# What are your favorite showtunes to belt out for no reason in particular? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2005, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244 "2005-12-26T10:21:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/1 "2005-12-26T10:21:25Z")
I am not the showtune afficiando that I use to be -as most of my music is on record and a few CDs, that are scratched or lost in action - , but the music lives on in my DNA. \* **Music Man** has a truck load, and I have to say that \*\*The Wells Fargo Wagon \*\* song is possibly my favorite over all to sing at any given moment or during moments of stretching the excitement for my kids (who go :dubious: ) I whistle **Marion The Librarian** everytime I am at the library. **Y’got Trouble my friends…which rhymes with P and that stands for Pool** is something that crops up everytime people in Hooterville here start going off on an intangent of “Can you beleive there is a (cigerette store/whatever)now on the highway…” What this town needs is a pool table and Henry Hill! Oh, Robert Preston, how I love thee! **Guys and Dolls** : **Sit down your rockin’ the boat** if only I knew all the words … **I got the horse right here…** which a friend and I sing the opening parts to this at least once a year for no other reason than that we like it. **Lion King** : "I just can’t wait to be King.\*\* is a ditty that I love to sing out for my kids when they are being demanding little buggers. (again, I get the :dubious: ) and who can forget the everlovin’ pipes of the Great and Imperious: **Ethel Merman** and **There’s No Business Like Show Business** and one of these centuries I will by a greatest hits of hers…cause…that voice! Those pipes…In my next life I am either going to sing like her, or be a tranny and dress up like her. I’m missing a bunch here…but I know the broadway and chorus line doper brigade will jump in with their \*All songs peter out to a loud gradiose humming of the tune. What I lack in words I make up for in exuberance. DAh dah dah dah da da…Let’s Gooooo On with the Show!!! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/2 "2005-12-26T10:57:09Z")
“What Lola Wants,” from _Damn Yankees_. “Old Man River,” from _Showboat_. (Fun for when you want to bust out the deeeeeeep voice.) “Summertime,” from _Porgy and Bess_. “Over at the Frankenstein Place,” from _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_. (I like switching to the falsetto for the backup parts.) “Hello Dolly.” I have a chainsaw Louis Armstrong thing that I can do for a few minutes before my it starts to hurt too much. Still fun. I don’t know the lyrics to “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina,” but I like to extemporize my own from time-to-time. “My Favourite Things,” from _The Sound of Music_. Straight or filthy, depending on BAL. If people would get off their ass and mount a Broadway production of _The Forbidden Zone_, I wouldn’t feel like I was cheating when I include “Pico and Sepulveda,” (the La Brea Tar Pits song.) _“Where nobody’s dreams… come true…”_ Beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/3 "2005-12-26T10:58:37Z")
I actually own a rare, vinyl LP album of Ethel Merman singing show tunes to a disco beat…big hit in the Gay discos of the 70’s. Will make you either want to jump back into that white, polyester leisure suit, or commit suicide - depending on how much you have had to drink. You have to hear it to believe it. But I never miss an opportunity to belt out a show tune when I have a chance. “Act your age, **DMark**!” DMark: _“I won’t grow up, I don’t wanna go to school…”_ ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/4 "2005-12-26T11:26:37Z")
I’m always whistling lotsa stuff from _Guys and Dolls_ - “Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game”, “Luck Be A Lady” and “Guys and Dolls” in particular. Also, I take any opportunity to work in a few lines from _The Sound of Music_ whenever possible. “Don’t Rain on My Parade” is a favourite, especially on Monday mornings when everyone is a bit glum, as is “Artificial Flowers” from _Tenderloin_ is another one of my show-stoppers. I love the shock value of show tunes, because most people don’t figure me for a show-tunes-kinda-guy. mm ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/5 "2005-12-26T11:31:58Z")
“You Can Always Count On Me” from _City of Angels_ and “Broadway Baby” from _Follies_ are my shower songs. Those, and a mishmash of _Guys and Dolls_ (“If we only had a lousy little grand, we could be a millionAIRE!”), _Annie Get Your Gun_ (“And you CAIN’T get a HUG from a MUG with a SLUUUUUUUG!”), _Brigadoon_ (“Don’t ye ken? There’s a fair! Down on MacCONaghy Square!”), _Kiss Me, Kate_ (“If you can’t be a ham and do _Hamlet_, she will not give a damn or a damlet”), and of course _Music Man_, which I think ties with _Into the Woods_ for “every person ever remotely connected with a musical theater production knows the entire libretto to this show.” Gilbert and Sullivan’s Big Three get a lot of play, too. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/6 "2005-12-26T13:25:08Z")
“Oklahoma” - including the title track of course along with “I Can’t Say No”, “Kansas City”, “Oh What a Beautiful Morning”, and “Pore Jud is Daid” Oh yea, the belting out of any of the above always results in :rolleyes: from the rest of the staff at the office. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/7 "2005-12-26T13:58:06Z")
**Rent** : “La Vie Boheme” (It’s so exuberant.) **Wicked** :“Popular” **Oklahoma!** “Oklahoma” and “The Farmer and the Rancher” ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/8 "2005-12-26T14:33:03Z")
Bushel and a Peck–I sang that to my kids at bedtime. Iowa–or whatever in Music Man (and we’re so goldarned stubborn we can stand touching noses for a week at a time and never see eye to eye…) There are tons more, but I am bloated from Xmas overindulgence and have no brain cells left. ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/9 "2005-12-26T17:09:23Z")
I often sing “Anthem” from **Chess** , for no other reason than the recording I have of it is -perfectly- within my range, and I like the vocal exercise of it. There are days I’ll be driving home after some hardship, some difficult day, and as I’m pulling into the lot, I’ll look up at my appartment and sing the opening of, “All I Ever Wanted” from **Prince of Egypt**. I sang it when I was first alone in my appartment, and it’s often soothing to remind myself. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/10 "2005-12-26T17:33:03Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I actually own a rare, vinyl LP album of Ethel Merman singing show tunes to a disco beat…big hit in the Gay discos of the 70’s. Will make you either want to jump back into that white, polyester leisure suit, or commit suicide - depending on how much you have had to drink. You have to hear it to believe it. > > But I never miss an opportunity to belt out a show tune when I have a chance. > > “Act your age, **DMark**!” > DMark: _“I won’t grow up, I don’t wanna go to school…”_ One of my strangest childhood memories ever was watching Ethel lip sync badly and stumble around the stage on Dance Fever. The tune? Her disco version of “Chattanooga Choo-Choo”. Denny Terrio actually had to grab her at the end to keep her from tipping over… ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/11 "2005-12-26T17:38:17Z")
Any damn showtune to which I can remember the words, or fake it gloriously. Yes I did inherit the “gay showtune” gene. Anything from “My Fair Lady”, “The Sound of Music”, or “Hedwig” is fair game. Jayjay and I once spent 3 1/2 hours in the car singing along to the entire cast album of “Gypsy”, dancing in our seats to “Gotta Have A Gimmick” outside of a Sheetz mini mart. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/12 "2005-12-26T19:38:17Z")
“On the Street Where You Live” from My Fair Lady “Surrey with a Fringe On Top” from Oklahoma! “Goldfinger” from Goldfinger “Put On a Happy Face” from Bye Bye Birdie ---
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/13 "2005-12-26T22:58:00Z")
Add me to the chorus for _Guys and Dolls_. I know most of it by heart. I especially like Miss Adelaide’s lament, " a person could develop a cold." Also beloved is _Sit Down, Your Rocking The Boat_. The title song, \*Take Back Your Mink \* and _Luck Be A Lady Tonight_. My mother loved Broadway tunes and often sang them to me. Her favorite song to sing was _A Bushel And A Peck._ This my favorite musical. From _Hair_ I like _Manchester England England_, _Aquarius_ and _The Flesh Failures/Let The Sun Shine In._. I also like _Easy To Be Hard_. Paint Your Wagon gave us _They Call the Wind Mariah_, another favorite. _Cabaret_- The song \*Cabaret \* is a great song to sing I also creep myself out when I sing _The Future Belongs To Us_, a beautiful song with a horrible underlying subtext. If you’re looking for creepy music, this song deserves attention. _My Fair Lady \* gave us The Street Where You Live_, IMHO one of the most beautiful love songs ever written. _I’m Getting Married In The Morning_ is also great fun. I also like _Wouldn’t It Be Luverly?_ Fron _Damn Yankees_- _You Gotta Have Heart_ and _Those Were The Good Old Days._ My mother loved _Whatever Lola Wants_ and always included that in her repertoire when she sang to me… Camelot- _C’est Moi_ \* A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum\* gave us _Everybody Ought To Have A Maid_ and _Comedy Tonight \* both of which I love to sing. And Miles Gloriosus’s wonderful paean to himself. “Stand aside everyone, I take large steps.” \* The Music Man_ has so many great songs but I’ve always loved _Marian The Librarian_ the most. I’ve never understood why only gay men were allowed to admit they love Broadway music. Im not gay, at least I think I’m not 😃 but good music is good music wherever it can be found. I see no reason not to admit I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2005, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/14 "2005-12-27T00:34:32Z")
> [@marque elf](#): > > I’ve never understood why only gay men were allowed to admit they love Broadway music. Im not gay… I don’t think that’s a hard-and-fast rule. (For the record, I too score very poorly on the Kinsey test. – and yet, showtunes strike a chord I don’t think it’s that uncommon. It’s not like showtunes are a Lhasa-apsa, or anything.) ---
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2005, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/15 "2005-12-27T00:44:44Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > . It’s not like showtunes are a Lhasa-apsa, or anything.) Hunh? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/16 "2005-12-27T01:15:06Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I actually own a rare, vinyl LP album of Ethel Merman singing show tunes to a disco beat…big hit in the Gay discos of the 70’s. Will make you either want to jump back into that white, polyester leisure suit, or commit suicide - depending on how much you have had to drink. You have to hear it to believe it. If it ever wears out, it’s available on[CD](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000084TTG/qid=1135646008/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6639302-1495242?n=507846&s=music&v=glance). I find myself “la la la” ing to the tune of “America” from West Side Story more often than I probably ought to. Other than that my spontaneous show tune repertoire is oddly limited. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/17 "2005-12-27T01:48:35Z")
> [@marque elf in re Lhasa Apso](#): > > Hunh? 😕 It’s a kind of [foofy dog](http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/lhasaapso.htm). (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) I know a few show tunes, but I also know tunes I have no business knowing. I got a box set of _The Thin Man_ and sequels yesterday, and was both proud and alarmed to realize I could name _every last damn song_ played in a long incidental medley during Nick & Nora’s Christmas party. These were all 1934 pop tunes, none great hits. As for teh gay, um, no thank you. I am thinking things about Myrna Loy’s naked back right now that would hijack this thread something fierce. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/18 "2005-12-27T01:52:54Z")
I am a show tune freak…if it was a song in a musical I have seen, I will probably be singing it loudly to myself in the car before the day is out. My current favorites are: Wicked-Defying Gravity, Popular Chicago-All That Jazz, When You’re Good to Mama Cats-Memories Into The Woods-Agony, On The Steps Of The Palace Chorus Line-Tits And Ass Anything from How to Succeed, Guys and Dolls, 42nd Street, etc. There are hundreds I am not mentioning here, but they are all equally important. Nothing makes you feel as good as belting out a show tune in the shower or while driving. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/19 "2005-12-27T01:58:13Z")
Let’s see - songs from **Pippin** , **Chess** , **Camelot** and **Rocky Horror** all cross my lips at some time or another. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244/20 "2005-12-27T02:01:28Z")
**Corner of the Sky** - from **Pippen** alomst anything by Stephen Sondheim (and if it’s not in my range, I transpose) notable exceptions: **Pacific Overtures** and **Sunday in the Park With George** really, anything that strikes my fancy at the time. Name a show, there’s probably a song in it I am willing and ready to belt [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-showtunes-to-belt-out-for-no-reason-in-particular/337244.md?page=2)