Stephen Sondheim
The Frogs: Parabasis: It’s Only a Play
[THE DIONYSIANS]
Good fellow
Good man, Dionysos
Don't worry
Relax
He'll do it for you
Besides
No cause for alarm
It's only a play

It really doesn't matter
Don't worry, relax
What can one person do?
After all, you're only human
And it's all been said before
And you've got enough to think about
Besides, it's only a play

And there's time
There's plenty of time
There always is time
You've got all the time in the world
All the time in the world
You know, time has a way of healing all things
Things fix themselves
Don't worry, relax
Why not wait and see what happens?
It's only a play
Good fellow
Good man, Xanthias
Don't worry
Relax
He could've done it for you
Too bad
He doesn't exist
He never was real
He's only a myth
It's only a play

Let the leaders raise your voices for you
Let the critics make your choices for you
Somewhere somebody rejoices for you
The dead
And a leader's useful to curse
And the state of things could be worse
And besides
It's only a play

Well, words are merely chatter
And easy to say
It doesn't really matter
It's only a play
It's only so much natter
Which somebody wrote
And the world's still afloat
So it's hardly a note for today
Anyway
The earth's a little fatter
But still pretty green
And life's a little flatter
But what does that mean?
It really doesn't matter
What somebody writes
You can turn off the lights
And on alternate nights
You can pray
Don't worry
Relax
On with the play