Solace

I auditioned recently for a show and, although called back, wasn't cast. Here are the two songs (well, one and part of another) that have been running through my head since.

From The Mikado by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan (1885)

(I won't describe the entire plot, but, basically, Ko-Ko, Pitti-Sing, and Pooh-Bah are bewailing a nasty turn of events.)

The Mikado:
See how the Fates their gifts allot,
For A is happy--B is not.
Yet B is worthy, I dare say,
Of more prosperity than A!

Ko-Ko, Pitti-Sing, and Pooh-Bah:
Is B more worthy?

Katisha:
I should say
He's worth a great deal more than A.

Ensemble:
Yet A is happy!Oh, so happy!
Laughing, Ha! ha!
Chaffing, Ha! ha!
Nectar quaffing, Ha! ha! ha!
Ever joyous, ever gay,
Happy, undeserving A!

Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah, Pitti-Sing:
If I were Fortune--which I'm not--
B should enjoy A's happy lot,
And A should die in miserie--
That is, assuming I am B.

The Mikado and Katisha:
But should A perish?

Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah, Pitti-Sing:
That should be
(Of course, assuming I am B).
B should be happy!Oh, so happy!
Laughing, Ha! ha!
Chaffing, Ha! ha!
Nectar quaffing, Ha! ha! ha!
But condemned to die is he,
Wretched meritorious B!

From Duran Duran's "Ordinary World":

Papers in the roadside
Tell of suffering and greed
Here today, forgot tomorrow
here besides the news
Of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrow
It's all gone away

I love the Duran Duran because it's the only pop song I can think of that points out that our tragedies are, compared to so many other people's, just unhappiness, not earth-rending at all. And on the plus side, I'll get to hear Maureen sing the first one because she did get cast in her first lead in the show for which she auditioned. Good on ya, Maureen!