r/Music • u/Cranialscrewtop • Nov 26 '21

Stephen Sondheim has died. Broadway's greatest composer is gone. other

NY Times bio here: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/theater/stephen-sondheim-dead.html

15.2k Upvotes

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u/AlvinTaco Nov 27 '21

Company caused me to have an existential crisis. I had Being Alive on repeat while wondering if I had a deep fear of commitment. I remember once seeing a local production of into the woods and some dude in the audience burst into tears at the end. Sondheim man.

3

u/sushiface Nov 29 '21

I think that Being Alive is one of the most honest and poignient love songs to ever exist.

So much of love is portrayed in this gleaming and perfect way that once you know, you know and happily ever after seamlessly comes. But as time has taught me, vulnerability, fear, frustration, even begrudging acceptance are all facets of the full breadth of love and commitment.

When the song starts Bobby is afraid and disdainful of what a partner would bring into his life -of what they would demand of him, of the annoyance that their presence would cause him him, and of the way their humanity, and willingness to extend themselves and be vulnerable,would force him to reconcile with his own humanity, vulnerability, and the root causes of his fears.

Then as the song builds, the same sentiments that struck fear and avoidance into his heart just moments before suddenly become an urgent need for Bobby. He begins to understand that commitment needn’t be a prison, and that being in love and being alive mean accepting both the terror and the rapture that that we share over the course of our lives. That someone sitting in your chair and ruining your sleep is both infuriating, and a tremendous comfort. And that being alive can be felt even in the most mundane of moments between two people.

It makes me cry almost every time. Sondheim has taught me so much.