A Bit of a Nellie

Forbush, that is. The heroine of South Pacific. Last year I caught the Lincoln Center version at the Barbican and ever since I’ve had Nellie’s song “Cock-Eyed Optimist”, well, let’s just say I can’t get it out of my head:

“I could say life is just a bowl of Jello
And appear more intelligent and smart
But I’m stuck like a dope with a thing called hope
And I can’t get it out of my heart
Not this heart”

Let’s take a look at the details here.

The rhyme scheme is tight: ABCB plus. The plus is the fact that the A rhyme links to the first lines of the other two verses (jello/yellow/bellow) and there’s also an internal rhyme (dope/hope). The rhymes themselves are simple. I imagine Lorenz Hart would have had Nellie playing a ritornello by Ivor Novello on a violincello at this point. But there’s nothing fancy schmancy with Hammerstein.

So what does this add up to? The neatness of the rhyme scheme and the simplicity of the rhymes speaks to Nellie’s neat and simple philosophy: cock-eyed optimism. It's heartfelt but, in truth, Hammerstein is telling us that it’s too neat and too simple; it’s naive.

As for Rodgers, well:

I could say life is just a bowl of Jello
And appear more intelligent and smart

The tune is basically a descending scale. There’s also a lovely triplet wobble on "je-ell-o" which makes light of the sentiment. Nellie ain’t one for pseudo-intellectualism and wouldn't even use the such a silly word. So she makes fun of the idea.

But I’m stuck like a dope

Now the contrast (“But...”), so the musical phrase starts heading upwards. Her optimism is coming through. Again, there are details: the “stuck” literally getting stuck with a shorter staccato note .

With a thing called hope

Rule of three: first phrase (“But I’m stuck”), repeat the phrase (“like a dope”) and then the third time it gets a little extra (“with a thing called hope”), those repeated notes (“thing called”) adding a bit more certainty and confidence. Optimism rising.

And I can’t get it out of my heart

Again, this musical line is basically three repeated phrases, intensified by the D+ chord underneath, as if this idea is going round and round her head.

Not this heart

The final line is more than just a way to end the song. Musically it’s soothing and dreamy. There’s another little wobble note on “he-a-rt”. Nellie’s corn-fed, homespun philosophy is honest but untested. The spine of the plot is how her cock-eyed optimism gets put on trial by the experiences of love and war.

So in four and a bit lines of song a fully-rounded character is revealed to us, moving from playful to hopeful to assertive to dreamy. All the while being lyrically precise, memorably tuneful and dramatically true. Remarkable.

Miss Forbush sets the standards for musical theatre (with a little help from R&H).