Stephen Sondheim
Any Moment / Moments in the Woods
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Anything can happen in the woods
May I kiss you?
Any moment we could be crushed
[BAKER'S WIFE, spoken]
Uh—
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Don't feel rushed
[BAKER'S WIFE]
This is ridiculous
What am I doing here?
I'm in the wrong story
(spoken)
Wait, one moment, please. We can't do this!
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE, spoken]
Of course, you're right. How foolish.
(sung)
Foolishness can happen in the woods
Once again, please—
Let your hesitations be hushed
Any moment, big or small
Is a moment, after all
Seize the moment, skies may fall
Any moment
Days are made of moments
All are worth exploring
Many kinds of moments
None is worth ignoring
All we have are moments
Memories for storing
One would be so boring
[BAKER'S WIFE, spoken]
But this is not right!
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
Right and wrong don't matter in the woods
Only feelings
Let us meet the moment unblushed
Life is often so unpleasant—
You must know that, as a peasant—
Best to take a moment present
As a present for the moment
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE, spoken]
I must leave you.
[BAKER'S WIFE, spoken]
Why?
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE, spoken]
The giant.
[BAKER'S WIFE, spoken]
Will we find each other in the woods again?
[CINDERELLA'S PRINCE]
This was just a moment in the woods
Our moment
Shimmering and lovely and sad
Leave the moment, just be glad
For the moment that we had
Every moment is of moment
When you're in the woods...
(spoken)
Goodbye.
[BAKER'S WIFE, spoken]
What was that?
(sung)
Was that me?
Was that him?
Did a prince really kiss me?
And kiss me?
And kiss me?
And did I kiss him back?
Was it wrong?
Am I mad?
Is that all?
Does he miss me?
Was he suddenly getting bored with me?
Wake up! Stop dreaming
Stop prancing about the woods
It's not beseeming
What is it about the woods?
Back to life, back to sense
Back to child, back to husband
You can't live in the woods
There are vows, there are ties
There are needs, there are standards
There are shouldn'ts and shoulds
Why not both instead?
There's the answer, if you're clever
Have a child for warmth
And a baker for bread
And a prince for whatever—
Never!
It's these woods
Face the facts, find the boy
Join the group, stop the giant
Just get out of these woods
Was that him? Yes, it was
Was that me? No, it wasn't
Just a trick of the woods
Just a moment
One peculiar passing moment
Must it all be either less or more
Either plain or grand?
Is it always "or"?
Is it never "and"?
That's what woods are for:
For those moments in the woods
Oh, if life were made of moments
Even now and then a bad one—!
But if life were only moments
Then you'd never know you had one
First a witch, then a child
Then a prince, then a moment—
Who can live in the woods?
And to get what you wish
Only just for a moment—
These are dangerous woods...
Let the moment go
Don't forget it for a moment, though
Just remembering you've had an "and"
When you're back to "or"
Makes the "or" mean more
Than it did before
Now I understand—
And it's time to leave the woods!