Stephen Sondheim
Pretty Little Picture
[PSEUDOLUS]
In the Tiber there sits a boat
Gently dipping its bow
Trim and tidy and built to float
Pretty little picture?
Now

Put a boy on the starboard side
Leaning out at the rail
Next to him put a blushing bride
Slim and slender and starry-eyed
Down below put a tiny bed

The sun gets pale
The sea gets red
And off they sail
On the first high tide
The bed and the boat
And the boy and the bride!

It's a pretty little picture
Hey what!
Pretty little picture
Oh my!
Pretty little picture
Which one
Twenty little men I will buy
Feel the roll of the playful waves
See the sails as they swell
Hear the whips on the galley slaves—
Pretty little picture?
Well

Let it carry your cares away
Out of sight, out of mind
Past the buoy and through the bay—
Soon there's nothing but sea and spray
Night descends and the moon's aglow
Your arms entwined
You steal below
And far behind
At the edge of day
The bong of the bell of the buoy in the bay
And the boat and the boy
And the bride are away!

It's a pretty little picture to view
As our little boat sails to sea
Twenty little men I will do
Leave the little details to me!

[HERO & PHILIA]
No worries
No bothers
No captains
No fathers!
[PSEUDOLUS]
In the sea sits a virgin isle
Smooth and sandy and pink
Uninhabited tropic style
Pretty little picture?
Think:

In a house made of mango trees
Seashells dotting the door
Boy and bride live a life of ease
Doing nothing but what they please
Then at night when the stars appear
There's nothing more
To see or hear
Just the shore
Where the lovers lie
The sand and the sea and the stars and the sky
And the sound of a soft little satisfied sigh

With your petty little cares at an end
On the little isle far away
Give a little thought to your friend
Pseudolittleus save the day!