Oh, tell me where
Where is it written what it is I'm meant to be
That I can't dare
To have the chance to pick the fruit of every tree
Or have my share
Of every sweet-imagined possibility?

Those are questions that women have been asking for centuries, and incredibly enough, I think they're still asking them today! I think that's what attracted me to Yentl, and why I had I had to make the film. Yentl, as some of you know, is the story of a girl in Eastern Europe at the turn of the century, when the world of study belonged only to men. But Yentl's father, recognizing her thirst for knowledge, taught her secretly. And after his death, in order to continue her studies, she had had no choice, but go out into the world disguised as a man...

Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you see me?
Papa, can you find me in the night?
Papa, are you near me?
Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you help me not be frightened?
Looking at the skies, I seem to see a million eyes
Which ones are yours?
Where are you now that yesterday
Has waved goodbye and closed its door?
The night is so much darker
The wind is so much colder
The world I see is so much bigger
Now that I'm alone
Papa, please forgive me
Try to understand me
Papa, don't you know I had no choice?
Can you hear me praying
Anything I'm saying
Even though the night is filled with voices?
I remember everything you taught me
Every book I've ever read
Can all the words in all the books
Help me to face what lies ahead?
The trees are so much taller
And I feel so much smaller
The moon is twice as lonely
And the stars are half as bright
Papa, how I love you
Papa, how I need you
Papa, how I miss you
Kissing me goodnight...
To go on with the story, um, Yentl then meets a boy whom she falls in love with - but it turns out he's already in love with another girl, but because of circumstances I can't go into now, they're prevented from getting married. And to make a long story short, he asks Yentl, who, of course, he thinks is a boy to marry the girl, so he can still see her - not Yentl, the other girl! So, the girl and the girl get married, and if you want to see how Yentl got away with the wedding night, you'll have to rent the video! it's just a variation on the boy-meets-girl-meets-girl-story, it's very '90s! Anyway, um, one night he comes over to the house to study. But it's clear that the only thing he really wants to study is her. Not Yentl, her wife, her. Get it? His eyes never leave her face

See the way they gaze at her
Like slaves they follow everywhere she goes
Do my eyes forget themselves
And do I ever look at him
And smile in such a way
That what I'm feeling shows?
Sometimes I have the feeling everybody knows
And even though it's crazy
Still I can't help wondering if I'll ever live to see that day
When by some miracle of miracles
He'll turn around and look at me
That way...

Oh, tell me where?
Where is the someone who will turn and look at me?
And want to share
My every sweet-imagined possibility?
The more I live - the more I learn
The more I learn - the more I realize
The less I know
Each step I take
(Papa, I've a voice now!) Each page I turn -
(Papa, I've a choice now!) Each mile I travel only means
The more I have to go
What's wrong with wanting more?
If you can fly - then soar!
With all there is - why settle for
Just a piece of sky?
Papa, I can hear you...
Papa, I can see you...
Papa, I can feel you...
Papa, watch me fly!
Papa, watch me fly!
Thank you! I'm glad you liked that! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Oh, that's great! Thank you! This current administration has been beset by many problems. But, it's had many accomplishments, a fact that sometimes seems to get overlooked nowadays, you know? I guess it is easier to criticize than to praise! so, I'd like to sing this song tonight in celebration of everything that is positive and possible in this great country of ours and around the world