APPLES & ORANGES: The So-Called "Art" of Comparing Art

 

Just a few weeks ago, the social media account of PBS' Great Performances posted that they were going to do a sort of March Madness-esuqe Showtune Showdown which would pit various songs by Stephen Sondheim with selections by Cole Porter.

At first, I was kind of intrigued by this and even ended up sharing a couple of my personal votes on Facebook as the tournament went along.

However, what was sort of surprising me was how quickly I dropped out of even giving my personal votes. The reason? I felt like that the choices to choose from were simply too different and yet each offered something particularly special.

For example, the first battle was between Cole Porter's Night & Day and Sondheim's Send in the Clowns.

                

While Send in the Clowns is certainly one of those overdone songs that even non-musical theatre people know thanks to its Top 40 success, I do very much love it. However, a lot of why I love it depends on the power of emotion of the singer who is interpreting it...which is why I still very much love the original version by Glynis Johns for A Little Night Music as opposed to say the most famous version by Judy Collins.

Whereas something like Night & Day has one of those bouncy jazzy melodies matched with the typical fanciful Porter wordplay. I love both songs for different reasons but ended up going with Porter's piece.

The next battle was:

Porter's In The Still of the Night (and no, this song predated the 50s doo-wop track and has nothing to do with it)

Sondheim's Johanna

In this case, as much as I love Sweeney Todd, I don't really respond to the Anthony/Johanna stuff so I easily voted for Porter yet again.

The third outing was when I gave up:

Porter's You're the Top

Sondheim's Move On

With Sondheim's selection, I have strong attachment to the material as the musical it comes from, Sunday in the Park with George, is my favorite work of Sondheim's at least from an emotional standpoint.

Move On is a duet between the characters of Dot and George that serves as that musical's 11 O'clock number and it packs an emotional punch. I often quote lyrics from that song and think the message of it is profound towards artists of any kind.

And yet...

Porter's You're the Top is, arguably, the epitome of the "list song", in which the characters of Reno Sweeney and Billy Crocker each try to one-up each other with compliments.

-------

At words poetic, I'm so pathetic
That I always have found it best,
Instead of getting 'em off my chest,
To let 'em rest unexpressed,
I hate parading my serenading
As I'll probably miss a bar,
But if this ditty is not so pretty
At least it'll tell you
How great you are.

You're the top!
You're the Coliseum.
You're the top!
You're the Louvre Museum.
You're a melody from a symphony by Strauss
You're a Bendel bonnet,
A Shakespeare's sonnet,
You're Mickey Mouse.
You're the Nile,
You're the Tower of Pisa,
You're the smile on the Mona Lisa
I'm a worthless check, a total wreck, a flop,
But if, baby, I'm the bottom you're the top!

--------

And now, take a look at some of the lyrics from Sondheim's Move On:

[GEORGE]
I want to move on
I want to explore the light
I want to know how to get through
Through to something new
Something of my own

[GEORGE and DOT]
Move on
Move on

[DOT]
Stop worrying if your vision
Is new
Let others make that decision
They usually do
You keep moving on

[DOT and GEORGE]
Look at what you've done Something in the light
Then at what you want Something in the sky
Not at where you are In the grass
What you'll be Up behind the trees...
Look at all the things
You gave to me
Things I hadn't looked at 'til now Let me give to you
Flower in your hat Something in return
And your smile
I would be so pleased... And the color of your hair

[GEORGE]
And the way you catch the light
And the care
And the feeling
And the life
Moving on

[DOT]
We've always belonged
Together!

[GEORGE and DOT]
We will always belong
Together!

[DOT]
Just keep moving on
Anything you do
Let it come from you
Then it will be new
Give us more to see

_________________________

As you can see, Move On has a lot of overlapping lyrics and is telling a story within a show that may not have much (if any) context if you are unfamiliar with the material. It also may not appear, at first glance, to be that remarkable in terms of the lyrics. However, it doesn't need to have flashy lyrics...that isn't the point of the moment and Sondheim knew that.

And therein lies the whole issue with comparing art...and I am guilty of it quite a bit.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I adore Sondheim and his work. He had one of the most profound influences on me that one could possibly have...so much so, that even though I didn't know him personally (despite meeting him casually twice), he remains one of the only celebrities I actually cried for when they died. 

I think Patti LuPone recently summed it up best when she made a guest appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in which she stated that it was hard to choose a favorite Sondheim song because everything he wrote was so dependent on the character and story within the world of that musical that it could be hard to narrow down a choice. 

She hit the nail on the head.

I have tried coming up with lists of favorite Sondheim songs and it always changes, or I debate what I am exactly looking for in a song. The same could even be said for his full scores from each show because if you want something more tuneful, you might go for Merrily We Roll Along or if you want something more rhapsodic you might go for A Little Night Music or Sweeney Todd. 

Cole Porter came from an era where musicals weren't exactly concerned about a story. Everything was about the songs first and foremost while character development was arguably second...or maybe even third or fourth. It is kind of horrendous to look at musicals and their librettos from the pre-Oscar Hammerstein Book Musical era.

Porter was one of the only composers of that era who also wrote the lyrics on his own compositions, and he always had a very charming whimsical feel to his material that stands out. His lyrical work often didn't feel as labored as some of his contemporaries like Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, or even the bird-obsessed Norman Rockwell-like work of Oscar Hammerstein.

Porter's music, much like the music of George Gershwin, is simply classic. Some of the best melodies in all of music were created by Porter.

When people have asked me who the best composer of music is, I usually say George Gershwin, but I would argue Porter is a close second. 

And yet here we are once again...comparisons.

Porter and Sondheim each bring something remarkable to the table and it was often impossible to choose a song without going into some kind of Calculus mode. Life is too short for that!

I am especially guilty of doing comparisons with movies all the time...and this particularly comes into play when you factor in award show nominations.

Here is a prime example; these were the Best Picture nominees of 2010:

127 Hours

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids are All Right

The King's Speech **WINNER**

The Social Network

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter's Bone

___________

I am not going to get into a specific debate over the race in terms of whether or not The King's Speech deserved to win (for the record, though: IT DID NOT), but I want to focus on 4 films in particular:

Black Swan, Inception, The Social Network, Toy Story 3

Each of these films brought something to the topic that I responded to in such drastic ways.

Black Swan was psychological thriller about an obsession and was quite dark in its approach.

Inception was a Sci-Fi/Action film that managed to take you into a narrative that managed to both confuse and enthrall all at once.

The Social Network took a story about a rather megalomaniac dweeb and made a courtroom deposition plot become enthralling thanks to such a witty and flashy screenplay.

Toy Story 3 was, perhaps, the biggest surprise for being a third film in a series and surpassing its two predecessors by having such a strong emotional storyline that climaxed to an ending that never ceases to move me every time I see it.

Usually, I narrow this down between the last two films. 

Do I vote with my head and go with the sterling Social Network? 

OR.

Do I vote with my heart and vote for Toy Story 3?

My vote has flip-flopped for the last decade.

And in the end, does it matter?

No!

Will I still debate it?

Probably.

I am only human...a sort of art-obsessed human, but so be it.

I do have to wonder why a lot of us, including myself, do get caught up in comparing everything whether it be theatre or film or TV or music or even something as basic as preferring to buy Peter Pan Peanut Butter over Jif or Skippy. 

The debate can be lively and maybe even a little fun, but it doesn't really solve or solidify anything. Everyone is going to have their own opinions...and sure, someone may read this and think that Cole Porter doesn't deserve to have so much praise and would rather listen to musicals written by Frank Wildhorn. 

I may question your artistic taste, but perhaps I would just keep my mouth shut.

It is also like the whole battle amongst filmmakers who are not fond of the Marvel Cinematic Universe dominance where legendary directors like Martin Scorsese refer to them as "theme park movies".

Movies about superhero worlds, whether they be Marvel or DC, do have potential. Look at Nolan's The Dark Knight, which quite surprised snobby 20-year-old me as having far more merit than I would've ever given a superhero movie credit for. 

And while I do not think Black Panther deserved a Best Picture nomination, it was a cultural touchstone that deserved the attention it got from the public.

And even this year, I was mostly bowled over by Matt Reeves' take on The Batman. 

I don't want to completely discount filmmakers like Scorsese here because I frankly couldn't care less about most of the films from these types of genres, but I do think merit can exist within them. And I have definitely received passionate and somewhat heated feedback from people who were happy to defend them. 

So, I suppose debate can be good. It is certainly better than hiding a lot of your emotions or not having someone to talk to about your experiences witnessing a piece of work.

In the grand scheme, maybe comparisons of multiple works aren't exactly healthy even if we will still always attempt to do it.

I suppose there is a reason why Theodore Roosevelt did once say: