Street Scene Orchestra & Maurice Abravanel
Street Scene Orchestra
Helen Arden, Hope Emerson, Ellen Repp, Wilson Smith, & Street Scene Orchestra
Creighton Thompson & Hope Emerson
Helen Arden, Hope Emerson, & Ellen Repp
Hope Emerson, Remo Lota, Polyna Stoska, Helen Arden, Street Scene Orchestra, & Maurice Abravanel
Polyna Stoska
Original Broadway Cast of Street Scene
Brian Sullivan
Don Saxon & Anne Jeffreys
Anne Jeffreys
Anne Jeffreys & Brian Sullivan
Street Scene Orchestra & Maurice Abravanel
Bennett Burrill, Helen Ferguson, Peter Griffith, & Street Scene Ensemble
Polyna Stoska
Anne Jeffreys & Brian Sullivan
Anne Jeffreys, Brian Sullivan, Polyna Stoska, & Street Scene Ensemble
Peggy Turnley & Ellen Carleen
Norman Cordon, Anne Jeffreys, & Street Scene Ensemble
Anne Jeffreys & Brian Sullivan
In this soprano aria from Street Scene, Anna Maurrant sings about the hope she keeps in the face of aging, diminished expectations, and an abusive marriage.
[MRS. MAURRANT]
Somehow I never could believe
That life was meant to be all dull and grey
Somehow I always will believe
There'll be a brighter day
Folks should try to find a way to get along together
A way to make the world a friendly happy place
Full of laughter and kind words
And friendliness on everybody's face
But somehow in the world that I grew up in
The streets were dark with misery and distress
The endless daily grind was too much for them
It took away all hope of happiness
When I was a girl, I remember
I used to dream about a party dress to wear
But I never had a party dress
And I guess my dreams got lost somewhere
Nobody seemed to care
But when I grew up, I said, "I'll make it!"
For I believed there'd be a lucky star above me
In the fairy tales I read, the maiden always said
"I know I'll find a fairy prince to love me."
So I went wandering down the pavements of New York
And through the subway's twisting tunnels underground
Hoping I'd discover some wonderful lover
Frank was the one that I found
Oh, on the day that we were married
I took a flower from my bouquet
And I pressed it in a book
And put the book away
Sometimes now I go and take a look
The flower's dry, the perfume's gone, the petals all turned grey
Oh dream of love!
Should love turn out that way?
Should love turn out that way?
But then the babies came
Their little arms made a ring around a-rosy about me
Yet as they grow older, they too seemed to grow away
Until even Willie, my little boy Willie
Seems he can get along without me
I don't know, it looks like something awful happens
In the kitchens where women wash their dishes
Days turn to months, months turn to years
The greasy soap suds drown our wishes
There's got to be a little happiness somewhere
Some hand to touch that's warm and kind!
And there must be two smiling eyes somewhere
That will smile back into mine
I never could believe
That life was meant to be all dull and grey
I always will believe there'll be a brighter day!
Somehow I Never Could Believe was written by Langston Hughes & Kurt Weill.
Polyna Stoska released Somehow I Never Could Believe on Mon Apr 04 1949.