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Description
This tune is from a one-act musical I've just finished writing called "Always The Lion". Roughly its about a girl who falls in love with a mysterious guy she meets while performing in "The Wizard of Oz" . She's Dorothy in the show and he plays the lion. They finally get together and she finds out that the guy is really a lion! This tune is the lion's lament... he's upset because he's always typecasted as the lion in "The Wizard of Oz". He's singing to his co-stars only at this point they don't know that he really is a lion.
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Lyrics
I'VE BEEN IN 36 PRODUCTIONS OF 'OZ'
AND NOW 14 DIFFERENT VERSIONS
AND NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY
WHATEVER ROLE I GET IS COMPLETELY FREE OF DIVERSIONS
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
NEVER THE SCARECROW
I'VE TRIED FOR THE TIN-MAN
I'D SETTLE FOR TOTO
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
A STEADFAST TRADITION
I ONCE TRIED OUT FOR DOROTHY IN A ALL DRAG RENDITION
I NEED TO EXPAND
I'M A UNIVERSAL ACTOR
I'M AN AUDIENCE ATTRACTOR
WITH MY RANGE I CAN PLAY ANY PART
I DON'T UNDERSTAND
AT EACH MUSICAL AUDITION
THE DIRECTOR CAN'T ENVISION
I'D BE GREAT IN A ROLE WITHOUT BRAINS OR A HEART!
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
I SWEAR I'M NOT LYIN'
I'VE NEVER DONE THE "WIZ" WITHOUT COWARDLY CRYIN'
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
I'M NEVER THE SCARECROW
I EVEN PLAYED THE LION IN A STRIP-TEASE BURLESQUE SHOW
HOW MY HEART BREAKS
WHEN YOU STUFF YOUR SHIRT WITH HAY
PAINT YOUR FACE A SILV'RY-GRAY
AND I'M LEFT HERE TO GLUE ON MY MANE
MAKE NO MISTAKES
WHILE I SING MY COURAGE ODE
AND SKIP DOWN THE YELLOW ROAD
I AM CAREFULLY PLOTTING MY SCARECROW CAMPAIGN!
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
HE'S NEVER THE SCARECROW
HIS COSTUME LOOKS GOOD BUT PERFORMANCE IS SO-SO
I'M (HE'S) ALWAYS THE LION
TOO FAT FOR A ROCK STAR
HE CAN'T REALLY DANCE AND HAS NOTHING ON BERT LAH
LOUIE: ROAR! Ah... excuse me...
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
I SWEAR I'M NOT LYIN'
FOR YEARS I'VE BEEN TRYIN'
TO NOT BE THE LION
MY BRAIN HAS BEEN FRYIN'
I'M DONE WITH MY CRYIN'
DEEP DOWN I AM DYIN'
TO NOT BE THE LION
THERE AIN'T NO DENYIN'
ITS NOT UNDERLYIN'
WHAT I AM IMPLYIN'
I'd love not to be the lion!
AND NOW 14 DIFFERENT VERSIONS
AND NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY
WHATEVER ROLE I GET IS COMPLETELY FREE OF DIVERSIONS
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
NEVER THE SCARECROW
I'VE TRIED FOR THE TIN-MAN
I'D SETTLE FOR TOTO
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
A STEADFAST TRADITION
I ONCE TRIED OUT FOR DOROTHY IN A ALL DRAG RENDITION
I NEED TO EXPAND
I'M A UNIVERSAL ACTOR
I'M AN AUDIENCE ATTRACTOR
WITH MY RANGE I CAN PLAY ANY PART
I DON'T UNDERSTAND
AT EACH MUSICAL AUDITION
THE DIRECTOR CAN'T ENVISION
I'D BE GREAT IN A ROLE WITHOUT BRAINS OR A HEART!
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
I SWEAR I'M NOT LYIN'
I'VE NEVER DONE THE "WIZ" WITHOUT COWARDLY CRYIN'
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
I'M NEVER THE SCARECROW
I EVEN PLAYED THE LION IN A STRIP-TEASE BURLESQUE SHOW
HOW MY HEART BREAKS
WHEN YOU STUFF YOUR SHIRT WITH HAY
PAINT YOUR FACE A SILV'RY-GRAY
AND I'M LEFT HERE TO GLUE ON MY MANE
MAKE NO MISTAKES
WHILE I SING MY COURAGE ODE
AND SKIP DOWN THE YELLOW ROAD
I AM CAREFULLY PLOTTING MY SCARECROW CAMPAIGN!
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
HE'S NEVER THE SCARECROW
HIS COSTUME LOOKS GOOD BUT PERFORMANCE IS SO-SO
I'M (HE'S) ALWAYS THE LION
TOO FAT FOR A ROCK STAR
HE CAN'T REALLY DANCE AND HAS NOTHING ON BERT LAH
LOUIE: ROAR! Ah... excuse me...
I'M ALWAYS THE LION
I SWEAR I'M NOT LYIN'
FOR YEARS I'VE BEEN TRYIN'
TO NOT BE THE LION
MY BRAIN HAS BEEN FRYIN'
I'M DONE WITH MY CRYIN'
DEEP DOWN I AM DYIN'
TO NOT BE THE LION
THERE AIN'T NO DENYIN'
ITS NOT UNDERLYIN'
WHAT I AM IMPLYIN'
I'd love not to be the lion!
chikoppi
This song is so professional it is hard to assess it in the context of this site. That, and traditional showtunes are an uncommon submission here. I don't know how it stands up against modern theater standards, but I thought it was witty, emotive, and extremely well sung. I liked the supporting vocals and cut-time section heading into the finale as well.