rent song analysis
Make a copy of the lyrics to the song.
How do you document real life
When real life’s getting more like fiction each day?
Headlines, bread-lines blow my mind
And now this deadline, eviction or pay rent
How do you write a song when the chords sound wrong
Though they once sounded right and rare?
When the notes are sour
Where is the power you once had to ignite the air?
We’re hungry and frozen, some life that we’ve chosen
How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay?
How we gonna pay? Last year’s rent?
How do you start a fire when there’s nothing to burn
And it feels like something’s stuck in your flue?
How can you generate heat when you can’t feel your feet?
And they’re turning blue
You light up a mean blaze with posters and screenplays
How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay?
How we gonna pay? Last year’s rent?
How do you stay on your feet when on every street?
It’s trick or treat and tonight it’s trick
Welcome back to town I should lie down
Everything’s brown and uh-oh, I feel sick
Where is he? Getting dizzy
How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay?
How we gonna pay? Last year’s rent?
The music ignites the night with passionate fire
The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit
Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground
And feel the heat of the future’s glow
How do you leave the past behind
When it keeps finding ways to get to your heart?
It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out
‘Til you’re torn apart, rent
Ensemble
How can you connect in an age
Where strangers, landlords, lovers
Your own blood cells betray?
What binds the fabric together
When the raging, shifting winds of change
Keep ripping away
Draw a line in the sand and then make a stand
Use your camera to spar, use your guitar
When they act tough, you call their bluff
everyone
We’re not gonna pay, we’re not gonna pay
We’re not gonna pay, last year’s rent
This year’s rent, next year’s rent
Rent, rent, rent, rent, rent
We’re not gonna pay rent
'Cause everything is rent
What is the song about? Describe the scene. What happened before this scene to lead to this moment?
This is the opening song for the entire musical. The scenes set in Roger and Marks apartment. In the song we meet all of the principles and learn that they haven’t paid their rent and the song describes how they have managed to survive in the apartment so far.
What is the purpose of this song?
The purpose of the song is to open up the show with all of the cast, it’s also there to show some of the problems and issues that are going to happen during the show. It also shows Roger and Marks passions of what they want to do but how they are struggling to get anywhere with it.
Where does the song take place? How does this affect your singing, movement? i.e in a car
The song takes place inside of Mark and Rogers apartment, this affects me movement wise because i have to be especially careful with my spacial awareness and making sure that i keep an eye on people that near me when we move on different sections so that i don’t bump into them. When singing i am very powerful and we are all united singing about the same problem of rent and not paying it. I find myself singing and i know that my character is angry because of Benny and what he’s doing to the homeless and everyone else.
Who are you singing to?
During this song i am singing out to the audience and also i make contact with the other people that are around me when we all come together as the ensemble.
Who or what are you singing about?
In rent we are singing about how we aren’t going to pay rent from last year, this year or next year, in the part where i am singing we mention how strangers, landlords lovers our own blood cells betray, this connects with Benny being the landlord and he is betraying Mark and Roger by making them pay the rent he ‘let slide’ so we are singing about being betrayed and the issues that are going to come with not paying the rent.
How do you feel during the song? Plot how the emotions change on your lyrics.
During the song my character feels betrayed by Benny from what he’s done but i also feel like my character would be angry as well.
When i sing ‘how can you connect in an age where strangers landlord lovers your own blood cells betray’ throughout this section of the song it’s when i first start to sing and my character is quite angry as it mentions being betrayed by people you know and trust.
‘what binds the fabric together when the raging shifting winds of change keep ripping away’ throughout this line we all come in as one big ensemble and i still feel the same anger i felt to begin with but i also feel more powerful and passionate.
‘When they act tough you call their bluff’ I feel like this is aimed at Benny because he is acting tough and we want to call his bluff for if he’s going to evict us. I feel like this has a sense of foreshadowing in the musical because we call his bluff and he does evict people, then in the end he gives the place back.
‘we’re not gonna pay, we’re not gonna pay, last years rent, this years rent, next years rent, rent, rent, rent, rent, rent. we’re not gonna pay rent, cause everything is rent.’ when we sing this bit i can feel that my characters emotions are building up from the start of this section because we start off quiet and begin getting louder, my character feels tense when singing this building up the tension in the scene, till the last bit where we are all riled up with adrenaline.
What are the inner/outer feelings of the character in the song?
Inner - my character feels worried because she doesn’t know how to pay off the rent to Benny that she owes. She also feels angry because Benny goes back on his words and isn’t a very nice person to any of us.
Outer - Angry and riled up because we aren’t going to pay rent to Benny and as a big group we are a big team, i’m also angry he doesn’t give you chance to collect the money for the rent as well.
What facial expressions will you use to show what your characters are thinking or feeling in the song?
My facial expressions throughout this song are quite angry i make sure that my character is frowning and my eyes squint.
What gestures will you use to show what your character is thinking or feeling in the song?
When performing rent and i start to sing i point my finger to the audience when i sing ‘your own bloodcells betray’ for my character to show how passionate i am i throw my arms to the side and dance around when we sing ‘ rent, rent, rent, rent, rent’ I also kneeled down and leant my arm onto my knee to use a different level than everyone else. I nodded my head at other people when i looked at them to show interaction with the other cast to show that we noticed each other.