Seize the Day – Newsies

JACK (spoken):

Them streets down there, they sucked the life right outta my old man. Well they ain’t doin’ that to me.

CRUTCHIE (spoken):

But everyone wants to come to New York.

JACK (spoken):

You keep your small life in the big city. Give me a big life in a small town.
(sung)
They say folks is dyin’ to get here.
Me, I’m dyin’ to get away,
to a little town out west
that’s spankin’ new.
And while I ain’t never been there,
I can see it clear as day.
If you want, I bet’cha you could see it, too.

Close your eyes…
Come with me,
Where it’s clean and green and pretty.
And they went and made a city outta clay.
Why, the minute that you get there,
Folks’ll walk right up and say,
“Welcome home, son, welcome home to Santa Fe!”

Plantin’ crops,
Splittin’ rails,
Swappin’ tales around the fire,
‘cept for Sunday when you lie around all day.
Soon your friends are more like family,
and they’s beggin’ you to stay!
Ain’t that neat?
Livin’ sweet
in Santa Fe.

(spoken)
Hey, no one worries about no gimp leg in Santa Fe. You just hop a Palomino, you’ll ride in style!

CRUTCHIE (spoken):

Picture me, ridin’ in style.

JACK (spoken):

Hey, I bet a few months of clean air, you could toss that crutch for good!

JACK & CRUTCHIE:

Santa Fe,
you can bet.
We won’t let them bastards beat us.
We won’t beg no one to treat us fair and square.
There’s a life that’s worth the livin’,
and I’m gonna do my share.

JACK:

Work the land.
Chase the sun.

JACK & CRUTCHIE:

Swim the whole Rio Grande just for fun!

CRUTCHIE:

Watch me stand!
Watch me run…

JACK (spoken):

Hey, hey…
(sung)
Don’t you know that we’s a family?
Would I let you down?
No way.
Just hold on, kid,
till that train makes Santa Fe.

CARRYING THE BANNER

RACE:

Hey! That’s my cigar!

ALBERT:

You’ll steal another

SPECS:

Hey, look, it’s bath time at the zoo!

HENRY:

I thought that I’d surprise my mother

ALBERT:

If you can find her

NEWSIES:

Who asked you?!

RACE:

From Bottle Alley
to the harbor
There’s easy pickin’s guaranteed

FINCH:

Try any banker, bum or barber
They almost all knows how to read

JACK:

It’s a crooked game we’re playing
One we’ll never lose
Long as suckers don’t mind
Payin’ just to get bad news

NEWSIES:

Ain’t it a fine life
Carrying the banner through it all
A mighty fine life
Carrying the banner tough and tall
When that bell rings
We goes where we wishes
We’s as free as fishes
Sure beats washin’ dishes
What a fine life
Carrying the banner home free all

FINCH

Hey, Crutchie, what’s your leg say? Gonna rain?

CRUTCHIE: (shakes his leg)

No rain. Partly cloudy. Clear by evening.

RACE:

Ha! And the limp sells fifty papes a week all by itself!

CRUTCHIE:

I don’t need the limp to sell papes. I got personality.

It takes a smile that spreads like butter
The kind that turns a lady’s head

RACE:

It takes an orphan with a stutter

FINCH:

Who’s also blind…

ALBERT:

And mute…

ELMER:

And dead!

CRUTCHIE, BUTTONS & JO JO:

Summer stinks and winter’s freezin’
When you works outdoors

JACK, TOMMY BOY, CRUTCHIE, BUTTONS & JO JO:

Start out sweatin’
End up sneezin’
In between it pours!

NEWSIES:

Still it’s a fine life
Carrying the banner with me chums
A bunch of big shots
Tossin’ out a freebie to the bums

FINCH:

Hey! What’s the hold up?
Waitin’ makes me antsy
I likes living chancey

NEWSIES:

Harlem to Delancey
What a fine life
Carrying the banner through the…

NUNS:

Blessed children
Though you wander
Lost and depraved
Jesus loves you
You shall be saved

JACK:

If I hate the headline
I’ll make up a headline

JACK & CRUTCHIE:

And I’ll say anything I have’ta
‘Cause at two for a penny

JACK, CRUTCHIE, RACE & ROMEO:

If I take too many
Weasel just makes me eat ’em afta

NEWSIES:

You wanna move the next edition?
Give us an earthquake or a war

ELMER:

How ’bout a crooked politician?

NEWSIES:

Ya nitwit, that ain’t news no more!
Uptown to Grand Central station
Down to City Hall
We improves our circulation
Walkin’ till we fall!

NEWSIES:

We’ll all be out there
Carrying the banner
Man to man
We’re always out there
Soakin’ ev’ry sucker
That we can

Here’s the headline:
Newsies on a mission!
Kill the competition!
Sell the next edition!
We’ll be out there
Carrying the banner!
See us out there
Carrying the banner!
Always out there
Carrying the banner!
Ah, ah, ah, go!

THE BOTTOM LINE

PULITZER:

Gentlemen, we need to sell more papers. There’s an answer right before your eyes, but you’re just not thinking this through.

Nunzio knows when,
He’s cutting my hair,
Trim a bit here and then
Trim a bit there.
Just a modest adjustment
Can fatten the bottom line.

BUNSEN:

What if we cut back personnel?

SEITZ:

How about a few salary trims?

BUNSEN:

We could lower the price of the paper.

PULITZER:

Bankrupting me even faster! Let me try again
Shaving is tricky:
The razor should float
Shave me too close and you
May slit my throat.
It’s the simplest solutions
That bolster the bottom line

BUNSEN:

I’ve got it! If we charge the Newsies sixty cents per hundred instead of fifty…

SEITZ:

…they’d have to sell ten more papers just to earn the same amount as always.

PULITZER:

My thought exactly. It’s genius.

HANNAH:

It’s gonna be awfully rough on those children.

PULITZER:

They’ll be learning a real life lesson in economics. I couldn’t offer them a better education if they were my own.

Give me a week and
I’ll train them to be
Like an army that’s
Marching to war.
Proud of themselves and so
Grateful to me,
They’ll be begging to pay even more!

When there’s dirt
On our shoes, boys,
For God’s sake, relax!
Why throw them out?
All we need is some wax
Listen well to these barbershop lessons,
For they’ll see you through.

EMPLOYEES:

When you’re stuck in the muck you’ll be fine.
You’ll erase any trace of decline.

SEITZ:

With a trim

HANNAH:

And a snip

BUNSEN:

And a shine!

PULITZER:

And the pow’r of the press,
Yes! Once again is mine!
The price for the Newsies goes up in the morning!
Just a few common cents,
Gents, that’s the bottom line!

EMPLOYEES:

Every new outcome
It’s income for you,
Thanks to that bottom line!

THAT’S RICH

MEDDA:

I’m doing alright for myself, folks:
I’m healthy, I’m wealthy, I’m wise.
My investments and such
Have all gone up so much
Seems whatever I touch
Starts to rise.

I’ve got men, I’ve got money
And yet
The thing I want most…
I can’t get.
I live in a mansion on
Long Island sound.
I pulled up a weed,
They found oil in the ground.
But you telling me you don’t
Want me around-
Now, honey, that’s rich.

Some guys give me ermine
chincilla and mink
Some guys give me diamonds
As big as a sink,
But you wouldn’t give me so
Much as a wink-
Now, baby, that’s rich.

I get brandy from Andy
And candy from Scott.
Oh, and Frank and Eduardo
Chipped in for a yacht.
I get stares from the fellas
And prayers from the pope,
But I ran out my luck
Getting stuck on some dope!
Hey baby, I was just talking about you.

Now, listen, sport,
This life’s too short
To waste it on you.
It may be rough,
But soon enough
I’ll learn to make do with
The mansion, the oil well,
The diamonds, the yacht,
With Andy, Eduardo,
The pontiff and Scott
And Frank. Ooo!
And my bank!

So spill no tears for me,
‘Cause there’s one thing you ain’t,
that I’ll always be,
And honey,
Yeah, that’s right,
That’s rich! That’s rich!
That’s rich! That’s rich!

I NEVER PLANNED ON YOU / DON’T COME A-KNOCKING

JACK:

Well, hello again.

KATHERINE:

Please go away. I’m working.

JACK:

A smart girl, eh? Beautiful. Smart. Independent.

I got no use for moonlight
Or sappy poetry.
Love at first sight’s
For suckers,
At least it used to be.
Look, girls are nice,
Once or twice,
Till I find someone new
But I never planned on
Someone like you.

KATHERINE:

What are you doing?

BOWERY BEAUTIES:

I won’t be shaving your back
Anymore, no señor.

JACK:

Quiet down. There’s a show going on.

BOWERY BEAUTIES:

Don’t come a-knocking
On my door!

KATHERINE:

You are the most impossible boy ever.

BOWERY BEAUTIES:

Don’t come a-knocking
On my door!

JACK:

Shh!
No, I never planned on
Someone like you.

BOWERY BEAUTIES:

Don’t come a-knocking
On my door!

THE WORLD WILL KNOW

JACK:

Pulitzer and Hearst, they think we’re nothin’.
Are we nothin’?

NEWSIES:

No!

JACK:

Pulitzer and Hearst, they think they got us.
Do they got us?

NEWSIES:

No!

JACK:

Even though we ain’t got hats or badges,
we’re a union just be sayin’ so…
And the world will know!

What’s it gonna take to stop the wagons?
Are we ready?

NEWSIES:

Yeah!

JACK:

What’s it gonna take to stop the scabbers?
Can we do it?

NEWSIES:

Yeah!

JACK:

We’ll do what we gotta do until
we break the will of mighty Bill and Joe

NEWSIES:

And the world will know!
And the Journal, too!

JACK & DAVEY:

Mr. Hearst and Pulitzer, have we got news for you!

NEWSIES:

See, the world don’t know,
but they gonna pay.

JACK & DAVEY:

‘Stead of hawkin’ headlines we’ll be makin’ ’em today.

NEWSIES:

And our ranks will grow

CRUTCHIE:

And we’ll kick their rear!

NEWSIES:

And the world will know that we’ve been here!

JACK:

When the circulation bell starts ringin’,
will we hear it?

NEWSIES:

No!

JACK:

What if the Delancys come out swingin’,
will we hear it?!

NEWSIES:

No!
When you got a hundred voices singin’,
who can hear a lousy whistle blow?
And the world will know!
That this ain’t no game.
And we got a ton of rotten fruit and perfect aim.
So they gave their word?
Well it ain’t worth beans!
Now they gonna see what “Stop the presses” really means.
And the old will weep,
and go back to sleep.
And we got no choice but to see it through

RACE:

And we found our voice.

NEWSIE:

And I lost my shoe!

NEWSIES:

And the world will–
Yeah!

JACK:

Pulitzer may own the World, but he don’t own us.

NEWSIES:

Pulitzer may own the World, but he don’t own us!

JACK:

Pultizer may crack the whip, but he won’t whip us.

NEWSIES:

Pultizer may crack the whip, but he won’t whip us!
And the world will know
We’ve been keepin’ score.
Either they gives us our rights or we gives them a war.
We’ve been down too long,
and we paid our dues.

CRUTCHIE:

And the things we do today will be tomorrow’s news.

NEWSIES:

And the die is cast,
and the torch is passed,
and the roar will rise,
from the streets below,
and our ranks will grow and grow and grow and so
the world will feel the fire and finally know!
Pulitzer may own the World, but he don’t own us!

JACK:

Pulitzer may own the World, but he don’t own us!

NEWSIES:

Pulitzer may crack the whip, but he won’t whip us!

JACK:

Pulitzer may crack the whip, but he won’t whip us!

NEWSIES:

So the world says no?
Well the kids do too.
Try to walk all over us, we’ll stomp all over you.

CRUTCHIE:

Can they kick us out?
Take away our vote?

NEWSIES:

Will we let ’em stuff this crock of garbage down our throat?
No!
Everyday we wait,
is a day we lose,
and this ain’t for fun,
and it ain’t for show,
and we’ll fight ’em toe to toe to toe and Joe
your world will feel the fire and finally, finally know!

WATCH WHAT HAPPENS

KATHERINE:

“Write what you know”
so they say, all I know is I don’t know what to write
or the right way to write it.
This is big, lady, don’t screw it up,
This is not some little vaudeville I’m reviewing.
Poor little kids versus rich greedy sour pusses
Ha! It’s a cinch!
It could practically write itself–
And let’s pray it does, cause as I may have mentioned,
I have no clue what I’m doing.

Am I insane? This is what I’ve been waiting for.
Well that, plus the screaming of ten angry editors.
A girl? It’s a girl! How the hell? Is that even legal?
Look, just go and get her!
Not only that, there’s a story behind the story:
Thousands of children, exploited, invisible.
Speak up, take a stand, and there’s someone to write about it.
That’s how things get better.

Give life’s little guys some ink, and when it dries just watch what happens.
Those kids will live and breathe right on the page
and once they’re center stage, you watch what happens.
And who’s there with her camera and her pen
as boys turn into men
they’ll storm the gates and then just watch what happens when they do.

Picture a handsome, heroically charismatic
plain spoken, know nothing, skirt-chasing, cocky little son of a…
lie down with dogs and you wake up with a raise and a promotion.
So, he’s a flirt,
a complete ego maniac.
The fact is he’s also the face of the strike–
What a face–
face the fact, that’s a face that could save us all from sinking in the ocean.

Like someone said, “Power tends to corrupt”
and absolute power wait, wait corrupts?
Absolutely, that is genius!
But give me some time, I’ll be twice as good as that six months from never.
Just look around at the world we’re inheriting
and think of the one we’ll create.
Their mistake is they got old, that is not a mistake we’ll be making.
No sir, we’ll stay young forever!
Give those kids and me the brand new century and watch what happens.

It’s David and Goliath do or die
the fight is on and I can’t watch what happens.
But all I know is nothing happens if you just give in.
It can’t be any worse than how it’s been.
And it just so happens that we just might win,
so whatever happens, let’s begin!

SEIZE THE DAY

DAVEY:

Now is the time to seize the day
Stare down the odds and seize the day
Minute by minute that’s how you win it
We will find a way
But let us seize the day

Courage cannot erase our fear
Courage is when we face our fear
Tell those with power safe in their tower
We will not obey!

DAVEY & JACK:

Behold the brave battalion that stands side by side
Too few in number and too proud to hide
Then say to the others who did not follow through
You’re still our brothers, and we will fight for you

DAVEY, JACK, and CRUTCHIE:

Now is the time to seize the day
Stare down the odds and seize the day

NEWSIES:

Once we’ve begun
If we stand as one
Someday becomes somehow
And a prayer becomes a vow

JACK:

And this strike starts right damn now!

DAVEY:

Now is the time to seize the day

NEWSIES:

Now is the time to seize the day

DAVEY:

Answer the call and don’t delay

NEWSIES:

Answer the call and don’t delay

DAVEY & NEWSIES:

Wrongs will be righted
If we’re united
Let us seize the day

JACK:

Now let ’em hear it loud and clear

NEWSIES:

Now let ’em hear it loud and clear

JACK:

Like it or not we’re drawing near

NEWSIES:

Like it or not we’re drawing near

JACK & NEWSIES:

Proud and defiant
We’ll slay the giant
Judgement day is here
Houston to Harlem, look what’s begun
One for all and all for one!
Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike! Strike!

Now is the time to seize the day
They’re gonna see there’s hell to pay
Nothing can break us
No one can make us quit before we’re done
One for all and all for
One for all and all for
One for all and all for one!

SANTA FE

JACK:

Folks, we finally got our headline.
“Newsies Crushed as Bulls Attack”
Crutchie’s calling me,
Dumb crip’s just too damn slow.
Guys are fightin’, bleedin’, fallin’
thanks to good ole’ Captain Jack.
Captain Jack just wants to close his eyes and go

Let me go
Far away
Somewhere they won’t ever find me, and tomorrow won’t remind me of today
And the city’s finally sleepin’
And the moon looks old and grey
I get on a train that’s bound for Santa Fe

And I’m gone
And I’m done
No more running, no more lying
No more fat old man denying me my pay
Just a moon so big and yellow, it turns night right into day
Dreams come true. Yeah, they do in Santa Fe

Where does it say you gotta live and die here?
Where does it say a guy can’t catch a break?
Why should you only take what you’re given?
Why should you spend your whole life living trapped where there ain’t no future
Even at 17. Breaking your back for someone else’s sake
If the life don’t seem to suit you, how about a change of scene?
Far from the lousy headlines and the deadlines in between

Santa Fe: my old friend.
I can’t spend my whole life dreaming
Though I know that’s all I seem inclined to do
I ain’t getting any younger
And I wanna start brand new
I need space ad fresh air
Let them laugh in my face, I don’t care
Save my place, I’ll be there

Just be real is all I’m asking
Not some painting in my head
Cause I’m dead if I can’t count on you today
I got nothing if I ain’t got Santa Fe