In early 1965, the musical Sweet Charity debuted on Broadway where it was a big hit. Gwen Verdon was the star, Bob Fosse directed and Neil Simon wrote the book…but this doesn't concern any of them. The lyrics were by Dorothy Fields and the score was by Cy Coleman and they wrote, among other grand musical moments, a song in the second act called "The Rhythm of Life."
As the story goes, dance hall girl Charity Hope Valentine has gotten involved with a shy tax accountant named Oscar Lindquist. Oscar invites her to a church service and it turns out to be a cult-like order called the Rhythm of Life Church that was something of a parody of hippie groups. The people in it have glazed looks to suggest they're somehow stoned or high or hypnotized or something. The "church" (I just realized I should put that in quotes) is kind of a sham and right after the number, it's raided by the cops.
You're probably more familiar with the movie version. Sammy Davis Jr did the song in his role as Big Daddy, singing about his phony order in the third person. Here's the first section of the song and that should tell you how legit the "church" and its message were…
Daddy started out in San Francisco,
Tootin' on his trumpet loud and mean,
Suddenly a voice said, "Go forth Daddy,
Spread the picture on a wider screen."
And the voice said, "Brother, there's a million pigeons
Ready to be hooked on new religions.
Hit the road, Daddy, leave your common-law wife.
Spread the religion of The Rhythm Of Life."
And The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat,
Puts a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet,
Rhythm in your bedroom,
Rhythm in the street,
Yes, The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat.
It's a good, funny song about a phony religious movement…but here's the thing: It no longer is. I don't know who did it or when or how but "The Rhythm of Life" has morphed into a song that is sung by choirs — often choirs of children — sometimes in real churches and other places where it is taken seriously. Here is how that same section of the lyrics goes in such venues…
When I started down the street last Sunday,
Feelin' mighty low and kinda mean,
Suddenly a voice said, "Go forth neighbor,
Spread the picture on a wider screen."
And the voice said, "Neighbor, there's a million reasons
Why you should be glad in all four seasons.
Hit the road, Neighbor, leave your worries and strife.
Spread the religion of The Rhythm Of Life."
And The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat,
Puts a tingle in your fingers and a tingle in your feet,
Rhythm in your bedroom,
Rhythm in the street,
Yes, The Rhythm Of Life is a powerful beat.
There are dozens and dozens of videos on YouTube of choirs singing this version and I'm curious, first of all, as to who wrote these alternate lyrics?
Was it Dorothy Fields, who wrote the lyrics for Sweet Charity? They don't sound a whole lot like her. She passed away in 1974 and I have no idea when the "revised" version turned up. If she didn't do it, was it done with the consent of her estate? And how did these lyrics get such wide circulation?
I should also point out that some of the groups that perform this treat it as a serious spiritual song, some make it kind of campy and some rewrite the lyrics further and/or intermingle lines from both versions.
I am reminded of the tremendous lengths some composers' estates go to to try and prevent parodies or lyric changes. Many have apparently eased up in the last few decades but when I was writing variety shows in the seventies and eighties, the Gershwin Estate and the folks representing Lerner and Loewe would practically send a S.W.A.T. team after you if you changed a line of a tune they controlled. Cy Coleman lived until 2004 so he was surely aware of this and probably blessed it…but then, it wasn't his work being changed.
Anyone know anything about this? Here's the original version as performed in the movie by Sammy and Company…
And now, here's a choir doing the song as it's now performed in most places outside of a revival of Sweet Charity. I can't be the only person who thinks it's weird that such a cynical, hippie-like song has now become respectable and performed in formal wear — although at one point in it, they do sing a lot about doobies…