Lyric

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Marilyn: "Who's that man?"
Chorus: "He's the first base coach."
Marilyn: "Have you noticed that he signals every time I approach?"

So if you know baseball, you know that it's the third base coach who flashes the signs, not the first base coach.

Easy to change if this every actually makes an appearance on a stage. Maybe they needed a dramaturg who knows baseball?

[ClydeBarrow]

[JoeKv99]

I don't think his "signaling" has anything to do with baseball, if you get my drift.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Of course I get your drift. My point is that said "drift" would be the same if third base coach was substituted for first base coach. Doesn't really matter which coach is doing the "hitting", as it were, except from the perspective of baseball accuracy.

[FindingNamo]

I'm shocked Cousin Debbie missed that when she wrote the lyrics, but in her defense there was a lot going on in her life, she was having an affair with the fast moving Michael Swift, she was losing her son to pot-taking, and Uma Oprah was causing trouble backstage.

Also, could we just go ahead and add "ure" back at the end of "fail"?

[JoeKv99]

Sorry. That was to the original post- to Namo's suggestion I say YES.

[finebydesign]

My one critique of the lyrics is that at times are a little too sophisticated and retrospective. Marilyn is constantly doling out advice it rarely feels conversational. I know she was the "smart dumb blonde" but Yoda she wasn't. I don't feel much character development from the cast-recording. You don't get more than some highlights. I guess it's in the book?

When I compare this work to Hairspray, which is has this kinetic movement for Tracy, it really feels lacking.

All that said, "They Just Keeping Moving the Line" is freaking amazing. The lyric means so much for both Marilyn and Ivy's character.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

After listening to the entire Bombshell album, it dawned on me that while the music is pretty good, a lot of the lyrics are pretty weak, unless they were written that way because Cousin Debbie's work was supposed to be weak.

I think it's weird that in that first song with Bernadette Peters, she clearly says she drops little Norma Jean off at Grauman's every week, but two seconds later Norma Jean asks her if she really has to stay there all day like it's something new.

[SamIAm2]

I agree with RaisedOnMusicals' original point about the "National Pastime" lyric. Although it may seem like a minor inaccuracy, it does pull the baseball fan out of the flow of the show when he/she thinks, "Wait a minute! That should be the third base coach". I know that this is what happened for me.

[Emmaloucbway]

I blame Ellis.

[Gothampc]

Could the lyric be irony? The first base coach was so distracted by Marilyn's beauty that he wasn't thinking about his job?

[Fan123]

That song has got to be the most pointless one in the whole (fake) show. Is it meant to be happening in her head, or in the baseball players' heads? If it's in her head, why is she playing the flirt instead of being her more 'genuine' self? If it's in the random players' heads, why should the audience care? If it's meant to be heightened real life...I can understand Marilyn putting on her flirty personality in a press conference or similar, but when or why would she be talking about such things to some guy's former baseball buddies before even going on her first date with him... odd.

[EricMontreal22]

" If it's in the random players' heads, why should the audience care?"

They must have cleverly heard Mr Dramaturg's advice to make the show all about how various men perceive Marilyn, before he even gave it on the show.

In all honesty, while I really do enjoy the Bombshell score for the most part (it's much more enjoyable to listen to than nearly anything from Catch Me If You Can, and I think I prefer it to Hairspray as well--a score I find works perfectly in the context of the show, but that I rarely listen to on CD,) I don't think Shaiman and Wittman's lyrics ever are particularly great. (Shaiman writes the music and they both write the lyrics, right?) Far from the worst in musical theatre, their lyrics work best when they are, sometimes quite clever, pastiches of various pop and theatre songs from different eras (I guess that's true of most of their music too, but I find more to enjoy there.) Most of their lyrics don't really handle any scrutiny.

[trixigold]

Maybe it's meant as a metaphor for the kissing/petting sequence? First base is a kiss. Also, first base coaches give signs, too, they don't do everything verbally. They're not as visible as the third base coach, but they help decide whether a hitter should take an additional base or whether to advance on a fly, among other duties. They don't have the visibility of a third base coach or the same duties, but they are there for a reason and use gestures as well as yelling at the players to run. They're also noted for patting guys on the butt for getting a single.