Merrily We Roll Along (1961-1960) / Bobby and Jackie and Jack

Lyrics

[COMPANY] Traveling's the fun Flashing by the countryside Merrily we roll along, roll along Catching at dreams Yesterday is done See the pretty countryside Everybody merrily, merrily 1961... Some roads are easy Some rides are breezy Some roads the ride goes out of control Grinds to a halt and ends in a hole Some roads you stall before you can roll... [CHARLEY] 1960... [BETH] It's 1960... [FRANK] And gosh, what a swell year it's been! [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] So many blessings Such wonders it has brought You hardly know where to begin: There's Xerox And lasers The twist and the "pill" A city in Brazil— [BETH] That no one wants to fill [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] Khrushchev stopped screaming And Librium came in [CHARLEY] And Nixon didn't win [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] Goodbye then to Ike and the brass To years that were cozy but crass It's true Ike was icky But better him than Dicky— Now meet the first first family with class En masse [CHARLEY] There's Bobby— [BETH] And Jackie— [FRANK] And Jack— [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] And myriads more in the back: There's Ethel and Teddy and Pat alone— [CHARLEY] Plus Eunice— [BETH] And Peter- [FRANK] And Jean— [PIANIST] And Joan— [CHARLEY] And what's-his-name—? [BETH] Stephen— [FRANK] And hold the phone— The one in the army— [BETH & CHARLEY] One in the army? [FRANK] Captain... Major... [CHARLEY] Sargent! [FRANK] That's it! [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] So many cards in the pack You want to know how to keep track? Well, one is good looking and young and rich While one is good looking and young and rich The rest are good looking and young and rich— There isn't a lot that they lack Not Bobby and Jackie and Jack And Ethel and Ted and Eunice and Pat and Joan And Steve and Peter and Jean and Sarge— There's probably dozens of others at large God knows— And Joe and Rose [They put on Kennedy wigs.] [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] We're bringing back style to the White House [BETH] I'm painting it cream for a start [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] We're making it into a cultural lighthouse For glamour and beauty and art [BETH] Evenings of the Budapest playing Vivaldi And Munch doing bits of Ravel I'll get Leontyne Price to sing her Medley from "Meistersinger" And Margot Fonteyn to dance "Giselle" [CHARLEY, spoken] Together? [BETH] Won't it be perfectly swell? [FRANK] We'll have Bernstein play next on The Bechstein piano— [CHARLEY] And Auden read poems and stuff [BETH] And Galina Vishnevskaya The Russian soprano— Just pronouncing her name is refreshing enough [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] We're bringing back style to the White House With casual culture the rule [FRANK] Let's have Tebaldi— [CHARLEY] She makes a guy feel good [BETH] And Oleg Cassini— Well, I think he's real good [CHARLEY] And how about Heifetz? [BETH] And Callas! [FRANK] And Gielgud! [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] And later, when everything's cool We'll push them all into the pool! [CHARLEY] With Bobby— [BETH] And Jackie— [FRANK] And Jack [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] The White House is under attack [FRANK] Eight years is the limit, but eight will do [CHARLEY] By then there'll be Bobby— [PIANIST] —And Teddy, too [BETH] Or Peter or Stephen— [FRANK, CHARLEY & PIANIST, to BETH] —Or even you [BETH] Ooh! And then there's the Colonel— [FRANK & CHARLEY] Colonel? [BETH] Major—? [FRANK & CHARLEY] Major? [BETH] You know—! [FRANK] Sargent [BETH] Yeah! [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] Dozens to take up the slack If anything goes out of whack [FRANK] And some day elections will be unknown— [BETH] 'Cause each of our kids will ascend the throne— [CHARLEY] And their kids have more kids with kids of their own— [FRANK] It's sort of a family knack— [BETH, CHARLEY & FRANK] Till most of the nation's Made up of relations Of Bobby and Jackie and Jack And Ethel and Ted and Eunice and Pat and Joan And Steve and Peter and Jean and Sarge And Joe and Rose and rows and rows And rows and rows and rows and rows The decade is starting anew [Crossing their fingers.] And maybe the country is, too