Stephen Sondheim - Talent lyrics

[HOLLIS] When I was a tyke I said, "What I like Is art I know I'm a boy But what I enjoy Is art." Looking at paintings, going to plays Music and books informing my days Filling my mind Flooding my heart With art! I had this dream of becoming an artist A painter, a poet, who knows? I had a nice little talent for drawing And a natural feeling for prose I even began to compose So many talents Wasn't I blessed? All of them good A few of them better None of them best Just enough talent To know that I hadn't the talent So I put my dream And my self-esteem To rest [ADDISON, spoken] That must have been difficult [HOLLIS, spoken] Yes. But it didn't matter. I merely had to find out what I was meant to be (sung) I couldn't decide Then one day I spied Palm Beach A speck on the map No more than a gap Palm beach Jungle and seashore, muddy and raw But in a flash I suddenly saw What it would take What I could make Palm Beach! I had this dream of a city of artists Versailles by the Florida sea A sort of world congregation of artists All encouraged to set themselves free I knew what I wanted to be! I'd be their host and supporter The patron saint Of the things that they'd write And compose and paint I shall wander among them with lavish praise As they carve their statues Construct their plays Design their buildings Recite their rhymes Making modern art Fit for modern times! So many talents Gathered en ma**e! Painters and poets Artists and dreamers Watered like gra** And if the talent I have Is for nurturing talent Then succeed or fail I will see they sail First cla** And my father can go stick it up his a**!