls were full of gold-
[01:27.63] I wish a lot of things...
[01:31.40] Why, come in, little girl.
[01:34.05] I wish...
[01:35.60] It's not for me,
[01:36.27] It's for my Granny in the woods.
[01:38.99] A loaf of bread, please-
[01:40.78] To bring my poor old hungry
[01:42.89] Granny in the woods...
[01:44.87] Just a loaf of bread, please...
[01:47.58] Cinderella's Stepmother had a surprise for her.
[01:52.03] I have emptied a pot of lentils into the ashes for you.
[01:56.04] If you have picked them out again in two hours' time,
[01:59.49] you shall go to the ball with us.
[02:02.08] And perhaps a sticky bun?...
[02:03.93] Or four?...
[02:07.94] Birds in the sky,
[02:09.98] Birds in the eaves,
[02:11.10] In the leaves,
[02:11.83] In the fields,
[02:13.21] In the castles and ponds...
[02:14.82] And a few of those pies... please...
[02:16.14] Come, little birds,
[02:18.24] Down from the eaves
[02:19.22] And the leaves,
[02:19.72] Over fields,
[02:20.52] Out of castles and ponds...
[02:22.37] Now, squeeze, pal...
[02:23.85] Ahhh...
[02:36.31] Quick, little birds,
[02:37.62] Flick through the ashes.
[02:38.54] Pick and peck, but swiftly,
[02:39.71] Sift through the ashes,
[02:41.13] Into the pot...
[02:42.17] Listen well, son. Milky-White must be taken to market.
[02:46.19] But, mother, no- he's the best cow-
[02:48.78] look at her.
[02:50.57] There are bugs on her dugs.
[02:52.97] There are flies in her eyes.
[02:56.00] There's a lump on her rump
[02:57.60] Big enough to be a hump-
[02:59.08] But-
[03:00.32] Son,
[03:01.43] We've no time to sit and dither,
[03:03.84] While her wither's wither with her-
[03:06.82] And no one keeps a cow for a friend!
[03:10.02] Sometimes I fear your touched.
[03:12.62] Into the woods,
[03:13.24] It's time to go,
[03:14.16] I hate to leave,
[03:15.04] I have to, though.
[03:16.08] Into the woods-
[03:16.95] It's time, and so
[03:17.94] I must begin my journey.
[03:19.75] Into the woods
[03:20.67] And through the trees
[03:21.53] To where I am
[03:22.40] Expected ma'am,
[03:23.38] Into the woods
[03:24.25] To Grandmother's house-
[03:26.06] Into the woods
[03:27.84] To Grandmother's house-
[03:29.76] You're certain of your way?
[03:30.81] The way is clear,
[03:32.47] The light is good,
[03:34.26] I have no fear,
[03:35.74] Nor no one should.
[03:37.84] The woods are just trees,
[03:39.69] The trees are just wood.
[03:41.36] I sort of hate to ask it,
[03:43.34] But do you have a basket?
[03:45.56] Into the woods
[03:46.11] And down the dell,
[03:46.97] The path is straight,
[03:47.78] I know it well.
[03:48.70] Into the woods,
[03:49.57] And who can tell
[03:50.43] What's waiting on the journey?
[03:52.10] Into the woods
[03:53.14] To bring some bread
[03:54.07] To Granny who
[03:54.96] Is sick in bed.
[03:55.86] Never can tell
[03:56.72] What lies ahead.
[03:57.65] For all that I know,
[03:58.52] She's already dead.
[04:00.37] But into the woods,
[04:02.03] Into the woods,
[04:03.01] Into the woods
[04:03.94] To Grandmother's house
[04:04.87] And home before dark.
[04:08.95] Fly, birds,
[04:11.04] Back to the sky,
[04:13.39] Back to the eaves
[04:14.43] And the leaves
[04:15.12] And the fields
[04:16.90] And the-
[04:17.76] Hurry up and do my hair, Cinderella!
[04:19.06] Are you really wearing that?
[04:20.29] Here, I found a little tear, Cinderella.
[04:22.70] Can't you hide it with a hat?
[04:24.49] You look beautiful.
[04:25.48] I know.
[04:26.22] She means me.
[04:27.21] Put it in a twist.
[04:28.08] Who will be there?...
[04:28.95] Mother said be good,
[04:29.51] Father said be nice,
[04:30.55] That was always their advice.
[04:31.61] So be nice, Cinderella,
[04:32.47] Good, Cinderella,
[04:34.01] Nice good good nice-
[04:36.24] What's the good of being good
[04:37.09] If everyone is blind
[04:38.02] And you're always left behind?
[04:39.44] Never mind, Cinderella,
[04:40.56] Kind Cinderella-
[04:41.60] Nice good nice kind good nice-
[04:42.59] Not that tight!
[04:46.91] Sorry.
[04:48.08] Clawed.
[04:50.74] Who might that be?
[04:51.90] It's the witch from next door.
[04:54.68] The old enchantress told the couple she had
[04:57.79] placed a spell on their house.
[05:00.01] What spell?
[05:02.35] In the past, when your mother was with child,
[05:06.91] she developed an unusual appetite.
[05:10.56] She took one look at my beautiful garden
[05:15.49] and told your father that what she wanted more than
[05:20.06] anything in the world was
[05:23.21] Greens, greens and nothing but greens:
[05:25.25] Parsley, peppers, cabbages and celery,
[05:27.77] Asparagus and watercress and
[05:29.24] Fiddleferns and lettuce-!
[05:29.85] He said, "All right,"
[05:32.07] But it wasn't, quite,
[05:33.13] 'Cause I caught him in the autumn
[05:34.36] In my garden one night!
[05:35.72] He was robbing me,
[05:37.01] Raving me,
[05:38.43] Rooting through my rutabaga,
[05:39.67] Raiding my arugula and
[05:40.96] Ripping up my rampion
[05:42.26] (My champion! My favorite!)-
[05:43.49] I should have laid a spell on him
[05:45.40] Right there,
[05:47.07] Could have changed him into stone
[05:48.86] Or a dog or a chair...
[05:50.77] But I let him have the rampion-
[05:53.67] I'd lots to spare.
[05:55.46] In return, however,
[05:56.70] I said, "Fair is fair:
[05:57.99] You can let me have the baby
[05:59.28] That your wife will bear.
[06:01.88] And we'll call it square."
[06:03.54] I had a brother?
[06:04.78] No. But you had a sister.
[06:10.52] But the witch refused to tell him anymore of his sister.
[06:14.10] Not even that her name was Rapunzel.
[06:18.72] I though I had been more than reasonable.
[06:21.63] But how was I to know what your father
[06:24.83] had also hidden in his pocket?!
[06:27.30] What?
[06:28.48] Beans.
[06:29.15] Beans?
[06:29.71] The special beans.
[06:30.89] I let him go,
[06:31.62] I didn't know
[06:32.43] He'd stolen my beans!
[06:33.72] I was watching him crawl,
[06:34.96] Back over the wall-!
[06:36.25] Then bang! Crash!
[06:37.61] And the lightning flash!
[06:38.78] And- well, that's another story,
[06:40.14] Never mind-
[06:40.82] Anyway, at last
[06:41.50] The big day came,
[06:42.17] And I made my claim.
[06:43.66] "Oh, don't take away the baby,"
[06:44.89] They shrieked and screeched,
[06:46.13] But I did,
[06:46.86] And I hid her
[06:47.48] Where she'll never be reached.
[06:48.78] And your father cried,
[06:49.89] And your mother died
[06:51.12] When for extra measure-
[06:52.42] I admit it was a pleasure-
[06:53.72] I said, "Sorry,
[06:54.46] I'm still not mollified."
[06:56.43] And I laid little spell on them-
[06:59.14] You, too, son-
[07:02.79] That your family tree
[07:04.08] Would always be a barren one...
[07:12.18] So there's no more fuss
[07:15.21] And there's no more scenes
[07:16.56] And my garden thrives-
[07:18.04] You should see my nectarines!
[07:19.16] But I'm telling you the same
[07:20.20] I tell kings and queens:
[07:21.75] Don't ever never ever
[07:22.92] Mess around with my greens!
[07:25.51] Especially the beans.
[07:29.46] Now closely to me, Jack.
[07:30.94] Lead Milky-White to market
[07:32.61] and fetch the best price you can. Are you listening to me?
[07:38.04] Jack Jack Jack,
[07:39.95] Head in a sack,
[07:41.55] The house is getting colder,
[07:43.53] This is not the time for dreaming.
[07:49.58] Chimney stack
[07:51.37] Starting to crack,
[07:53.10] The mice are getting bolder,
[07:55.01] The floor's gone slack,
[07:57.23] Your mother's getting older,
[07:58.89] Your father's not back,
[08:00.81] And you can't just sit here dreaming pretty dreams.
[08:04.94] To wish and wait
[08:06.86] From day to day
[08:08.65] Will never keep
[08:10.75] The wolves away.
[08:12.91] So into the woods
[08:13.77] The time is now.
[08:14.82] We have to live,
[08:15.74] I don't care how.
[08:16.61] Into the woods
[08:17.59] To sell the cow,
[08:18.52] You must begin the journey.
[08:20.37] Straight to the woods
[08:21.31] and don't delay-
[08:22.23] You have to face
[08:23.16] The marketplace.
[08:24.21] Into the woods to journey's end-
[08:27.79] Into the woods to sell a friend-
[08:32.30] Meanwhile, the Witch, for purposes of her own,
[08:34.64] explained how the Baker might lift the spell;
[08:37.42] You wish to have
[08:38.41] The curse reversed?
[08:39.53] I'll need a certain
[08:40.83] Potion first.
[08:41.88] Go to the woods and bring me back
[08:44.35] One: the cow as white as milk,
[08:47.30] Two: the cape as red as blood,
[08:49.90] Three: the hair as yellow as corn,
[08:53.78] Four: the slipper as pure as gold.
[08:58.04] Bring me these
[08:59.40] Before the chime
[09:00.26] Of midnight,
[09:00.94] In three day's time,
[09:03.29] And you shall have,
[09:04.83] I guarantee,
[09:06.87] A child as perfect
[09:09.21] As child can be.
[09:12.30] Go to the wood!
[09:16.19] Ladies.
[09:17.67] Our carriage waits.
[09:19.03] Now may I go to the Festival?
[09:20.63] The Festival-?
[09:21.74] Darling, those nails!
[09:22.67] Darling, those clothes!
[09:23.59] Lentils are one thing but
[09:24.64] Darling, with those,
[09:25.26] You'd make us the fools of the Festival
[09:26.99] And mortify the Prince!
[09:28.90] Our carriage is waiting.
[09:29.82] We must be gone.
[09:33.72] Good night, Father.
[09:37.42] I wish...
[09:38.89] Look what I found in father's hunting jacket.
[09:41.18] Six beans. We'll take them with us.
[09:43.09] No!
[09:43.83] The spell is on my house.
[09:44.94] Only I can lift the spell,
[09:46.43] The spell is on my house.
[09:47.54] No, no, the spell is on our house.
[09:49.14] We must lift the spell.
[09:50.07] No. You are not to come and that is final.
[09:52.42] Now what am I to return with?
[09:53.65] You don't remember?
[09:54.82] The cow as white as milk,
[09:55.87] The cape as red as blood,
[09:57.28] The hair as yellow as corn,
[09:58.46] The slipper as pure as gold-
[10:00.06] The cow as white as milk,
[10:01.36] The cape as red as blood,
[10:02.97] The hair as yellow as corn,
[10:04.14] The slipper as pure as gold...
[10:06.30] And so the Baker, reluctantly, set off to meet the
[10:07.16] enchantress' demands.
[10:08.02] As for Cinderella:
[10:08.60] I still wish to go to the Festival,
[10:09.71] But how am I ever to get to the Festival?
[10:10.82] The cow as white as milk,
[10:11.75] The cape as red as blood,
[10:12.42] The hair as yellow as corn-
[10:13.16] I know!
[10:13.60] I'll visit Mother's grave,
[10:14.33] The grave at the hazel tree,
[10:15.51] And tell her I just want to
[10:16.31] Go to the King's Festival...
[10:18.14] The hair-!
[10:19.07] Into the woods,
[10:19.69] It's time to go,
[10:20.61] It may be all
[10:21.60] In vain, you/I know.
[10:22.46] Into the woods-
[10:23.33] But even so,
[10:24.19] I have to take the journey.
[10:26.05] Into the woods,
[10:26.91] The path is straight,
[10:27.77] You know it well,
[10:28.63] But who can tell-
[10:29.56] Into the woods to lift the spell-
[10:33.54] Into the woods to visit Mother-
[10:36.94] Into the woods to fetch the things-
[10:38.79] To make the potion-
[10:39.65] To got to the Festival-
[10:40.52] Into the woods
[10:41.45] Without regret,
[10:42.25] The choice is made,
[10:43.11] The task is set.
[10:43.97] Into the woods,
[10:44.84] But not forget-
[10:45.76] Ting why I'm on the journey.
[10:47.81] (Little Red Riding hood Joins)
[10:48.73] Into the woods
[10:49.35] to get my wish,
[10:49.90] I don't care how,
[10:50.58] The time is now.
[10:51.26] Into the woods to sell the cow-
[10:52.86] Into the woods to get the money-
[10:55.64] Into the woods to lift the spell-
[10:56.56] To make the potion-
[10:57.37] To go to the Festival-
[10:58.30] Into the woods to Grandmother's house...
[11:01.87] Into the woods to Grandmother's house...
[11:05.32] The way is clear,
[11:07.11] The light is good,
[11:08.79] I have no fear,
[11:10.33] Nor no one should.
[11:12.49] The woods are just trees,
[11:14.03] The trees are just wood.
[11:16.00] No need to be afraid there-
[11:17.97] There's something in the glade there...
[11:27.48] Into the woods,
[11:27.96] Without delay,
[11:28.77] But careful not
[11:29.57] To lose the way.
[11:30.56] Into the woods,
[11:31.36] Who knows what may
[11:32.34] Be lurking on the journey?
[11:34.08] Into the woods
[11:34.81] To get the thing
[11:35.68] That makes it worth
[11:36.54] The journeying.
[11:37.41] into the woods-
[11:38.33] To see the King-
[11:39.20] To sell the cow-
[11:40.13] To make the potion-
[11:41.05] To see-
[11:41.48] To sell-
[11:42.04] To get-
[11:42.41] To bring-
[11:42.83] To make-
[11:43.27] To lift-
[11:43.70] To go to the Festival-!
[11:44.63] Into the woods!
[11:45.37] Into the woods!
[11:48.02] Into the woods,
[11:48.94] Then out of the woods,
[11:53.32] And home before dark!
Prologue Lyrics
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