Stephen Sondheim
Class
[GENE]
I'm crossing the rainbow
The bridge is my friend
And it's got a pot o' gold at the other end
Not a pot o' gold
You can buy or sell—
It's the Plaza Hotel!

I'm crossing the rainbow
I'm taking a ride
To a razzle-dazzle world on the other side
Very special world
Gotta have a pass
Called "class"

A man can be
A runner by day
But socially
What counts is the way
He looks
And that's what I mean by "class"

I've got two suits
Just two to my name
I got just two suits
But both of 'em came
From Brooks
And that's what I mean by "class!"
"Class" is when you're wrapped in Harris tweed
And always look impeccable in what you're wrapped in
"Class" is when you demonstrate your breeding
Like, for instance, when you call a waiter "Captain"

This is why
A room is a "flat"
You don't say "tie"
You call it "cravat"
Say you drink from a "tumbler"
Or maybe a glass
That's the mark of someone who has
What I call "class"

The beautiful people
Who live out there
Have savoir-faire—
That's "class" in French
The beautiful people
Who live with grace
On Sutton Place
Wear robes and peignoirs
And purchase Renoirs

The beautiful people
Are my people— it's them I belong with!
Now tell me what's wrong with
That?
[HANK]
The beautiful people
Are not for you
Their blood is blue
They're out of your class
Be yourself, Gene, be yourself

[ALL BUT GENE]
Be yourself, Gene, be yourself
Be yourself, Gene, be yourself
Be yourself, Gene, be yourself

[GENE]
I'd like to own a Rolls Royce
A Braque, a Dufy
All things expensive and choice
And rare
I've got the friends that I need
To share them with me
But I need the things to share

Some people live out their lives
And don't give a damn
They buy things on the install-
Ment plan
That's not for me—I don't want
To be what I am
I want to be what I can!

The beautiful people get up at noon
And spend all their time having fun
They better make way, 'cause very soon
The four hundred will be four hundred and one!

[MAN]
I've got two suits
Two to my name
I've got two suits
But four pairs of pants
That match
Is that what you mean by "class"?

[WOMAN]
When you mingle rich
Some things are taboo
Like when you itch
The thing you don't do
Is scratch
That's what he means by "class"

[GENE]
Could you tell the Astors that your great-
Great-great grandmother
Came over with the pilgrims?

[CELESTE]
No, but I could them Uncle Nate
Came over with a man who knows
The man who founded Milgrim's

[GENE]
Ten buck tips
Havana cigars
Cross-country trips
In high-powered cars
"Captain, bring me a brandy
And a large demitasse!"
Weeknights I'm a Brooklyn boy
But on Saturday night
I've got class!