Aida by Elton John and Tim Rice - Dialogue and Script

Every Story Is A Love Story Amneris: Every story, tale or memoir Every saga or romance Whether true or fabricated Whether planned or happenstance Whether sweeping through the ages Casting centuries aside Or a hurried brief recital Just a thirty-minute ride Whether bright or melancholy Rough and ready, finely spun Whether with a thousand players Or a lonely cast of one Every story, new or ancient Bagatelle or work of art All are tales of human failing All are tales of love at heart This is the story Of a love that flourished In a time of hate Of lovers no tyranny could separate Love set into motion on the Nile's shore Destiny ignited by an act of war Egypt saw the mighty river as its very heart and soul Source of life for all her people That only Egypt could control Destruction of her southern neighbor justified Nubia exploited, left with little more than pride Fortune Favours the Brave Soldiers: Oh, Oh Fortune favours the brave Oh, Oh Fortune favours the brave Radames: We have swept to glory, Egypt's mastery expands From the Nile's northern most delta To the dry, dry southern sands The more we find, the more we see,  The more we come to learn The more that we explore, The more we shall return Soldiers: Oh, oh Fortune favors the brave Radames: It's all worked out, my road is clear The lines of latitude extend Way beyond my wildest dreams Toward some great triumphant end We seize the day We turned the tide We touched the stars We mocked the grave We moved into uncharted lands Radames & Soldiers: Fortune favors the brave Radames: The more we find, the more we see The more we come to learn The more that we explore The more we shall return Nothing is an accident We are free to have it all We are what we want to be It's in ourselves to rise or fall This is easy to believe When distant places call to me It's harder from the palace yard Fortune favors the free Soldiers: Oh, oh Radames: Fortune favors the young! Soldiers: Oh, oh Radames: Fortune favors the brave! The Past Is Another Land Aida: You know nothing about me and care even less How could you understand our emptiness You've plundered our wisdom, our knowledge, our wealth In bleeding us dry You long for our spirit But that you will never possess The past is now another land Far beyond my reach Invaded by insidious Foreign bodies, foreign speech Where timeless joys of childhood Lie broken on the beach The present is an empty space Between the good and bad A moment leading nowhere Too pointless to be sad But time enough to lay to waste Every certainty I had The future is a barren world From which I can't return Both heartless and material Its wretched spoils not my concern Shining like an evil sun As my childhood treasures burn Shining like an evil sun As my childhood treasures burn Another Pyramid Zoser: While you've been away cavorting Matters here have moved apace Now I need you home supporting All the plans I've put in place First of all this means your wedding You'll recall your future bride For the way that Pharaoh's heading Time's no longer on our side According to the hawk god, Horus Our most regal invalid Is not that much longer for us Build another pyramid! There are many who'll be tearful As our leader fades away But our architects are cheerful And each dog must have its day If our country is to flourish Then my son must take the lead Be our inspiration, nourish All our hopes our dreams our creed Soon our monarch will have filled a tomb Just like his fathers did Summon Egypt's greatest builders Re: another pyramid Ministers: Build it, build it Zoser: Another pyramid There will be a time for mourning But for now put plans on hold Ministers: Hold Zoser: For I give the nation warning That before the corpse is cold Ministers: Cold Zoser: We'll extend fair Egypt's power Egypt's glory strength and style We shall have our finest hour Far beyond the mighty Nile He must have a vault that's grand by Any standards, floor to lid Put five thousand slaves on stand by Build another pyramid! Ministers: Build it, build it Build it, build it Build it, build it Build it- Build it, build it Build it- Zoser: He must have a vault that's grand by Any standards, floor to lid Put five thousand slaves on stand by Build another pyramid! How I Know You Mereb: I grew up in your hometown At least began to grow I hadn't got to my first shave before the body blow Egyptians in the courtyard My family in chains You witnessed our abduction Which possibly explains How I know you How I know you Before that fateful morning My family enjoyed A privileged existence For my father was employed As advisor to the King no less Which surely rings a bell For as your are his daughter You probably can tell How I know you Yes I know you Aida: You know too much and what you say Is better left unknown And now I'm just a slave like you Our lives our not our own Mereb: I never have abandoned And nor I think could you That spark of hope for freedom No terror can subdue Aida: My only hope is silence You've never seen my face Mereb: No you remain a princess In any time or place Aida: You don't know me Mereb: Yes, I know you Aida: You don't know me Mereb: How I know you How I know you My Strongest Suit Amneris: In life one has to face a huge assortment  Of nauseating fads and good advice  There's health and fitness  Diet and deportment  And other pointless forms of sacrifice  Conversation? Wit? I am a doubter  Manners? Charm?  They're no way to impress  So forget the inner me, observe the outer I am what I wear and how I dress Oh now I believe in looking  Like my time on earth is cooking  Whether polka dotted  Striped or even checked  With some glamour guaranteeing  Every fiber on of my being  Is displayed to quite remarkable effect From your cradle via trousseau  To your deathbed you're on view, so  Never compromise, accept no substitute  I would rather wear a barrel  Than conservative apparel  For my dress has always been  My strongest suit Women: Overwear  Underwear  Anytime  Anywhere Amneris Staying in or hitting townwards  From the top and working downwards I ensure that every stitch  Is stitched in time Women: Is stitched in time Amneris: Whether wig or hat or turban  Whether clad boudoir or urban  Not to strut your stuff  Outrageously's a crime Women: Such a crime Amneris: And the few who are invited  To my wardrobe are delighted  As they wander through my things  To find en route Women: We're wandering through your things Amneris: That in negligee or formal  I am anything but normal  For my dress has always been  My strongest suit Amneris: I am what I wear I said anytime  Anywhere Women: Overwear, underwear Anytime, anywhere  Overwear, underwear  Anytime, anywhere  Overwear, underwear  Anytime, anywhere  Overwear,underwear  Anytime Amneris: So bring me all my finest  Most audacious, my divinest  Most revealing  Most expensive and to boot Most arresting Most heartstopping  Most free-flowing  Most eye-popping  Most arresting  Most heart-stopping  Dress has always been My strongest suit My strongest suit You know that  I am what I wear  Dress has always been  My strongest  My strongest My strongest My strongest suit! Enchantment Passing Through Radames: To sail away to half discovered places  To see the secrets so few eyes have seen  To see moments of enchantment on our faces  The moments when we smile and those in between Aida: If I could leave this place then I'd be sailing To corners of my land where there would be  Sweet southern winds of liberty prevailing  The beauty so majestic and so free Radames: There'd be no ties of time and space to bind me Aida: And no horizon I could not pursue Radames: I'd leave the world's misfortunes far behind me Aida: I'd put my faith and trusting in something new Radames and Aida: But why should I tell you this Aida: A stranger I just met Radames: A woman whom I hardly know at all and should forget Radames and Aida: A journey we can only dream of  Enchantment passing through  And how is it I say these things So easily to you Radames: But why did I tell her this?  A stranger I've just met  A woman who I hardly know at all and will forget  Anonymous and gone tomorrow  Enchantment passing through  And all I've done is tell her things  she already knew  She knew  She knew.... My Strongest Suit (Reprise) Amneris: I may leave a great impression  As I race through a succession  Of the latest crazes, chase the newest fad  I feel better when beguiling  Find that fashion keeps me smiling But in my heart I know it's rather sad Aida: That a life of great potential  Is dismissed, inconsequential Amneris: And only ever seen as being cute  So I'll flutter to deceive Aida: Oh no you must believe  That one day you're bound to find Aida/Amneris: A stronger suit The Dance of the Robe Aida: It's knowing what they want of me that scares me  It's knowing having followed that I must lead  It's knowing that each person there compares me  To those in my past whom I now succeed  But how can whatever I do for them now  Be enough  Be enough Nubians: Aida! Aida!  All we ask of you  Is a lifetime of service, wisdom, courage  To ask more would be selfish But nothing less will do Aida! Aida! Nehebka: Your robe should be golden, your robe should be perfect  Instead of this ragged concoction of thread  But may you be moved by its desperate beauty  To give us new life for we'd rather be dead  Then live in the squalor and shame of the slave  To the dance!  To the dance! Nubians: Aida! Aida!  All we ask of you  All we ask is a lifetime of  Service, wisdom, courage  To ask more would be selfish  But nothing less will do  Aida! Aida!  Aida! Aida!  Aida! Aida! Aida! Aida: I know expectations are wild and almost  Beyond my fulfillment but they won't hear  A word of a doubt or see signs of weakness  My nigh on impossible duty is clear  If I can rekindle my ancestors' dreams  It's enough  It's enough Aida: It's enough Nubians: Aida! Nubians: Aida! Aida!  Aida! Aida! Aida! Aida: It's enough! Nubians: Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah Not Me Radames: I once knew all the answers  I stood on certain ground  A picture of true happiness  Confidence so effortless  No brighter could be found Mereb: Oh no Radames: I never asked the questions  That trouble me today  I knew all there was to know  Love worn lightly  Put on show  My conquests on display Mereb: I can't believe he's changing Radames: And who'd have thought that confidence could die? Not me, not me Mereb: Not me, not me Radames: That all I took for granted was a lie  Not me, not me  And who'd have guessed  I'd throw my world away  To be with someone I'm afraid will say Not me, not me Mereb: This can never be He's in love  But he's not the only one  Who'll be changed Aida: I shall not envy lovers  But long for what they share Amneris: An empty room is merciless Don't be surprised if I confess I need some comfort there Aida and Amneris:  And who'd have thought  That love could be so good?  Not me, not me  And show me things I never understood  Not me, not me Who'd have guessed he'd  Throw his world away  To be with someone til his dying day  Not me, not me Radames, Amneris, Aida:  And who'd have thought that love  Could be so good Radames, Amneris, Aida, Mereb: Not me, not me Radames, Amneris, Aida: My/his secrets &  My/his passions understood Radames, Amneris, Aida, Mereb: Not me, not me Radames, Amneris, Aida: Who'd have guessed  I'd/he throw My/his world away  To be with someone til my/his dying day Not me Mereb: This can never be Elaborate Lives Radames: We all lead such elaborate lives  wild ambitions in our sights  How an affair of the heart survives days apart and hurried nights  Seems quite unbelievable to me  I don't want to live like that  seems quite unbelievable to me  I don't want to love like that  I just want our time to be  slower and gentler, wiser,free We all live in extravagant times  playing games we can't all win  Unintened emotional crimes  Take some out, take others in I'm so tired of all were going through  I don't want to live like that  I'm so tired of all were going through I don't want to love like that  I jsut want to be with you  Now and forever, peaceful,true  This may not be the moment  to tell you face to face  But I could wait forever  for the perfect time and place Aida & Radames:  We all lead such elaborate lives We don't know whose words are true  Strangers, lovers, husbands, wives  Hard to know who's loving who Aida: Too many choices tear us apart  I don't want to live like that Radames: Too many choices tear us apart  I don't want to love like that  I just want to touch your heart  May this confession Radames and Aida: Be the start The Gods Love Nubia Aida: Take me in my dreams recurring  Cheerful as a childhood dance  Into one more taste of freedom  One more longing backward glance In the sway of somber music  I shall never, never understand  Let me slip into the sweeter  Chorus of that other land The gods love Nubia, the beautiful, the golden  The radiant, the fertile, the gentle and the blessed  The pain of Nubia is only for the moment  the desolate the suffering  the plundered, the opressed Nehebka: The gods love Nubia, their glorious creation  Its songs roll sweetly across the harvest plain Nehebka & Aida:  The tears of Nubia, a passing aberration  They wash into the river and are never cried again Nehebka, Aida, Mereb, and Nubian Woman:  The gods love Nubia, we have to keep believing  The scattered and divided, we are still it's heart Aida: The fall of Nubia, ephemeral and fleeting  The spirit always burning though the flesh is torn apart. All: The fall of Nubia Ephemeral and fleeting  The spirit always burning  Though the flesh is torn apart Take me in my dreams recurring  Cheerful as a childhood dance  Into one more taste of freedom  One more longing backward glance  The gods love Nubia, the beautiful, the golden  The radiant, the fertile, the gentle and the blessed The pain of Nubia is only for the moment  the desolate the suffering  the plundered, the opressed The gods love Nubia  we have to keep believing Though scattered and divided we are still it's heart  The fall of Nubia ephemeral and fleeting the spirit always  Burning though the flesh is torn apart  The spirit always burning though the flesh is torn apart Aida: Apart All: Take me in my dreams recurring  One more longing backward glance A Step Too Far Amneris: It's so strange he doesn't show me  more affection than he needs  Almost formal too respectful  never takes romantic leads  There are times when I imagine  I'm not always on his mind  He's not thinking what I'm thinking  Always half a step behind  Always half a step behind Oh,oh,oh,oh Oh,oh,oh,oh  Oh,oh,oh,oh Radames: I'm in every kind of trouble  Can't you tell, just look at me  Half ecstatic,half dejected  All in all I'm all at sea  Easy terms I thought I wanted  Fill me now with chilling dread  You could never know the chaos  Of a life turned on it's head  Of a life turned on it's head Oh,oh,oh,oh Radames and Amneris:  Oh,oh,oh,oh  Oh,oh,oh,oh  Oh,oh,oh,oh Aida:  I am certain that I love him  But a love can be misplaced  Have I compromissed my people  In my passion and my haste?  I could be his life companion  Anywhere but where we are  Am I leader? Am I traitor?  Did I take a step too far? Aida: Oh,oh,oh,oh Aida & Radames:  Oh,oh,oh,oh Aida, Radames & Amneris: Oh,oh,oh,oh  Oh,oh,oh,oh  Oh,oh,oh,oh  Oh,oh,oh,oh  Oh,oh,oh,oh Did I take a step too far Easy as Life Aida: This is the moment when the gods expect me  To beg for help but I won't even try  I want nothing in this world but myself to protect me  But I won't lie down, roll over and die All I have to do is to forget how much I love him  All I have to do is put my longing to one side  Tell myself that love's an ever-changing situation  Passion would have cooled and all the magic would have died  It's easy, it's easy All I have to do is to pretend I never knew him  On those very rare occasions when he steals into my heart  Better to have lost him when the ties were barely binding  Better the contempt of the familiar cannot start  It's easy, It's easy Until I think about him as he was when I last touched him  And how he would have been were I to be with him today  Those very rare occasions don't let up they keep on coming  All I ever wanted and I'm throwing it away  It's easy, it's easy as life But then I saw the faces of a worn, defeated people  A father and a nation who won't let a coward run  Is this how the gods reward the faithful through the ages?  Forcing us to prove the hardest thing we've done  Are easy  So easy And though I'll think about him til the earth draws in around me  And though I choose to leave him for another kind of love  There is no denial, no betrayal but redemption  Redeemed in my own eyes and in the pantheon above  It's easy  It's easy as life  It's easy as life  It's easy as life Like Father, Like Son Zoser:  Don't come on so cocksure boy, you can't escape your genes  No point in feeling pure boy, your background intervenes  Listen good and listen straight, you're not the master of your fate  To this you must be reconciled, you'll always be your father's child  At times acclaimed, at times reviled  You'll wind up doing just what I've done  Like father, like son Radames:  Don't assume your vices get handed down the line  That a parent's blood suffices to condemn the child's design  I've done wrong, I can't deny, but at least I know that I  Shouldn't blame that on my stock, this may come as quite a shock  I'm no chip off any block, I wouldn't wish those words on anyone  Like father, like son Zoser:  Son you're nervous, take my hand  All is settled, all is planned  You've got the world at your command  I don't think you understand Radames:  I appreciate too well  The squalor at which you excel  it isn't very hard to tell  Evil's a distinctive smell Zoser: He's lost all sense of reason, and why?  Some foreign ***  Not only is that treason,  But some doors are slamming shut  Just like me he's found that flesh can excite but will enmesh  Once we rid him of this blight  Once this harlot's out of sight  Then I think he'll see the light  He won't walk back to daddy he will run  Like father, like son... Radames' Letter Radames: I'm sorry for everything I've said  And for anything I forgot to say  When things get so complicated  I stumble at best muddle through  I wish that our lives could be simple I don't want the world only you Oh I wish I could tell you this face to face  But there's never the time never the place  So this letter will have to do  I love you.... How I Know You (Reprise) Mereb: There is a time  there is a place  When love should conquer all  The rest of life is pushed aside  as truth and reason fall  But only if that selfishness  can lead to something good  I thought I knew you princess  But I never understood  I don't know you  I don't know you Written in the Stars Aida: I am here to tell you we can never meet again  Simple really, isn't it, a word or two and then  A lifetime of not knowing where or how or why or when You think of me or speak of me and wonder what befell  The someone you once loved so long ago so well Radames: Never wonder what I'll feel as living shuffles by  You don't have to ask me and I need not reply  Every moment of my life from now until I die  I will think or dream of you and fail to understand  How a perfect love can be confounded out of hand  Is it written in the stars  Are we paying for some crime  Is that all that we are good for  Just a stretch of mortal time  For some God's experiment  In which we have no say  In which we're given paradise  But only for a day Aida: Nothing can be altered, there is nothing to decide  No escape, no change of heart, no anyplace to hide Radames: You are all I'll ever want, but this I am denied  Sometimes in my darkest thoughts, I wish I'd never learned Aida & Radames:  What it is to be in love and have that love returned Aida: Is it written in the stars  Are we paying for some crime  Is that all that we are good for  Just a stretch of mortal time Aida & Radames: For some God's experiment  In which we have no say  In which we're given paradise  But only for a day I Know the Truth Amneris: How did I come to this?  How did I slip and fall?  How did I throw half a lifetime away  Without any thought at all? This should have been my time  It's over, it never began  I closed my eyes to so much for so long  and I no longer can I try to blame it on fortune  Some kind of shift in a star  But I know the truth and it haunts me it's flown just a little too far  I know the truth and it mocks me  I know the truth and it shocks me  It's flown just a little too far Why do I want him still?  Why when there's nothing there? How to go on with the rest of my life To pretend I don't care  This should've been my time  It's over-It never began  I closed my eyes to so much for so long  and I no longer can I try to blame it on fortune  Some kind of twist in my fate  But I know the truth and it haunts me  I learned it a little too late Oh I know the trth and it mocks me  I know the truth and it shocks me  I learned it a little too late  Too late Elaborate Lives (Reprise) Aida: We all lead such elaborate lives  Wild ambitions in our sights  How an affair of the heart suvives  Days apart and hurried nights  Seems quite unbelievable to me  I don''t want to live like that  Seems quite unbelievable to me  I don't want to love like that  I just want our time to be  Slower and gentler, wiser, free We all live in extravagant times  Playing games  we all can't win  Unintended emotional crimes  take some out take others in Too many choices tear us apart  I don't want to live like that  Too many choices tear us apart  I don't want to love like that  I just want to keep your heart  May this confession be the start I know you'll give me courage  to face what I must face  with all these complications  in another time and place Aida and Radames:  We don't know whose words are true  An affair of the heart survives  All the pain the world can do Radames: I'm so tired of all we're going through  I don't want to live like that Aida: I'm so tired of all we're going through  I don't want to love like that  I just want to be with you  Now and forever, peaceful, true Enchantment Passing Through (Reprise) Radames: There'll be no ties of time and space to bind us Aida: And no horizon we shall not pursue Radames and Aida:  We'll leave the world's misfortunes far behind us And I will put my faith and trust in you Every Story is a Love Story (Reprise) Amneris: From deep within a tomb A gentle light still shone  Showing me my path  As I ascended to the throne  Certain in my heart  That ancient wars must cease  The lovers' deaths gave birth  to a reign of peace And their story  And my journey  And the lesson they provide  Draw their strength and inspiration  from a love that never dies