Sondheim Stephen – Prologue: Into The Woods lyrics

[NARRATOR]
Once upon a time
[CINDERELLA]
I wish...
[NARRATOR]
in a far-off kingdom
[CINDERELLA]
More than anything...
[NARRATOR]
lived a fair maiden,
[CINDERELLA]
More than jewels...
[NARRATOR]
a sad young lad

[JACK]
I wish...
[NARRATOR]
and a childless baker
[JACK]
More than life...

[CINDERELLA & BAKER]
I wish...
[NARRATOR]
with his wife.
[JACK]
More than anything...

[CINDERELLA, BAKER & JACK]
More than the moon...

[BAKER'S WIFE]
I wish...

[CINDERELLA]
The King is giving a Festival.
[BAKER & WIFE]
More than life...
[JACK]
I wish...
[CINDERELLA]
I wish to go to the Festival.
[BAKER & WIFE]
More than riches...
[JACK]
I wish my cow would
give us some milk.
[BAKER'S WIFE]
More than anything...
[CINDERELLA]
And the Ball...
[JACK]
Please, pal-

[BAKER]
I wish we had a child.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
I want a child...
[CINDERELLA]
I wish to go to the Festival.
[JACK]
Squeeze, pal...
[JACK]
I wish you'd give us some
milk or even cheese...
I wish...

[BAKER & WIFE]
I wish we might have a child.
I wish...
[CINDERELLA]
I wish...

[STEPMOTHER]
You wish to go to the Festival?
[NARRATOR]
The poor girl's mother had died,
[STEPMOTHER]
You, Cinderella, the Festival?
You wish to go to the Festival?

[FLORINDA]
What, you, Cinderella, the Festival?
The Festival?!

[LUCINDA]
What, you wish to go to the Festival?

[ALL THREE]
The Festival?
The King's Festival?
[NARRATOR]
And her father had taken for his new wife

[STEPMOTHER]
The Festival...
[NARRATOR]
a woman with two daughters of her own.

[FLORINDA]
Look at you nails!

[LUCINDA]
Look at your dress!

[STEPMOTHER]
People would laugh at you-

[CINDERELLA]
Nevertheless,
I still want to go to the Festival
And dance before the Prince.

[STEPMOTHER & STEPSISTERS]
She still wants to go to the Festival
And dance before the Prince?!

[NARRATOR]
All three were beautiful of face, but vile and balck of heart.
Jack, on the other hand, had no father, and his mother-

[JACK'S MOTHER]
I wish...

[NARRATOR]
Well, she was not quite beautiful-

[JACK'S MOTHER]
I wish my son were not a fool.
I wish my house was not a mess.
I wish the cow was full of milk.
I wish the house was full of gold-
I wish a lot of things...

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Why, come in, little girl.

[LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD]
I wish...

It's not for me,
It's for my Granny in the woods.
A loaf of bread, please-
To bring my poor old hungry
Granny in the woods...

Just a loaf of bread, please...

[NARRATOR]
Cinderella's Stepmother had a surprise for her.

[STEPMOTHER]
I have emptied a pot of lentils into the ashes for you.
If you have picked them out again in two hours' time,
you shall go to the ball with us.

[LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD]
And perhaps a sticky bun?...
Or four?...

[CINDERELLA]
Birds in the sky,
Birds in the eaves,
I the leaves,
In the fields,
In the castles and ponds...

[LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD]
And a few of those pies... please...

[CINDERELLA]
Come, little birds,
Down from the eaves
And the leaves,
Over fields,
Out of castles and ponds...

[JACK]
No, squeeze, pal...

[CINDERELLA]
Ahhh...
Quick, little birds,
Flick through the ashes.
Pick and peck, but swiftly,
Sift through the ashes,
Into the pot...

[JACK'S MOTHER]
Listen well, son. Milky-White must be taken to market.

[JACK]
But, mother, no- he's the best cow-

[JACK'S MOTHER]
look at her.

There are bugs on her dugs.
There are flies in her eyes.
There's a lump on her rump
Big enough to be a hump-

[JACK]
But-

[JACK'S MOTHER]
Son,
We've no time to sit and dither,
While her wither's wither with her-
And no one keeps a cow for a friend!

Sometimes I fear your touched.

[LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD]
Into the woods,
It's time to go,
I hate to leave,
I have to, though.
Into the woods-
It's time, and so
I must begin my journey.

Into the woods
And through the trees
To where I am
Expected ma'am,
Into the woods
To Grandmother's house-

Into the woods
To Grandmother's house-

[BAKER'S WIFE]
You're certain of your way?

[LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD]
The way is clear,
The light is good,
I have no fear,
Nor no one should.
The woods are just trees,
The trees are just wood.
I sort of hate to ask it,
But do you have a basket?

Into the woods
And down the dell,
The path is straight,
I know it well.
Into the woods,
And who can tell
What's waiting on the journey?

Into the woods
To bring some bread
To Granny who
Is sick in bed.
Never can tell
What lies ahead.
For all that I know,
She's already dead.

But into the woods,
Into the woods,
Into the woods
To Grandmother's house
And home before dark.

[CINDERELLA]
Fly, birds,
Back to the sky,
Back to the eaves
And the leaves
And the fields
And the-

[FLORINDA]
Hurry up and do my hair, Cinderella!

Are you really wearing that?

[LUCINDA]
Here, I found a little tear, Cinderella.

Can't you hide it with a hat?

[CINDERELLA]
You look beautiful.

[FLORINDA]
I know.

[LUCINDA]
She means me.

[FLORINDA]
Put ut in a twist.

[LUCINDA]
Who will be there?...

[CINDERELLA]
Mother said be good,
Father siad be nice,
That was always their advice.
So be nice, Cinderella,
Good, Cinderella,
Nice good good nice-

[FLORINDA]
Tighter!

[CINDERELLA]
What's the good of being good
If everyone is blind
And you're always left behind?
Never mind, Cinderella,
Kind Cinderella-
Nice good nice kind good nice-

[FLORINDA]
Not that tight!

[CINDERELLA]
Sorry.

[FLORINDA]
Clod.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Who minght that be?

[BAKER]
It's the witch from next door.

[NARRATOR]
The old enchantress told the couple she had
placed a spell on their house.

[BAKER]
What spell?

[WITCH]
In the past, when your mother was with child, she developed
an unusual appetite. SHe took one look at my beautiful garden
and told your father that what she wanted more than
anything in the world was

Greens, greens and nothing but greens:
Parsley, peppers, cabbages and celery,
Asparagus and watercress and
Fiddleferns and lettuce-!

He said, "All right,"
But it wasn't, quite,
'Cause I caught him in the autumn
In my garden one night!
He was robbing me,
Raping me,
Rooting through my rutabaga,
Raiding my arugula and
Ripping up my rampion
(My champion! My favorite!)-
I should have laid a spell on him
Right there,
Could have changed him into stone
Or a dog or a chair...

But I let him have the rampion-
I'd lots to spare.
In return, however,
I said, "Fair is fair:
You can let me have the baby
That your wife will bear.

And we'll call it square."

[BAKER]
I had a brother?

[WITCH]
No. But you had a sisiter.

[NARRATOR]
But the witch refused to tell him anymore of his sister.
Not even that her name was Rapunzel.

[WITCH]
I though I had been more than reasonable.
But how was I to know what your father
had also hidden in his pocket?!

[BAKER]
What?

[WITCH]
Beans.

[BAKER & WIFE]
Beans?

[WITCH]
The special beans.

I let him go,
I didn't know
He'd stolen my beans!

I was watching him crawl,
Back over the wall-!
Then bang! Crash!
And the lightning flash!
And- well, that's another story,
Never mind-
Anyway, at last
The big day came,
And I made my claim.
"Oh, don't take away the baby,"
They shrieked and screeched,
But I did,
And I hid her
Where she'll never be reached.

And your father cried,
And your mother died
When for extra measure-
I admit it was a pleasure-
I said, "Sorry,
I'm still not mollified."

And I laid little spell on them-
You, too, son-
That your family tree
Would always be a barren one...

So there's no more fuss
And there's no more scenes
And my garden thrives-
You should see my nectarines!
But I'm tellling you the same
I tell kings and queens:
Don't ever never ever
Mess around with my greens!
Especially the beans.

[JACK'S MOTHER]
Now closely to me, Jack. Lead Milky-White to market and
fetch the best price you can. Are you listening to me?

Jack Jack Jack,
Head in a sack,
The house is getting colder,
This is not the time for dreaming.

Chimney stack
Starting to crack,
The mice are getting bolder,
The floor's gone slack,
Your mother's getting older,
Your father's not back,
And you can't just sit here dreaming pretty dreams.

To wish and wait
From day to day
Will never keep
The wolves away.

So into the woods
The time is now.
We have to live,
I don't care how.
Into the woods
To sell the cow,
You must begin the journey.
Straight to the woods
and don't delay-
You have to face
The marketplace.
Into the woods to journey's end-

[JACK]
Into the woods to sell a friend-

[NARRATOR]
Meanwhile, the Witch, for purposes of her own,
explained how the Baker might lift the spell;

[WITCH]
You wish to have
The curse reversed?
I'll need a certain
Potion first.
Go to the woods and bring me back
One: the cow as white as milk,
Two: the cape as red as blood,
Three: the hair as yellow as corn,
Four: the slipper as pure as gold.

Bring me these
Before the chime
Of midnight,
In three day's time,
And you shall have,
I guarantee,
A child as perfect
As child can be.

Go to the wood!

[STEPMOTHER]
Ladies.
Our carriage waits.

[CINDERELLA]
Now may I go to the Festival?

[STEPMPTHER]
The Festival-!
Darling, those nails!
Darling, those clothes!
Lentils are one thing but
Darling, with those,
You'd make us the fools of the Festival
And mortify the Prince!

[CINDERELLA'S FATHER]
Our carriage is waiting.

[STEPMOTHER]
We must be gone.

[CINDERELLA]
Good night, Father.
I wish...

[BAKER]
Look what I found in father's hunting jacket.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Six beans. We'll take them with us.

[BAKER]
No!

The spell is on my house.
Only I can lift the spell,
The spell is on my house.

[BAKER'S WIFE]
No, no, the spell is on our house.
We must lift the spel.

[BAKER]
No. You are not to come and that is final.
Now what am I to return with?

[BAKER'S WIFE]
You don't remember?

The cow as white as milk,
The cape as red as blood,
The hair as yellow as corn,
The slipper as pure as gold-

[BAKER]
The cow as white as milk,
The cape as red as blood,
The hair as yellow as corn,
The slipper as pure as gold...

[NARRATOR]
And so the Baker, reluctantly, set off to meet the
enchantress' demands.
As for Cinderella:

[CINDERELLA]
I still wish to go to the Festival,
But how am I ever to get to the Festival?

[BAKER]
The cow as white as milk,
The cape as red as blood,
The hair as yellow as corn-

[CINDERELLA]
I know!
I'll visit Mother's grave,
The grave at the hazel tree,
And tell her I just want to
Go to the King's Festival...

[BAKER]
The slipper as pure as gold...
The cow, the cape,
The slipper as pure as gold-

[BAKER'S WIFE]
The hair-!

[CINDERELLA & BAKER]
Into the woods,
It's time to go,
It may be all
In vain, you/I know.
Into the woods-
But even so,
I have to take the journey.

[CINDERELLA, BAKER & WIFE]
Into the woods,
The path is straight,
You know it well,
But who can tell-

[BAKER & WIFE]
Into the woods to lift the spell-

[CINDERELLA]
Into the woods to visit Mother-

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Into the woods to fetch the things-

[BAKER]
To make the potion-

[CINDERELLA]
To got to the Festival-

[CINDERELLA, JACK, JACK'S MOTHER, BAKER, WIFE]
Into the woods
Without regret,
The choice is made,
The task is set.
Into the woods,
But not forget-
Ting why I'm on the journey.
(Little Red Riding hood Joins)
Into the woods
to get my wish,
I don't care how,
The time is now.

[JACK'S MOTHER]
Into the woods to sell the cow-

[JACK]
Into the woods to get the money-

[BAKER'S WIFE]
Into the woods to lift the spell-

[BAKER]
To make the potion-

[CINDERELLA]
To go to the Festival-

[LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD]
Into the woods to Grandmother's house...
Into the woods to Grandmother's house...

[ALL]
The way is clear,
The light is good,
I have no fear,
No no one should.
The woods are just trees,
The trees are just wood.
No need to be afraid there-

[CINDERELLA & BAKER]
There's something in the glade there...

[ALL]
Into the woods,
Without delay,
But careful no
To lose the way.
Into the woods,
Who knows what may
Be lurking on the journey?

Into the woods
To get the thing
That makes it worth
The lourneying.
into the owwds-

[STEMOTHER & STEPSISTERS]
To see the King-

[JACK & MOTHER]
To sell the cow-

[BAKER & WIFE]
To make the potion-

[ALL]
To see-
To sell-
To get-
To bring-
To make-
To lift-
To go to the Festival-!

Into the woods!
Into the woods!
Into the woods,
Then out of the woods,
And home before dark!