The song No Time at All from Pippin is one of my favorite broadway songs to cheer you up. Everyone hits a point where they break up with someone, fail a test or a class, lose a job, get in a fight with a friend or just even feel like they aren’t worth much. We all feel these at some point, for me it is each year as I turn a year younger on my birthday.
Anyways, if you constantly worry about how bad life is and forget that there are good things that happen when you’re older, when you take a nap and wake up, when you get through the week and enjoy a weekend, you forget that sometimes things suck and everyone feels like they have no purpose. Even Avenue Q has a song called Purpose which is about finding your purpose. Anyways, when Pippin walks into the room to talk to Granny, he talks about how he feels worthless and that is when Granny decides to jump in.
No Time at All from Pippin is a song that Granny sings to Pippin about remembering that life is worth living and you always have to remember that things do eventually get better. One of the things that I think everyone hates is that you have to be proper your whole life. No swearing, being polite, no sex talk, etc… However, when you are older, you sort of earn the right to be as vulgar and as funny as you’d like which is what I love about some of Granny’s first lines.
The song No Time at All from Pippin is one of my favorite songs to listen to whenever I feel worthless or feel like I haven’t accomplished anything. Anyways, this is one of my favorite songs from Pippin, besides corner of the sky, and I think that if you are ever having a bad day or are just feeling down, you’ll end up falling in love with No Time at All from Pippin as well. Anyways, here is No Time at All from Pippin.
Pippin is one of those shows that no one really usually ever thinks of when they hear broadway or showtunes but everyone remembers and loves, especially when they hear one of the most popular and famous songs “Corner of the Sky”. Pippin for me has a ton of meaning to it right now because I almost feel like I can relate to the story in a way.
I was talking to my mom about broadway and shows that originated in DC because we have Mary Poppins playing right now and Dream Girls is coming to the National Theatre where Harvey Fierstein gave us a fabulous revival of Fiddler on the Roof. When talking about shows that debuted in Washington DC before they hit broadway three of the most famous shows come to mind. Annie, West Side Story and of course Pippin which Ben Vereen won a Tony award for his performance. So why is Pippin so special and why is it famous and why do I relate to it.
Pippin is sort of a coming of ages and discovering yourself story. It is the story of a young man who grows up to become educated, to want to start a revolution, who gets caught in plots to murder or overthrow a government, to end tyranny and only find out that he also has to become a tyrant to lead his people after he murders his way to the top. It is a story about betrayal, reinventing yourself, discovering how hard and how difficult life could be but also the rewards for your hard work and how you can always learn new things. Pippin learns about how to start a revolution, lead a country, arts and music and also about love, himself and independence. He learns a lot from many people but most importantly learns to try and find who he really is.
The reason why I feel like I relate to characters like Pippin and so many other people do or fall in love with his character is not because we murder people or overthrow governments (which I do not do either), but because I own a small company. I worked my way up in companies to get to be able to start my own. I constantly have to compete and watch others in order to get, keep and find new Clients for my business and have to struggle and fight off competitors to stay alive and be able to support myself. I often want to find something else to do or want to give up but instead I find other ways to differentiate myself and make myself stronger than others and then can bring my clients that were stolen back and and really start to show why I can survive and why I am not that easy to push around or get rid of. I think that people can relate to this whether it is in a social situation, a work situation, if they own their own company or work for someone else. If you are in school and have to work to fit in and become the popular kids or popular in your own small group of friends. If you want to play a sport and become the best or the head of the team or even just to fit in to your own family and group of friends. We all have things we need to work at achieving and things we want to accomplish and when we watch Pippin go through his life we all sort of relate, especially as he grows up. We may not have to murder and overthrow a government but we all definitely have had to struggle and fight for the things we want most in our lives whether it is wealth, love, friends, family that cares for us, money, vacations, promotions, apartments and houses or anything else we have ever wanted or believed in.
Pippin is a show you will walk out of and remember. You may not always think of it but you will always smile and sing along when you hear the main songs and showtunes from the show at karaoke or showtunes nights. My personal favorite is the one that everyone on earth knows and loves “Corner of the Sky”. Because I think everyone can relate to Pippin and it is an overall amazing show, I give Pippin a 4 out of 5 stars as a must see show. I love the music, the story and the acting and know that you will to.
