As 20-somethings (and New Yorkers), the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim never rang truer. We spend too much time panicking about the future. We experiment. We try new things. We succeed. We fail.
But wait! Sondheim鈥檚 repertoire holds tiny answers to life鈥檚 universal questions. Like any good musical theatre fan, we鈥檝e listened to his music on loop and found someone to commiserate with.
1. When the job interview or audition goes鈥� less well than planned:
Success is like failure
It鈥檚 how you perceive it
It鈥檚 what you do with it
Not how you achieve it
鈥淚t鈥檚 a Hit!鈥� Merrily We Roll Along
2. When you feel guilty about that extra glass of wine鈥on鈥檛:
There are mouths to be kissed
Before mouths to be fed
And there's many a tryst
And there's many a bed
There's a lot I'll have missed
But I'll not have been dead
When I die!
鈥淭he Miller鈥檚 Son,鈥� A Little Night Music
3. When you鈥檙e nervous to share your idea with the group:
Make just a ripple.
Come on be brave.
This time a ripple,
Next time a wave.
Sometimes you have to start small,
Climbing the tiniest wall.
Maybe you're going to fall鈥�
But it is better than not starting at all!
鈥淓verybody Says Don鈥檛,鈥� Anyone Can Whistle
4. When the guy you went on five dates with ghosts:
Men are stupid, men are vain,
Love's disgusting, love's insane,
A humiliating business.
鈥淓very Day a little Death,鈥� A Little Night Music
5. When it鈥檚 nearing 5 PM, and your boss drops a stack of work on your desk:
I keep thinking, 鈥淲hen does it end?
Where鈥檚 the day I鈥檒l have started forgetting?鈥�
But I just go on
Thinking and sweating,
And cursing and crying,
And turning and reaching,
And waking and dying.
鈥淣ot a Day Goes By,鈥� Merrily We Roll Along
6. When you pay your exorbitant rent to live in a closet, but it鈥檚 all okay because you live in New York:
I hear a crane making street repairs,
A two-ton child running wild upstairs.
Steam pipes bang, sirens clang,
And what more do I need?
鈥淲hat More do I Need?鈥� Saturday Night
7. That moment we realize our crush may have commitment issues:
But then what if he knew
Who I am when I know
That I鈥檓 not what he thinks
That he wants?
鈥淥n the Steps of the Palace,鈥� Into the Woods
8. When you decide to walk through Times Square to daydream then quickly regret it:
There鈥檚 a hole in the world like a great black pit
And it鈥檚 filled with people who are filled with sh*t
And the vermin of the world inhabit it.
鈥淓辫颈辫丑补苍测,鈥� Sweeney Todd
9. When a friend invites you to happy hour and you spot last week鈥檚 Tinder date on another date:
Isn鈥檛 it rich, isn鈥檛 it queer
Losing my timing this late in my career
And where are the clowns
Quick send in the clowns
Don鈥檛 bother, they鈥檙e here
鈥淪end in the Clowns,鈥� A Little Night Music
10. When you鈥檙e feeling like no one understands you:
Sometimes people leave you
Halfway through the wood
Others may deceive you
You decide what鈥檚 good
You decide alone
But no one is alone
鈥淣o One is Alone,鈥� Into the Woods
11. When your significant other tries to convince you you鈥檙e nothing without them:
Could I bury my rage
With a boy half your age
In the grass? Bet your ass.
But I鈥檝e done that already鈥攐r didn鈥檛 you know, love?
Tell me, how could I leave when I left long ago, love?
Could I leave you?
No, the point is, could you leave me?
鈥淐ould I Leave You?鈥� Follies
12. When you鈥檝e gone on the zillionth date from your tenth app and you feel like:
Somebody, need me too much,
Somebody, know me too well,
Somebody, pull me up short
And put me through hell
And give me support
For being alive,
Make me alive.
鈥淏eing Alive,鈥� Company
13. When despite it all, you have to remember that one day you will be thankful for the rollercoaster that is your 20s:
Let the moment go鈥�
Don鈥檛 forget it for a moment, though.
Just remember you had an 鈥榓nd,鈥� when you鈥檙e back to 鈥榦r,鈥�
Makes the 鈥榦r鈥� mean more than it did before.
Now I understand鈥�
And it鈥檚 time to leave the woods
鈥淢oments in the Woods,鈥� Into the Woods
David Artavia is an actor, writer and microwave dinner enthusiast in New York City. Like him on and follow him on Twitter at .
