[Intro: grand piano flourish] [Spoken, playfully] Ladies, gentlemen… [Backing Vocal] And everybody magnificent in between! [Guitar sting] [Verse 1: jaunty piano, sly vocal] I met a rose in a railway bar Wearing moonlight like a movie star She said, “Darling, don’t inspect the seed Just tell me if you like the flower you see” Well, I nearly spilled my little glass She laughed and let the moment pass Said, “History’s such an awful bore Are you courting me or keeping score?” [Piano run] I said— [Backing Vocals] Ooooh! [Lead] Why would I interrogate the dawn About what color night it started from? [Pre-Chorus: drums enter] The moon has worn a thousand faces The sea has changed a thousand places But darling, when you take my arm [Backing Vocal] Alarm! Alarm! [Lead, laughing] That’s the only transformation causing harm [Chorus: enormous harmonies] A ROSE IS A ROSE WHEN IT’S KISSING MY CHEEK A STAR IS A STAR WHETHER BOLD OR UNIQUE You can tell me about yesterday If yesterday insists But I’m rather more concerned, my love [Pause] With the architecture of your kiss [Backing Choir] Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! [Lead] Call it fate Call it flair Call it cosmic underwear [Guitar flourish] Whatever road brought you here tonight Darling, you arrived just right [Verse 2: bouncing bass, cabaret feel] There was a tailor on Mercury Street Who swore every soul had matching feet He measured everybody heel to toe Then fainted when the universe said “No” [Saxophone squeal] So I bought myself a crooked shoe Painted one red and the other blue And danced with you beneath the sign: “NO REFUNDS ON THE GRAND DESIGN” [Backing Vocals, theatrical] Oh, scandal! Oh, horror! Oh, somebody fetch the mayor! [Lead] Tell him love has rearranged the furniture And frankly I don’t care [Pre-Chorus] The butterfly won’t show its files The comet doesn’t justify its miles And nobody asks the champagne grape [Whispered Backing Vocal] What were you before? [Lead] Before they celebrate [Chorus] A ROSE IS A ROSE WHEN IT’S KISSING MY CHEEK A STAR IS A STAR WHETHER BOLD OR UNIQUE You can tell me about yesterday If yesterday insists But I’m rather more concerned, my love With the architecture of your kiss [Operatic Backing Vocals] Blueprint! Lipstick! Mystery! Bliss! [Lead] I’ve never fallen for a birth certificate [Guitar hit] But I have fallen hard for this [Instrumental Break: piano and guitar trading increasingly ridiculous flourishes] [Piano solo] [Guitar answer] [Piano faster] [Guitar faster] [Saxophone barges in] [Spoken] Oh, now you’re just showing off. [Bridge: slow, dreamy, celestial synths] Suppose the stars could change their names Would heaven burn with lesser flames? Suppose the river changed its course Would anybody sue the source? Suppose a caterpillar said “I’ve reconsidered wings instead” Would you stand beneath the summer sky And shout— [Backing Choir, pompously] “EXPLAIN YOURSELF, BUTTERFLY!” [Silence] [Lead, softly] I wouldn’t. [String swell] I’d watch her fly. [Huge drum entrance] [Verse 3: triumphant] So wear the dress Or wear the suit Wear the crown Or wear the boots Change the key Rewrite the part The orchestra still knows the heart [Backing Vocals] Ba-da-da-da! [Lead] Yesterday can keep its photographs I’ve got tonight and all your laughs And if the world demands a chart [Backing Choir] A chart! [Lead] I’ll draw one arrow to my heart [Final Chorus: key change, massive choir] A ROSE IS A ROSE WHEN IT’S KISSING MY CHEEK A STAR IS A STAR WHETHER GENTLE OR FREAK Let the historians argue Let philosophers insist I’m conducting my research, darling [Pause] On the architecture of your kiss [Choir] THE ARCHITECTURE! [Lead] Columns of laughter [Choir] THE ARCHITECTURE! [Lead] Windows of bliss [Choir] THE ARCHITECTURE! [Lead] An unnecessarily elaborate staircase— [Music stops] Leading directly… To this. [Kiss sound] [Explosive guitar chord] [Final Refrain] You can change the costume You can change the scene You can change the name upon the old marquee But when the spotlight finds you Standing next to me [Choir rising] Who you are Who you are Who you are [Lead] Is the woman that I see [Outro: slowing piano, layered vocals] Rose by any other name [Backing Vocals] Still a rose [Lead] Star by any other sky [Backing Vocals] Still it glows [Lead] Love by any winding road [Soft Choir] Still arrives… [Final whispered vocal] And darling… You look marvelous. [Grand piano crash] [End]
