MANHATTAN MELODRAMA (IT'S JUST THAT KIND OF PLAY)
(Music: Richard Rodgers / Lyrics: Lorenz Hart - 1934)





All New York's a stage
And all its men and women are very bad actors
How they rant and rage for food and drink and money
For those are the factors

Out of the Bronx and Yonkers
Rushing to earn a wage
He must be strong who conquers
On the Manhattan stage

Act One, you gulp your coffee and run
Into the subway you crowd
Don't breathe, it isn't allowed

Act Two, the boss is yelling at you
You feel so frightened and cowed
Don't breathe, it isn't allowed

The rows of skyscrapers are like a canyon
The sun is hidden 'neath a stony shroud
Eight million people and not one companion
Don't speak to anyone, it's not allowed

Act Three, you hate the sight of Broadway
It's just that kind of a play
Manhattan Melodrama


TRIVIA:
Written as the title song for the 1934 film "Manhattan Melodrama", but not 
used. The song utilised the same melody as Rodgers and Hart's other songs: 
"Prayer (Oh, Lord, Make Me A Movie Star)", "The Bad In Every Man", and 
"Blue Moon".



(Contributed by Mel Priddle - May 2017)