So, as far as Anyone Can Whistle goes, there was a reason it was a flop. It was bizzare music to say the least, which explains why the public didn’t like it. But the music was bizzare for the sake of being bizzare. I think that was Sondheim’s mistake. While it was set in a fictional world, a dystopia almost, the score just doesn’t reflect that well enough, in my opinion, because it’s inconsistant. Songs like “Me and My Town” and “There Won’t Be Trumets” don’t relate at all. and I think that’s why academics weren’t crazy about it as well. It’s by no means a bad score. It’s a great score, but I don’t think it’s one of Sondheim’s best. He was 34 when it opened, so it was a good learning experience for him. Everyone has to fail before they can succeed.

There isn’t alot of in depth factors in this song, but there are a few gems that are worth mentioning. For instance, the style of the song. A bluesy swing. Pefect for a ruthless politician. Also, anytime Cora sings the words “me, my” and ”love,” they are normally at the peak of the phrase, as far as pitch is concerned. This emphasizes her self-loving attitude, and need to be liked, because anytime the listeners hears these words, they stick out like a sore thumb, thus the listener subconciously recognizes that Cora is vein. Also, Cora’s “riffs” are all quite odd, shifting to almost atonal points that the ear can’t recognize easily. I believe this was done purposefully as well. It makes the listener uncomfortable, which makes them uncomfortable with Cora.  Now, when the songs shifts to the mambo, I see it as a ignorance, or denial of the problems she’s facing. I feel that she’s almost dellusional, which is why she’s failing as the mayoress. She’s only concerend with being liked, which is what the song is about. My feelings are justified in the fact that the mambo is extremely dissonant, Gb 9’s over an Eb going to F’s over Eb? Just plain weird. It makes the mambo extremely odd, which in my opinion reflects Cora’s delusion. Now, the whole spoken part, which I guess you could call a cheer, or something, goes along with the fact that Cora is trying to make herself believe that everything is ok. I mean, she’s speaking about all the town’s problems in a peppy, fun manner. Now, the last chord the voices sing are also worth mentioning. They sing an Eb Major 7, over the mambo progression, which, if you remember, includes Db. So there’s a D against a Db. This creates a stinging little dissonance, which make the listener even more uncomfortable. So the song really tries to shine a negative light on Cora.