[C.C., spoken]
Effie, Curtis was supposed to...

[EFFIE, spoken]
Love me. Curtis was supposed to love me.

[CURTIS]
(spoken)
There you are, Effie.
(sung)
I've been looking all over

[EFFIE]
I turn my back and find myself out on the line
You could have warned me but that would have been too kind

[CURTIS]
I've been warning you since Chicago to clean up your act
You been late
You been mean
Givin' all kinds of bullshit, flak

[EFFIE]
That's a lie that's a lie
It's just I haven't been feelin' that well
[CURTIS]
Effie, please!
Stop excusing yourself
You been late
You been mean
And gettin' fatter all the time

[EFFIE]
Now you're lyin'!
You'rе lyin'!
I've never been so thin
You'rе lyin'
You're lyin'
'Cause you're knockin' off that piece who thinks she's better than everybody!
She ain't better than anybody!
She ain't nothin' but common!

[DEENA]
Now who you callin' common?
You self-indulgent, self-absorbed non-professional!

[EFFIE]
You!
I'm callin' you
I'm callin' you that common piece he's knockin' off
[DEENA]
Now you listen to me, Miss Blame-It-On-The-World
See I put up with you for much too long
I have put up with your bitchin'
I've put up with your naggin'
And all your screamin' too

[LORRELL]
Oh, now when are you two gonna stop all this fighting?

[EFFIE, spoken]
Stay out of this, Lorrell. This is between Deena and me!

[LORRELL]
Yeah?
Well, it's between me, too!
I'm as much a part of this group as anybody else
And I'm tired
Effie, I'm tired
Of all the problems you're makin' us

[EFFIE]
I always knew you two were together

[LORRELL, spoken]
What?!
[EFFIE]
I always knew you two were gangin' up on me!

[JIMMY]
Hey, now watch your tone, don't blame it on Lorrell

[LORRELL, spoken]
That's alright, Jimmy, I can handle her!

[JIMMY]
Now she had nothin' to do with this change
It was you
It was you always thinkin' of you
All you can do is rant and rave
You think a star is a king
Wake up, baby
A star is a slave

[DEENA, LORRELL, & C.C.]
Wake up, baby
A star is a slave

[CURTIS]
I knew you were trouble from the start

[EFFIE, spoken]
Trouble?!

[CURTIS]
You were real bad trouble from the start

[EFFIE, spoken]
What?!

[CURTIS]
But you're gettin' out now
I'm not buildin' this group
To have you tear it apart
Go ahead and rant and scream and shout
Don't worry, baby
I'll buy you out

[EFFIE, spoken]
Oh, there's not enough money dirty enough to buy me out, Curtis. You remember that!

[C.C.]
Lay off, Effie
Just take the money and run

[EFFIE, spoken]
You're in this with them, too, C.C.?

[C.C.]
Cool it, Effie
This time you know what you've done

[EFFIE, spoken]
So I see they bought your black ass, too!

[C.C.]
I said cool it, Effie!
This time you've gone too far

[EFFIE, spoken]
I can go further. I can go further!

[MICHELLE]
I don't want to stay around this
I've seen enough fights in this business
This is between all of you
Now this is none of my affair

[EFFIE]
Yeah?
Well, it's between you, too, now, sister
This snow job is as much your sin
Look at me!
Look at me!
How much did you put out to get in?

[MICHELLE]
Now you watch your mouth, watch your mouth, Miss Effie White
'Cause I don't take that talk from no second-rate diva who can't sustain

[EFFIE]
I'm not feeling well
I've got pain

[DEENA, LORRELL, CURTIS, C.C., & JIMMY]
Effie, we all got pain

[EFFIE]
Oh
For seven years I've sung with you
I was your sister

[DEENA, LORRELL, CURTIS, C.C. & JIMMY]
You were our trouble

[EFFIE]
And now you're tellin' me it's all over

[DEENA, LORRELL, CURTIS, C.C. & JIMMY]
And now we're tellin' you it's all over

[EFFIE]
And now I'm telling you I ain't going

[DEENA, LORRELL, CURTIS, C.C. & JIMMY]
It's all over

[EFFIE]
I ain't going

[DEENA, LORRELL, CURTIS, C.C. & JIMMY]
It's all over