Stephen Sondheim
I Guess This Is Goodbye / Maybe They’re Magic
[JACK]
I guess this is goodbye, old pal
You've been a perfect friend
I hate to see us part, old pal
Someday I'll buy you back
I'll see you soon again
I hope that when I do
It won't be on a plate
[BAKER, spoken]
Magic beans? We've no reason to believe they're magic. Are we to dispel this curse through deceit?
[BAKER'S WIFE, spoken]
No one would have given him more for that creature. We did him a favor. At least now they'll have some food.
[BAKER, spoken]
Five beans.
[WIFE]
If you know
What you want
Then you go
And you find it
And you get it—
[BAKER, spoken]
Home.
[BAKER'S WIFE, spoken]
Do we want a child, or not?
(sung)
—And you give
And you take
And you bid
And you bargain
Or you live
To regret it
[BAKER, spoken]
Will you please go home?
[BAKER'S WIFE]
There are rights and wrongs
And in-betweens
No one waits
When fortune intervenes
And maybe they're really magic
Who knows?
Why you do
What you do
That's the point
All the rest of it
Is chatter
[BAKER, spoken]
No it's not!
[BAKER'S WIFE]
If the thing you do
Is pure in intent
If it's meant
And it's just a little bent
Does it matter?
[BAKER, spoken]
Yes!
[BAKER'S WIFE]
No, what matters
Is that everyone tells tiny lies
What's important, really, is the size
[BAKER, spoken]
What?
[BAKER'S WIFE]
Only three more tries
And we'll have our prize
When the end's in sight
You'll realize:
If the end is right
It justifies
The beans!