One of my favorite ditties from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. Kevin Klein slays his rapid lines
Frederic:
My eyes are fully open to my awful situation
I shall go at once to Mabel and I'll make her an oration
I shall tell her I am bound by duty and my moral senses
And I don't know what to do about about impending consequences
Now I do not want to perish by the sword or by the dagger
But a pirate must indulge a little pardonable swagger
And a word or two of compliment my vanity could flatter
But I've got to go tonight and so it really doesn't matter!
The Pirate King:
So it really doesn't matter
Matter, matter, matter, matter
So it really doesn't matter
Matter, matter, matter, matter
Ruth (at the same time):
So it really doesn't matter
Matter, matter, matter, matter
So it really doesn't matter
Frederic:
So it really doesn't matter
The Pirate King:
So it really doesn't matter
All:
So it really doesn't matter, matter, matter, matter, matter!
Frederic and Pirate King:
Matter, matter, matter, matter
Matter, matter, matter, matter
Ruth:
If this were not a little mad and generally silly
I should give you my advice upon the subject willy-nilly
I should show you in a moment how to grapple with the question
And you'd really be astonished at the force of my suggestion
On the subject I should write you a most valuable letter
Full of excellent suggestion when I feel a little better
But at present I'm afraid I am as mad as any hatter
So I'll sing this song from Ruddigore, it really doesn't matter!
The Pirate King:
What we sing just doesn't matter
Matter, matter, matter, matter
What we sing just doesn't matter
Matter, matter, matter, matter
Frederic (at the same time):
What we sing just doesn't matter
Matter, matter, matter, matter
What we sing just doesn't matter
Ruth:
What we sing just doesn't matter
The Pirate King:
No, it really doesn't matter
All:
What we sing just doesn't matter, matter, matter, matter, matter!
Matter, matter, matter, matter, matter!
Matter, matter, matter, matter, matter!
The Pirate King:
If I had been so lucky as to have a steady mother
Who could talk to me as we are talking now to one another
Who could give me good advice when she discovered I was erring
(Which is just the very favor which on you, I am conferring)
My existence would've made a rather interesting idyll
And I might have lived and died a very decent interwiddle
This particularly rapid, unintelligible patter
Isn't generally heard and if it is, it doesn't matter!
Frederic:
If it is, it doesn't matter
Matter, matter, matter, matter
If it is, it doesn't matter
Matter, matter, matter, matter
Ruth (at the same time):
If it is, it doesn't matter
Matter, matter, matter, matter
If it is, doesn't matter
All:
This particularly rapid, unintelligible patter
Isn't generally heard and if it is, it doesn't matter, matter, matter, matter, matter, matter, matter, matter, matter, matter!
