LYRICS BY LYNN AHRENS MUSIC BY STEPHEN FLAHERTY
Lynn as a child, playing the ukulele.
Lynn with guitar, in high school, writing her first song.
Stephen (age 19), performing at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, 1980.
Lynn and Stephen celebrate as the Broadway marquee for Once on This Island goes up. (1990).
Stephen and Lynn, outside Playwrights Horizons, during the run of their first offBroadway show, Lucky Stiff (1988).
Lynn and Stephen take a break during the recording sessions for My Favorite Year. Top row, left to right: Joseph Dougherty (book), Stephen Flaherty, Lynn Ahrens. Bottom row, left to right: Tom Ikeda (Rookie), Lainie Kazan (Belle), Evan Pappas (Benjy).
Kevin Chamberlin (Horton) and Sharon Wilkinson (Sour Kangaroo) in the original Broadway production of Seussical.
The original Broadway cast of Once on This Island. Photo by Martha Swope.
Brian Stokes Mitchell (Coalhouse), and the Ragtime Broadway company. Photo by Catherine Ashmore.
Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens display their Tony Award* for Ragtime.
Terrence McNally, who wrote the books for Ragtime and A Man of No Importance, joins Lynn and Stephen at the Tony nominees luncheon, after all were nominated for Ragtime.
Time flies when you’re having a good time. No wonder it’s hard for us to believe that we’ve been creating musicals together, non-stop, since 1983! It feels like only yesterday that we sat down, side by side on a piano bench, to work on that first song. Then, the music was handwritten with pen and ink, and the lyrics were typed on thick yellow paper rolled into an electric typewriter. Even now, squarely ensconced in the technical age, we still get together most days to make a pot of coffee, talk, laugh, sing, and bang on a piano until something of worth emerges. This beautiful new collection celebrates 25 years of collaboration and good times. The songs are some of our favorites, ranging from one of the first we ever wrote to several of our most recent. Included in this volume are four new selections. “Close (But No Cigar)” is a lovely comic duet from Bedazzled, the first show we ever attempted to write together, which was never produced. We enjoyed unearthing this charming curiosity from our old, handwritten files, and hope you’ll enjoy it, too. “My Body Wasn’t Why” comes from our latest show, The Glorious Ones, produced in 2007 by Lincoln Center Theater. The song reveals a woman’s feelings when she realizes she’s not a leading lady anymore. “Something Beautiful,” a personal reflection of what it means to be an artist, was inspired by a photograph, taken by Lynn’s father in the 1940s, of a willow tree in Central Park. We’ve also included a brandnew pop tune, “After the Stormwritten for an upcoming documentary film of the same name. The film focuses on how the lives of a group of young Hurricane Katrina survivors changed when they put on our show Once on This Island in New Orleans. You’ll also find other diverse favorites of ours, from the exuberant “It’s Possible” (Seussical), to the powerful “Make Them Hear You” (Ragtime), to the plainspoken ballad “Love Who You Love” (A Man of No Importance). As a bonus, we’ve chosen “Come Down from the Tree,” which was cut from Once on This Island, but has gone on to become an extremely popular song, performed and recorded by many artists. In addition to music from our stage shows, we’ve also included songs we wrote for films, including “Journey to the Past” from Anastasia, which was nominated for an Oscar. We hope you enjoy playing and singing everything in the new Ahrens & Flaherty Songbook. We’re so happy to present our work in this wonderful volume from Alfred Music Publishing. -Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty
Note from the Authors ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6 After the Storm ……………………………………………….After the Storm…………………………………………….8
All Those Christmas Cliches ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..1
Alone in the Universe …………………………………….Seussical……………………………………………………… 21
At the Beginning ……………………………………………..Anastasia……………………………………………… 33 Back to Before Ragtime ………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………….. Close (But No Cigar) ……………………………………… Bedazzled…………………………………………………….49 Come Down from the Tree …………………………Once on This Island…………………………………….57
How Lucky You Are ………………………………………..Seussical…………………………………………………… The Human Heart ……………………………………………Once on This Island…………………………………… 67 I Was Here …………………………………………………………The Glorious Ones ……………………………………. 73 If the World Were Like the Movies ……………My Favorite Year……………………………………….. 84 It’s Possible (McElligot’s Pool) ……………………….Seussical…………………………………………………………91
Journey to the Past ………………………………………..Anastasia……………………………………………………
97 I I Larger Than Life ……………………………………………….My Favorite Year ………………………………………… Love Who You Love ………………………………………A Man of No Importance ………………………..
Make Them Hear You …………………………………….Ragtime………………………………………………………. Mama Will Provide …………………………………………..Once on This Island ………………………………….. My Body Wasn’t Why ……………………………………..The Glorious Ones……………………………………130 Oh, the Thinks You Can Think ……………………..Seussical……………………………………………………….137 Once Upon a December ……………………………… Anastasia………………………………………………………157 Our Children ……………………………………………………..Ragtime ……………………………………………………….143 Ragtime ……………………………………………………………..Ragtime ……………………………………………………….149
Something Beautiful ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 175 The Streets of Dublin ……………………………………..A Man of No Importance ……………………….. Times Like This ………………………………………………….Lucky Stiff……………………………………………………..182 Waiting for Life …………………………………………………Once on This Island…………………………………..190 Wheels of a Dream Ragtime ………………………………………… ………………………………………………………. 199
(from the documentary film After the Storm) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Seussical) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the movie musical Anastasia) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Ragtime) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the unproduced musical Bedazzled) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Once on This Island) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Seussical) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Once on This Island) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical The Glorious Ones) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical My Favorite Year) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(McElligot’s Pool) (from the musical Seussical) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the movie musical Anastasia) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical A Man of No Importance) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical My Favorite Year) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Ragtime) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Once on This Island) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical The Glorious Ones) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Seussical) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Ragtime) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Ragtime) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the movie musical Anastasia) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical A Man of No Importance) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Lucky Stiff) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Once on This Island) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
(from the musical Ragtime) Lyrics by LYNN AHRENS Music by STEPHEN FLAHERTY
