I often hear the argument that too much new musical theatre sounds the same: the same chord structure – the same lyrics of longing – without a nod to the songwriters who have come before. I have enough arguments to the contrary to fill 10 TED talks, but for the sake of this series, you need look no further than Rachel Griffin. Her lyrics are at once contemporary and golden age. They sing of a longing that feels as relevant as Pasek and Paul with the honesty of Hammerstein. That is a rare find. Here, Rachel discusses “The Ocean” from her musical We Have Apples. 

THE STORY: We Have Apples is a musical comedy set in a psychiatric facility. Jane, a quirky 18-year-old writer, is determined to overcome her depression, which is personified by a female actor. Annoyed by the often cheesy and condescending group therapy sessions, Jane and a band of fabulous fellow patients start a writing group. As their voices grow stronger, tension between patients and staff members heightens. More complications ensue when Jane and her psychiatrist's son (who is pretending to be an outpatient with symptoms strikingly similar to a Prozac commercial) fall in love and tragedy strikes their community. 

THE SET-UP: Jane explaining to her psychiatrist, Dr. Williams, what it feels like to be her. She loves the ocean of thoughts, ideas and dreams within herself, but she also fears its tumultuousness.

THE LYRIC: 

SOME HAVE A FOUNTAIN
INSIDE OF THEIR HEAD
OR MAYBE, A POND
THAT LIES THERE INSTEAD

PONDS ARE BEAUTIFUL
AND EASY TO KEEP
BUT I NEED TO DIVE
TO LEAP

I HAVE AN OCEAN ROLLING IN ME
SOMETIMES I’M SWIMMING
SPLASHING, I’M FREE
I HAVE AN OCEAN WITH NO END IN SIGHT
BUT WHEN THERE’S A STORM
I GET LOST- IT’S A FIGHT

AND I DON’T WANT TO DROWN
BUT I DON’T WANT TO LOSE
THE OCEAN

SOME FEEL THE WATER
ADMIRE THE SCENE
THE LANDSCAPE IS NICE
AND EVERYTHING’S CLEAN

THEY’RE SO HAPPY THERE
THIS SAFE PLACE TO BE
BUT I WANT TO RIDE
THE SEA

I HAVE AN OCEAN ROLLING IN ME
SOMETIMES I’M SWIMMING
SPLASHING, I’M FREE
I HAVE AN OCEAN WITH NO END IN SIGHT
BUT WHEN THERE’S A STORM
I GET LOST- IT’S A FIGHT

AND I DON’T WANT TO DROWN
BUT I DON’T WANT TO LOSE
THE OCEAN

THE BREAKDOWN:

DB: Tell me a little about the creation of the lyric generally.

RG: At first, I had too many ideas of what I wanted to say with the lyrics. That often happens to me and I need to stop and say to myself, “What is the main idea of the song?” The verses originally weren't related to water in any way. I realized the main idea was that the character had an ocean inside of her, so the verses should be related to that as well. Then I imaged what would be the opposite of having a wild ocean within, so I thought of a happy, little pond or a perfect fountain and mention those in the verses. I do a lot of editing after I create the scratch lyric. I make sure everything scans and that the correct syllables in a word are emphasized. Sometimes I changed a line to be more descriptive or original, such as the line “The landscape is nice.” It was initially “Everything’s nice” but I thought “everything” was a little lazy to use there. 

DB: Was there a rhythm pattern you were looking to achieve in this song? What was the goal of the flow of the text?

RG: There is always a pattern between verses, such as if the first line of the first verse (“Some have a fountain”) has 5 syllables, so will the first line of the second verse (“Some feel the water”). Sometimes I even try to match the number of syllables per word, such as how in this example, the first three words of both lines have 1 syllable and the last word of each line has 2. It’s kind of like solving a crossword puzzle. I think clear form is effective, but I also break rules. I use all perfect rhymes in this song (I think) but I do stray from rhyming in general sometimes. When I rhyme with musical theatre writing, it’s almost always perfect rhymes. In my pop writing I use more slant rhymes. 

DB: Thematically, where does the lyric reach its "moment" – meaning, is there a particular line that serves as the heartbeat of the song?

RG: I think “I have an ocean rolling in me” is the moment. I tried to mimic the rolling of the ocean with the melody there. It's her unique way of declaring who she is. She also feels pride about the ocean in that line. (Then she gets a little darker… lol) 

DB: If you had the chance to rewrite this lyric knowing what you know now, what, if anything, would you do differently?

RG: I might add a bridge if I was to rewrite it… maybe I’ll still add one. Maybe it will be her pondering whether she could get used to life without her ocean or what that might feel like.

Watch this video on YouTube.

Samantha Massell performs “The Ocean” at the Musical Theatre Factory

The post FINISHING THE HAT: “The Ocean” – A Conversation with Rachel Griffin appeared first on The NewMusicalTheatre.com Green Room.