This filk of Stephen Sondheim’s “Putting It Together”, from Sunday in the Park with George and Barbra Streisand’s The Broadway Album, was written in spring 2023. As one of my friends put it on reading the first draft, “You really just put it out there, didn’t you?” Yeah. I did.
Putting It Together (Bard Way Album Version)
© 2023 words by Eric Schrager
(PEER: So, about your last few events…)
Be nice, Drake.
(PEER: I’ve got feedback to pass along…)
They always a take their slice, Drake.
(PEER: So many Peers who know JUST what you need to do next…)
They like to give advice, Drake!
(PEER: …but no two have the same idea.)
I guess we’ll roll the dice, Drake!
You’ve got a lot of work!
Art isn’t easy
Always on the spot
Creating might be easy–
Promoting it is not.
A story’s not a story if you keep it to yourself!
If no one’s gonna hear it, why not leave it on the shelf?
You have to make it sing…
Bit by bit, putting it together
Just commit, this is how you make a work of art
Every day you add a contribution
Every little note and vocal part
Bringing every chord to resolution
Will the lyrics test your elocution?
Putting it together, make it count!
Sound by sound, putting it together
Find new ground, so that we can make a work of art
First of all you need some inspiration,
Otherwise you’re never gonna start,
Then you have to build a strong foundation,
But without the proper rumination
Will it get unwieldy from expansion
(Can I bounce a quarter off the scansion?)
The art of making art
Is putting it together, bit by bit
“Might I say?” People have opinions.
Day by day, taking every comment in your stride,
This is an event, just keep it rolling
Managing emotions and your pride,
If you get defensive or controlling
Never gonna make it through a polling…
Art isn’t easy
Every common detail
Might bring royal attention
Just how far can you sail
From this gust of invention?
Every day, you’re feeling apprehensive
Sounding way too modern, that’s offensive
And this orchestration’s so extensive
Studios at home can get expensive!
String by string,
Working ev’ry section.
Make it ring,
Why did I decide to play the lute?
Here I’m doing tablature inspection,
And it’s all in French notation–cute!
Can I sing it through at full projection?
Do I need to make one more correction?
Even though I’ll never reach perfection,
Still, you have to strive in that direction…
Art isn’t easy
Every word, every rhyme,
Every tale you’re retelling,
Are they traveling through time?
Will they buy what you’re selling?
(PEER: Original music is great, but for this path…)
All they ever want is repetition
All they really trust is from a book
Find a way to honor our tradition
Even as you follow intuition
As you take the music to fruition
So that you can get the recog—
So that your music gets recognition!
(PEER: They’d like to see more research…)
Be old, Drake!
(PEER: …and that you can take feedback.)
Just do what you’ve been told, Drake!
(PEER: Some candidates are an easy choice…)
You’ve gotta fit the mold, Drake!
(PEER: So…what matters to you?)
But if you’re feeling bold, Drake…
Just let it all unfold…
Bit by bit, putting it together
Make it fit, working on your project night and day
All you gotta do is beg and lobby
Hoping for a “yes, I’d love to play!”
Don’t become inflexible or snobby
When did I forget this is a hobby?
All you need to start is joy and passion,
Really, I assure you, we’re inclusive–
And if I obsess in such a fashion,
This is just the way I find conducive.
You don’t have to work until you’re ashen
Even though the spark might be elusive,
There is only so much time to ration
Working to a deadline that’s conclusive,
The art of making art
Is putting it together, bit by bit,
Beat by beat, verse by verse,
Sheet by sheet, curse by curse,
File by file, voice by voice,
Mile by mile, choice by choice,
Trial by trial, Smile by smile,
And that… is the state of the bard!
Notes
This is an example of a song I filked because (a) it’s an amazing song that I don’t really have an excuse to perform in its original form, and (b) I had a lot of personal experience and feelings that fit well in this frame. It just sort of happened.
The version of the song that Sondheim rewrote for Barbra Streisand, capturing her frustrations and experience of trying to return to her Broadway roots and get that landmark album made, is just incredible. It still gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it–two masters of their respective crafts collaborating to produce something stunning.
I was not planning on performing it much. Usually, the main laugh you get from a filk is the audience recognizing the song you’re reworking, and seeing you you bend the words, themes, and construction of the original to suit your purpose as a filker. This, however, is a song that only hardcore Stephen Sondheim or Barbra Streisand fans are likely to be familiar with.
On top of that, my adapted lyrics risk sounding like Drake the Bard at his most whiny and self-indulgent. Resisting listening to his Peer, frustrated at the way he is hemmed in by the expectations of the SCA…I mean, I had finally, just in the last few years, learned to rein myself in just enough that the Order of the Maunche had seen fit to include me in their number. To the extent that I found SCA politics frustrating, hadn’t I already expressed these feelings quite effectively under the veil of fairytale with “I Must Be Silent”? Did anyone really need to hear Drake Oranwood name-checking himself in a filk, while airing his dirty laundry?
But my wife Jess just loved it. And it turned out that the dirty laundry aspect of the filk was what made it work. Enough so that audiences who didn’t know the source material still laughed. Jess felt that this and “Homecoming” were two pieces I needed to perform as much as I could at Pennsic 50, and, well, her instincts still haven’t failed me yet.
Drake Oranwood 