# In musicals where two groups sing different parts of the song simultaneously **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2005, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617 "2005-10-30T19:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2005, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/61 "2005-11-04T10:04:24Z")
I’m surprised that none of the people mentioning Gilbert and Sullivan have mentioned the pattersongs as well. They are all about euphonious confusion for the audience. Usually three different characters are singing three different songs which may or may not share the same rhyme scheme to an insanely fast pasted musical accompanyment. I find them great fun, even if all I get out of any first encounter with one is a phrase here or there. And I believe they’re very different from the first act finales that the other posters mentioning G&S have been talking about, since the finales usually make sure that the audience gets one ‘clear’ listen at every part to the piece. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Creant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Miss\_Creant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Creant)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/62 "2011-01-22T18:37:55Z")
> [@parthenokinesis](#): > > My favorite example of the is the “Lover’s Quartet” from **Co-ed Prison Sluts**. Although it is heightened by Fluffy tearing the luncheon meat intestines out of the “hamster” while Hamster Man sings “The dog has wasted my hamster now, the agony’s wasted my heart.” Sigh. God, I miss that show. > > Jack It’s BAAAACK. I just found this thread…6 years later. \*\* Co-Ed Prison Sluts\*\* is at the **Annoyance Theater @4830 N. Broadway** , a little North of the Green Mill every Friday and Saturday night at 10:01pm. My dog Roxie has been playing the role of “Fluffy” for the past year. She’s very good and gets paid in lunch meat. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/63 "2011-01-22T21:17:25Z")
So, I was getting all excited as I started to read this thread, and was figuring out what to touch on, when I got to my own post from 5 years ago . . . wow, so informative! 😉 This winter I did a performance of _One Day More_ from _Les Miserables_, which is another example of the OP, and I think is pretty much the exact song that South Park parodies in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/64 "2011-01-23T10:36:41Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > So, I was getting all excited as I started to read this thread, and was figuring out what to touch on, when I got to my own post from 5 years ago . . . wow, so informative! 😉 Yeah - I was reading the thread and was surprised people mentioned a song from BTVS, but not [_My Eyes_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDbAgPmqRw0) from Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. Then I got to the end of the thread and realized DHSAB wasn’t created yet when the thread started. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/65 "2011-01-23T13:25:53Z")
‘[Oh, Happy We](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYElbpUy0CA)’ from Candide is a fabulous example. Candide and Cunegonde are singing about how well they agree, except they sing it in canon so that their phrases are a quarter note out from one another. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/66 "2011-01-23T23:11:52Z")
How about “Sumer is icumen in”? They don’t play it on the radio any more, though. ---
**Author:** ![icallbull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ac91a4/32.png) [@icallbull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icallbull)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/67 "2011-01-24T15:24:15Z")
Does this count??? Great cover of Life on Mars…but even better what they do with it… [URL=“[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW0ACEOEq6w](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW0ACEOEq6w)”] ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/68 "2011-01-24T15:49:00Z")
> [@](#): > > That’s why opera is important, Baron… because it’s realer than any play! A dramatic poet would have to put all these thoughts down one after another just to represent this second of time. The composer can put them all down at once - and still make us hear each one of them. Astonishing device: a vocal quartet! I tell you, I want to write a finale lasting half an hour! A quartet becoming a quintet becoming a sextet becoming a septet, an octet, a nonet, on and on, wider and wider - all sounds multiplying and rising together - and the together creating a sound entirely new! > > I bet you that’s how God hears the world. Millions of sounds ascending at once and mixing in His ear to become unending music, unimaginable to us. That’s our job. That’s _our job_! To combine the inner minds of him and him and her and her, the thoughts of chambermaids and court composers… and turn the audience into God. - Peter Shaffer, from _Amadeus_ ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/69 "2011-01-24T16:08:59Z")
I like the “We Can Do It” and “I Wanna Be a Producer” blends in _The Producers_. And I like the technique in general because if your leads are both talking about why it will/won’t work, it gets very tough to understand them. But if they sing, it’s quite easy to pick apart the differing motivations. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/70 "2011-01-24T18:03:36Z")
[Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I’m Falling](http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/nexttonormal/catchmeimfalling.htm) from _Next to Normal_ calls it an “overlap” ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/71 "2011-01-24T18:42:22Z")
> [@capybara](#): > > How about “Sumer is icumen in”? They don’t play it on the radio any more, though. That’s because it’s got itself on the banned list. People have been singing “coo coo” rather too lewdly. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/72 "2011-01-24T18:56:14Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > [Make Up Your Mind/Catch Me I’m Falling](http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/nexttonormal/catchmeimfalling.htm) from _Next to Normal_ calls it an “overlap” They’re not calling it an “overlap”. They’re saying “These words are overlapping each other”. That’s not the same thing. As mentioned on the first page of the thread, it’s called “counterpoint”. ---
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/73 "2011-01-24T21:30:09Z")
I also love when they do this in musical. I have to second my favorite example Confrontation from _Les Miserables._ Does the intro song to _Parade_ count? When Old Red Hills blends with the weird chorus part in the background…do you know what I’m talking about? Lead: The rushing of the Chattahoochie The rustling in the wind And Mama in the kitchen singin’ And me and Lila swinging in a trees TOWNSPEOPLE: The tall pines and the red clay The blue skies and the dogwood trees A man can grow his cotton And his crops Now in this case, the parts clash a little but I think they are very effective in conveying a tone. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/74 "2016-08-06T21:24:03Z")
Bumped. > [@The\_Punkyova](#): > > But I think the best one in Gilbert and Sullivan is the Act I finale from _Iolanthe_… > [@anyrose](#): > > My personal favorite G&S is Patience. There are at least two numbers in act one and one in act two that do that Another G&S example I just remembered: “I Am So Proud” from _The Mikado_: http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Gilbert\_And\_Sullivan:I\_Am\_So\_Proud ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/75 "2016-08-06T22:18:40Z")
> [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](#): > > …and I’m thinking that Yes did it as well (Siberian Khatru, perhaps?) Yes mainly sang regular harmonies but definitely used counterpoint occasionally. Best example I can think of right now is [“Hearts”,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVjhHHmAOxg) and I think also “Starship Trooper” – there’s definitely others. My favorite example of counterpoint, at least in the rock music world, is from Duran Duran’s best song ever, [“New Religion”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25m4P72FK6E) (starting at 2:15) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2016, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/76 "2016-08-07T13:38:31Z")
I know I’m far afield here, but is Meat Loaf’s Paradise by the Dashboard Light an example? “It was long ago and it was far away…” “It never felt so good it never felt so right…” mmm ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/77 "2016-08-09T06:57:08Z")
Sampiro writes: \> One of my favorite moments from Miss Saigon is when Kim and Ellen are both singing \> over each other about Chris and their relationship with him. A similar example is Susan Boyle and Elaine Page singing the song “I Know Him So Well” from _Chess_: This is especially interesting because Elaine Page was the singer that Susan said on her appearance on \*Britain's Got Talent\* that she most admired. ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/78 "2016-08-09T15:23:04Z")
My favorite example of this is the Beatles “I’ve got a feeling,” at the end when Paul is singing “I’ve got a feeling” while John is singing “Everybody’s had a good year …” ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/79 "2016-08-09T15:34:28Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > I know and love all of the examples provided so far, and am just popping in to mention “Quartet (A Model of Decorum and Tranquility)” from _Chess_. 🙂 I was lucky enough to see the West End version back in 1987. Somebody - I want to say Tim Rice, but I remember reading in the liner notes from the CD that some lyrics in at least one song were modified without his permission (and I have a feeling that “over his objections” is more like it) - rewrote “Quartet” for the American version so that, expect for a brief moment at the end, nobody is singing over anybody else. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617/80 "2016-08-16T22:26:18Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > This is one of my favorite musical tunes also. A little different than the OP’s point because it doesn’t recombine previously separate parts; separate parts are woven together through the entire song. > > However it is called [Prima Donna](http://www.seeklyrics.com/lyrics/Phantom-Of-The-Opera/Prima-Donna.html). “Notes” immediately precedes it; they kind of run together. Replacing obsolete link with this. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LMPdczoLW_c/maxresdefault.jpg "Prima Donna - 2004 Film | The Phantom of the Opera") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMPdczoLW_c) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-musicals-where-two-groups-sing-different-parts-of-the-song-simultaneously/328617.md?page=5)