So Long, Farewell Lyrics
There's a sad sort of clanging
From the clock in the hall
And the bells in the steeple too
And up in the nursery, an absurd little bird
Is popping out to say "cuck-coo"
GRETL AND MARTA
Cuck-coo, Cuck-coo
Cuck-coo, Cuck-coo
Cuck-coo, Cuck-coo
Cuck-coo, Cuck-coo
CHILDREN (EXCEPT GRETL AND MARTA)
Regretfully the tell us
But firmly the compel us
To say goodbye
GRETL AND MARTA
Cuck-coo
CHILDREN (INCLUDING GRETL AND MARTA)
To you...
CHILDREN
So long, farewell
Auf wiedersehen, goodnight
MARTA
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight.
(Marta leaves.)
REMAINING CHILDREN
So long, farewell
Auf wiedersehen, adieu
FRIEDRICH
Adieu, adieu
To yieu and yieu and yieu
(Friedrich leaves.)
REMAINING CHILDREN
So long, farewell
Au revoir, auf wiedersehen
LIESL
I'd like to stay and taste my first champagne.
(spoken) Yes?
CAPTAIN
(spoken) No.
(Liesl leaves.)
REMAINING CHILDREN
So long, farewell
Auf wiedersehen, goodbye
KURT
I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye.
(high lady's voice) Goodby-y-y-ye!
(Kurt leaves.)
BRIGITTA
I'm glad to go, I cannot tell a lie.
LOUISA
I flit, I float, I fleetly flee I fly.
(They both leave.)
GRETL
The sun has gone to bed and so must I.
CHILDREN
(slowly) So long, farewell
Auf wiedersehen goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
PARTY ATTENDANTS
Goodbye.
lovely
It's crazy to think that certain songs have lyrics that are so much a part of motion picture -- or rather have motion picture so much a part of them -- that the words, or lyrics, come complete as lines including specific names for who <i>sings</i> them.
*note to SeLF, oeuvre is not the same word as au revoir and coo-coo clocks in France say cuck-coo even though their German
Did Rodgers and Hammerstein intend the cuckoo to have a double meaning in this song? The cuckoo, as layers of eggs in other birds' nests, is a symbol of unfaithfulness or similar sexual actions. Is it coincidence that this scene, with the goodnight song, comes right at the part of the movie in which the love between the Captain and Maria is brought to light by the Captain's presumed fiancee?