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1.There You Are
Chairman:
What's a king without his crown?
Take away his throne and gown,
He could be the rabble or the Russian czar.
Judge each creature of our race
By each feature in his face
Look at him - ( I rest my case) - well there you are!
And it matters not to me what part of town you've come from
We but cheer you've made it here at all!
Here within this garish parish called the music hall.
Chairman & Company:
And there you are!
How very glad we are that there you are!
It isn't who you are but where you are.
And there you are, and grateful are we to see.
How fine and fair you are! There you are!
Prysock:
I am standing with a gent who seems singularly bent
On attaching both his hands to both my knees.
Nutting:
I'm considering the lap of a most engaging chap
And I'll let him do exactly as I please.
Paget:
I've a lady down in front who's handed me her latch key.
Surely she must know that spells her doom.
Peregrine:
And this man has grand designs to show me
In my dressing room...
Chairman & Company:
And there you are!
How distingue and debonair you are!
Just slightly south of Leicester Square you are!
That thankful we all should be full well-aware you are!
So lightning quick let's all kick up a fuss.
We can but pray your trust is blind in us.
So drink your fill and just unwind in us.
A warmly wicked frame of mind in us
You'll find in us
We want you! and not a lot we care for
where you've been
And not a jot we care how you got in:
We but care that there you are!
Damned if there you are!
2.A Man Could Go Quite Mad
Jasper:
Another trifling day, one more soul-stifling day of blinding pain:
Boredom grinds my brain down to the grain.
A man could go quite mad and not be all that bad.
Consider each superb, disturbing urge you've ever had
To curse aloud in church or choke each bloke who
Throws a smile your way...
Be that as it may.
A man could have bad dreams and not be all he seems.
Yet not be far-removed from all the noblest of extremes.
Sometimes I think that sanity is just a passing fad.
A man could go quite mad.
Unblessed are the dull. One ceaseless, peaceless lull.
One wondrous night,
Storm-struck thund'rous light
Will cast me right
A sculptor lacking arms, a sorc'ror lacking charms,
A fiend who frightens no one for there's no one that he harms.
Whose clutches clutch at only desp'rate respite
From this dim tableau!
Knowing this is so, I hide myself in thought
Where one cannot be caught
and feed on dreams that contradicts each
edict I've been taught
And if someday I lose my way and mind,
you'll find me glad -
A man could go quite, man could go quite,
Man could go quite mad!
3.Two Kinsmen
Drood:
My dearest Uncle Jack!
Jasper:
My dearest Nephew Ned!
Both:
A life without your friendship
Would be life as good as dead!
Jasper:
The winds of hell may blow, but as you
well may know,
I'll heed your call, no need too small,
And face the fire below for you!
Drood:
For You!
Jasper:
For You!
Drood:
For You!
Both:
Two kinsmen, more than brothers, we
know no next of kin
and yet we know others closer 'neath
the skin.
The blood that flows between us, the
bonds that tie us twain;
Two kinsmen, when all others flee then we remain!
Jasper:
My dearest Nephew Ned!
Drood:
My dearest Uncle Jack!
If men say words against you,
I would make them take them back!
A loyal lad am I who'd be but glad to die,
If by my death one extra breath of life
for you I'd buy.
'Tis True!
Jasper:
'Tis true
Drood:
For You!
Jasper:
For You!
(Repeat Chorus)
4.Moonfall
Rosa:
Between the very dead of night and day,
Upon a steely sheet of light, I'll lay
And in the moonfall,
I'll give myself to you.
I'll bathe in moonfall and dress
myself in dew.
Before the cloak of night reveals the morn,
Time holds its breath while it conceals the dawn
And in the moonfall, all sound is frozen still,
Yet warm against me, your skin will warm the chill of
Moonfall, I feel its fingers
Lingers the veil of nightshade...
Light made from stars that all too soon fall.
Moonfall that pours from you.
Betwixt our hearts, let nothing intervene.
Between our eyes, the only sight I've seen
Is ***'rous moonfall as it blinds my view,
So that soon I only see but you.
5.Moonfall Quartet
Rosa:
I fear the Moonfall, I fear the
Night skies,
Bright eyes will burn me,
Blind me
Find me undressed and all revealing,
Kneeling before his view.
Helena:
Moon of fallen souls! I fear the
Night disguises you.
Night arises, you will burn then
Blindingly you'll fade. But pay no
Mind to me, unrest is all I
Feel, oh English child
Ner, oh English child....
Nearer than the moon am I to you.
Rosa, Alice, Beatrice:
Each one of us must sometime
Wait to meet with love and never
Know its name, his name -
But in the Moonfall soon all fears are few,
So that soon I only see but you.
6.The Wages of Sin
Princess Puffer:
Crime don't pay...that's what I tells 'em.
If it did, would I be here mixing pipes,
Wot then I sells 'em for a pint of rotten beer?
Throats you cut to pocket tuppence,
Then you *** to cop some sleep.
Bash a face for bleedin' tuppence -
pure disgrace to work so cheap.
So I say, don't be a sinner for the price of London gin.
You can't pay for one square dinner with the wages of sin.
Sell my soul? 'Cor love, come off it!
Who would buy this sack of skin?
On the whole, there ain't much profit in the wages of sin.
I've seen girls from gutter fam'lies trap
rich men with flutt'ry ways,
And they coo, "Cor, pass the jam please,"
Over nuptial breakfast trays,
Over there in bed eleven sleeps a bleedin' hypocrite.
Spends his days eyes cast to 'eaven;
Spends his nights among this sh-
S' why I say, don't take half-measures,
Do things right and dig right in.
In this world, there's greater treasures
than the wages of sin.
I get threats, but seldom offers. If I did,
I'd pack it in.
You can't fill too many coffers with the wages of sin.
7.Ceylon
Helena:
Ceylon...Ceylon
By the Bengal Bay,
Neville:
East of Jaipur,
West of Mandalay!
Helena & Neville:
Agra...Patna...
Sholapur and Kolhapur and all,
Helena:
How far they are
From the High Street and the Market Hall
Drood:
It's all very well for you
To speak of this distant view,
But Rosa what's planned for me
Is grander than sand and sea!
This vista that's in my sight
Where I'll set the world alright
Awaits me...
It dominates me.
Drood:
It's perfectly fine for them
To sing of their minor gem,
But there is a role for me,
A goal I intend to see,
A vision that's clean and
Bright before me -
You cannot ignore me
I will soon be
Shaping and molding,
Holding fortune in my hand
And I'll improve and
Shake and move and
Change the very
Nature of the land
Helena & Neville:
Ceylon...Ceylon
Cross the *** Seas
T'wards the Fjords of
Thornaby-on-Tees
Typhoons
Monsoons,
Break upon the
Coast of Malabar!
Quaking,
Shaking,
Change the way you are, hey!
Helena, Neville, & Ensemble:
Ceylon, Ceylon
By the Bengal Bay,
East of Jaipur, West of Mandalay!
Helena:
How warm are the winds of our Golden Isle!
Neville:
How cool are their words and how cold is their smile!
Both:
They wish us gone!
We'll be back someday Ceylon!
Drood, Jasper & Ensemble:
They've become a throat straight from Ceylon.
All:
Sail on to Ceylon! Hey!
8.Both Sides of the Coin
Jasper:
I am not myself these days - for all I
know I might be you.
There's more than room enough for two inside my mind.
Sapsea:
I am likewise in a haze of who I am from
scene to scene;
What's more we two, (we four, I mean)
are in a bind!
Jasper:
For is it I or is it me?
Sapsea:
And if I'm him and if I'm he, each on of us might not
Agree on what to do.
Jasper:
And if I take opposing sides within myself,
Then who divides up what is right or wrong?
Sapsea:
I'll go along with you.
Both:
Ha'penny, one penny, tupenny, thrupenny
Twelve to a shilling, twice that to a florin
To find the same face on both sides of the coin?
Bob is your uncle from pennies to guineas,
The two-sided mint is the rule, not exception,
And would you not quite feel quite the fool of deception
To find the same face on both sides of the coin?
Sapsea:
Odds or evens, it's high or low
It's up or down or night
Jasper:
Heads or tails, or black and white,
Or left and right or day!
Sapsea:
Nature seldom ever fails to most obligingly provide
An undisclosed opposing side to one's dismay.
Jasper:
There's shadows on this shining morn,
Sapsea:
If there's a rose it bears a thorn,
Jasper:
You're as good as dead as soon as born,
Both:
And yet we smile!
Sapsea:
But luck's division is perverse
Jasper:
It seems to work more in reverse
Sapsea:
If things are better, they'll be worse in just a while!
(Repeat Chorus)
9.Perfect Strangers
Rosa:
If we were perfect strangers,
How perfect life could be!
Drood:
I'd know if I adore you -
You'd know if you love me,
Too much we've seen together to judge
the view.
Rosa:
Too much we've been together...
Drood:
And I assumed the future -
Rosa:
And I presumed that you were there,
And yet I wondered where we met.
Drood:
If we were perfect strangers,
I'd find my way with ease.
Drood & Rosa:
I'd know the path before me, the forest
from the trees.
Drood:
Could life be real without you?
You're always there.
Rosa:
How do I feel about you?
Drood:
I care...
Rosa:
Too near to touch you!
My dearest Ned, how much you mean to me...
Drood:
But are we lovers, how would we know it?
How could we feel it?
How would we show it?
Rosa:
How much you've been to me!
Drood and Rosa:
If we were perfect strangers
I might have loved you perfectly...
10.No Good Can Come From Bad
Neville:
Sir I don't much like your tone, that supercilious sneer you wear!
Clear, you wear a finer cut than mine,
Ah but a waistcoat worn can soon be torn,
And faggots, too, 'til maggots feed on you!
Rosa:
Something in this speech seems ominous to me!
Helena:
Twin, don't over preach, pray promise this to me!
Crisparkle:
Praise to him divine! For this we should be glad!
Jasper:
Won't you try some wine?
All:
No good can come from bad!
Jasper:
My dearest Nephew Ned, I wish to wish you well!
The world is your before you just like -
Cook:
OYSTERS ON THE SHELL!
Drood:
Landless, (as you are and known),
Your blood is hot but less than pure!
Less, I'm sure, than we, your history would indicate
The past of some half-caste runs through your veins
Your crudeness thus explains,
Rosa:
Something sends a chill like feet upon my grave.
Helena:
Can my strength and will completely Neville save?
Crisparkle:
Could these words they say bring harm upon the lad?
Jasper:
Night must follow day!
All:
No good can come from bad!
Jasper:
My dearest, deepest friends, may
I propose a toast;
To Rosa Bud and Edwin Drood, three cheers -
Cook:
AND HERE'S THE ROAST!
Crisparkle:
How very blessed we are when oh so many starve!
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done -
Jasper:
WHICH ONE OF YOU WILL CARVE?
Neville & Drood:
Glances cut like blade through bone;
With daggers drawn I glare at you.
There at you who dare presume to stare at whom
I'd make my wife and share my life -
I'd see you dead before sweet Rosa wed.
Helena:
Fate waits near!
I feel it, I fear it!
We are friends and yet they'll not soon forget
Hearing Neville's threat, every epithet!
Crisparkle:
In younger days, I hungered for another:
Rosa's mother!
After Rosa's birth, she left this earth,
now dust is all I'm worth!
Rosa:
So long a time, they've thought that I'm a Dresden doll.
Quite naive, but I perceive these boys,
this noise more fright'ning
Than they might conceive.
Jasper:
As I stand by, take note:
Your throat sounds quite dry, this wine
should satisfy!
All:
With these new additions, there may be revealed
Murderous admissions otherwise concealed
Neville & Drood:
Fie on you, I curse!!! Full warning you
have had!
Helena & Rosa:
Bad must lead to worse,
All:
No good can come from bad! No good -
No good can come from bad!
11.Never The Luck
Bazzard:
Never the luck
and never the lead,
And "never you mind", they say.
In time we all taste
the lime in the light
And I'll have my night someday.
Still, each precious part
Seems over and done
Before I've begun to speak. I cast out my line
And keep my hand in
But I'll not stand in this week.
Some starless night, they'll call towards the wings:
"Who here dances and sings?"
That's when your truly springs
And seeing me then, they will cry,
"Why he knows each line, and everyone's cue!
We must let him do the part!"
I'll leap center-stage,
The music will play,
I'll waltz my way into your heart!
Tho' ever I plan,
and ever I plot
With ever the pluck to try,
I wait for my star by fate to be struck -
But never the luck have I...
Company:
Ever the hope and ever he scheme,
and ever the dream!
Bazzard:
But ever the dream have I!
12.The Name of Love & Moonfall
Rosa:
Love is but a word that wandered here from pastures green
Where it was rarely said or seen and seldom sung.
Innocent enough, it was intended to be used on rare occasions.
Not abused by every tongue.
Rarely has a word been ever taken so in vain.
What little meaning might remain is quickly blurred.
Never has there been so quite exhausted such a term -
Your sighs and syllables confirmed how drained this word.
Rosa:
You call it love.
I call it rude.
I call it ***.
I call it lewd.
I call it cruel.
I cannot bear
To call it love.
I think it foul.
I think it vile.
No more I'll take
of cunning guile.
You're worse than bad:
You give to sin
The name of love.
Jasper:
I call it love.
You call it rude.
You think me just
A bit too crude.
And I the fool,
Yet I still dare
To call it love.
I see you scowl,
You see me smile.
'Tis you I'll break!
I've no denial
My words are mad:
I speak them in the name of love.
Rosa:
Rose Bud, the dainty little face whose every curl
Confirms that she's a child, a girl, a neophyte:
Rosa is the only soul in Cloisterham, it seems,
Who senses just the sort of dreams you dream at night.
Did you think your stare would stop my seeing?
Every fibre of my being told me since I was betrothed
That your most unnatural attention conjures words I dare not mention.
You must know how much I loathed.
Rosa: To know your wants.
To see your clutch.
To hear your
To feel your touch
A dreadful task
To even speak
The name of love.
I will not fear
My tragic plight!
I have a choice -
I'll take to flight!
I'll not permit
You to desecrate
The name of love!
And in the moonfall,
Can you not see this victim, and lo,
his slave
Save me -
And yet he seems so in pain!
John, you make me like stone,
Transfixed with wonder,
Mixed with the thunder
Of this love.
Your name of love is chilling to me!
Jasper:
You know my wants
to need not clutch.
You have no choice.
Is it so much
For me to ask?
I only seek
The name of love.
I love to hear
The angry bite
of your fair voice!
One blazing night,
You will submit
And give your fate
The name of love!
And in the moonfall
Can you not free this victim you so
Enslave?
Save me,
And let these dreams remain
Awake my own,
Transfixed with one...
Of this love.
My all, my love,
Your name is love and thrilling to me!
Rosa & Jasper:
Beneath these skies one night unknown,
would (s)he dare?
Between our eyes one sight alone we share:
The sight of moonfall
As it comes into view...
Rosa:
So that
Soon I
only see but
You!
Jasper:
So I promise that you shall be
Soon a golden idol whom I
Own and love and lead into a
Sea of light! 'Tis but the falling
Moon!
ACT TWO[ Top ]
13.Settling Up The Score
Puffer:
Here to track this man in black am I,
With one clue as to the who and why!
Datchery:
I find myself
In this aggravating form and face,
Gravitating to this place,
Navigating t'wards this case!
Puffer & Datchery:
I've come to town, my ear at every door,
Half the clown, yet crafty at the core.
Settling down to settle up the score.
A kettle full of fish I'll fry,
I'll cook each goose, (to mix a metaphor),
and unloose a mighty meteor -
I'm settling down to settle up the score
Datchery:
My mettle will be more than tested!
Datchery & Puffer:
A debt'll be repaid before I've rested - oh!
Datchery:
Drood,
Puffer:
No word,
Datchery:
What's brewed,
Puffer:
No grave,
Datchery:
No tomb...
Datchery & Puffer:
Who'll say who's done what and why to whom?
Datchery:
I'm on the scent, I'm inventing everything I am...
Puffer:
Where's the sacrificial lamb?
Datchery:
'Ere in bloody Cloisterham
Puffer & Datchery:
I've come to town to ask at every door:
Did Edwin Drood drown or was he washed ashore?
I'm settling down to settle up the score:
Red herring on a briny beach!
I'll solve this yet
As Grand Inquisitor!
Make a bet
You've met me once before!
Make a threat?
I only wish you would!
I'm settling up the score for good!
14.Off To The Races
Chairman:
Quick conclusions often lead the best of us astray.
The wisest move in life is just to wait.
Otherwise, your galloping emotions run away
Chairman, Durdles, Deputy:
Like horses at the gate.
Off to the races, off to the races
Off to the races we go!
But where the chase is
and what the pace is
We seldom seem to know.
Durdles:
Men with broken hearts have vowed to nevermore pursue
A member of the soft and savoured face
Firmly anchored to the ground, they suddenly will view
Durdles & Deputy:
A fair and favored face
Durdles, Deputy, & Chairman:
Then: off to the races, off to the races
Where flirting faces call!
Deputy &Chairman:
His saving grace is strong drink replaces
The need for love at all.
All:
Don't fall back on your assumptions -
Hasty presumptions might do you in!
Mind the track! Like a nag running blind.
Try lagging behind:
You'll find you'll win.
Chairman:
Bless our Queen Victoria, she's had nine kids to date
You wonder how Prince Albert got enthused!
Probably by her decree he had to procreate:
Said she, "Make me amused!"
All:
Off to the races, the royal races
The same as poor folk do!
Deputy:
When she embraces her royal graces
The same she wants as you
All:
And the race is won by the tardy Not the fool-hardy fools that we be!
Don't unlace your madcap abandon,
Do and you'll land undone,
Not me!
So we call upon you all to hold your
horse's reins
Before you solve this dickens of a crime!
Sometimes having patience is as good as having brains,
So take your bloody time!
Pour out the spirits, the end is near, it's only a length or so:
Don't begin to beat your tar off for the
finish isn't far off.
To the races!
Off to the race we go...Tally-ho!
15.Don't Quit While You're Ahead
Puffer:
Once I bet my last ten pence - and won
Twice as rich then, friends said, "Call it done!"
"How sad", I said.
"So that's your wildest dream, eh, then...
Twenty pence instead of ten?"
I doubled up my bet again!
In life you start the same as when you're done:
If you lose, you're just where you've begun -
If you've won, don't quit while you're ahead,
Just press your blessed luck instead!
Datchery:
Don't try to think what move might be best;
Use the heart that beats within your breast.
Never rest! Don't quit while you're ahead.
Sing out:
Datchery & Puffer:
"There's more in store for me!"
Bazzard & Durdles:
I see my dream ship fin'lly comin' in
Like a steam ship anch'rin in to win!
Puffer & Datchery:
Lift your chin! Remember what I said
Don't quit while you're ahead, let go!
Rosa & Helena:
I know there must be love that's yet to be
Only just three winks away from me
Hopefully...
Puffer, Datchery, Bazzard & Durdles:
Don't quit while you're ahead!
Don't worry how you tread! Who cares?
Neville & Crisparkle:
And there's the chance! One pipe dream
that is mine
A romance just ripe on the vine
Rosa & Helena:
Don't resign!
Neville, Crisparkle, Rosa, Helena, Alice & Beatrice:
No victor ever fled!
Puffer, Datchery, Bazzard, Durdles:
Don't quite you're ahead to stay!
All:
Ta-ray- ta-rah!
Boom!
*** it, bash it, Hoo-ray-ha-rah!
Boom!
Clang it, clash it, oo-la-dee-dah!
Don't quite while you're ahead!
Don't say "I'm off to bed, farewell!"
Jasper:
Full well I know!
Don't let the moment go to waste
Not with the vic'try close enough to taste!
Chairman & Jasper:
Heed the call with all due haste!
All:
For God's own sake!
So raise the stake, you struck a lucky vein!
Never break through any lucky chain!
The refrain: "Don't quit while you're ahead,"
As eas'ly done as said, you'll see:
Ta-rah-ta-ree!
Boom!
*** it, bash it, oo, glory be!
Boom!
Clang it, clash it, oo-lah-dee-dee!
Don't quit while you're ahead
Sing out, "There's more in store for me!"
16.The Garden Path to Hell
Puffer:
I was once your nan
Then I met a man 0
Tall and all with golden hair,
That's where my end began.
I let him have his way with me,
(he knew his way so well):
Led me down the garden path to Hell.
Marriage in me head,
What I got instead
Was a bed in Camden Town, and then
to me he said:
"Should I send around a friend,
be nice to him this swell.
Stroll him down your garden path to Hell.
Make your bed of roses, and sleep in it,
Cuddle deep in it and pray you never wake.
Soon the deadly poppies come cropping up.
Fairly popping from the seeds of one mistake.
On my back all day
Earning Satan's pay
I took to drink
So's not to think
Of who'd come next to play.
Gave my gent my every cent and he gave
me farewell,
Leaving me to week the path to Hell.
Life's a maze of hedges that prickle you;
As they tickle you, they'll tear you all about.
Strolling through the maze is amusing, too.
But, confusing when you can't find your way out.
I lost my looks by then,
Couldn't draw the men,
So I learned to trade and earned
My keep with drugs, and then,
Found myself a wicked shelf where I
*** I sell:
"Here's a pipe for you, sir.
(Prince is five and two, sir.)
Can't you see the garden?
It's such a lovely garden...
I'll take you there, I know the path so well...
To Hell."
17.Finale/The Writing On The Wall
Drood:
I am Laz'rus, risen from the grave!
Quite alive you find me -
This tomb behind me
Is where I faced my closest shave!
When I struck my head against the street,
I was stunned, not stricken -
(Out plot doth thicken) -
For Jasper flew me off my feet
To the crypt,
I awoke in dark beyond belief,
And while all above me showed their grief,
I was screaming for my very breath,
Only moments from death.
You have no idea the sudden strength
That you feel within you,
The steel and sinew,
When fate stands smiling at arms-length.
I escaped! From Cloisterham I fled.
I did not return here.
'Til I could learn here
Just who in hell would wish me dead.
But more than that,
More than what solution fits this crime,
What I've learned is that life is bits of time,
And you fight for every tiny speck
When you're held by the neck:
I have read the writing on the wall,
And the greatest myst'ry
Is not the hist'ry
Of Jasper, Drood and one and all!
I have met my maker and returned!
What advice I'm giving
To all those living
Is just to learn what I have learned:
Life is dear.
There can be no vict'ry in defeat.
If our-numbered, beat a fast retreat
To the nearest shelter and dig in!
When you live, then you win!
Scratch and claw for every day you're worth!
Make them drag you screaming from life, keep dreaming
You'll live forever here on earth.
I have read the writing on the wall,
And it's clearly spelled out
For those who've held out
That holding on to life is all.
Is it clear?
If you hear my voice, then you're alive.
What a bloody marvel we survive,
When you think of every risk we face
In our mad human race!
I have read the writing on the wall!
Try to live forever
And give up never
The fight - you'll need the wherewithal!
Can't you heed the lightning
As I plead.
Inciting you to read the writing on the wall!
18.Don't Quit While You're Ahead (Reprise)
Once I bet my last ten pence - and won
Twice as rich then, friends said, "Call it done!"
"How sad", I said.
"So that's your wildest dream, eh, then...
Twenty pence instead of ten?"
I doubled up my bet again!
In life you start the same as when you're done:
If you lose, you're just where you've begun -
If you've won, don't quit while you're ahead,
Just press your blessed luck instead!
Don't try to think what move might be best;
Use the heart that beats within your breast.
Never rest! Don't quit while you're ahead.
Sing out:
"There's more in store for me!"
I see my dream ship fin'lly comin' in
Like a steam ship anch'rin in to win!
Lift your chin! Remember what I said
Don't quit while you're ahead, let go!
I know there must be love that's yet to be
Only just three winks away from me
Hopefully...
Don't quit while you're ahead!
Don't worry how you tread! Who cares?
And there's the chance! One pipe dream
that is mine
A romance just ripe on the vine
Don't resign!
Neville, Crisparkle, Rosa, Helena, Alice & Beatrice:
No victor ever fled!
Don't quite you're ahead to stay!
Ta-ray- ta-rah!
Boom!
*** it, bash it, Hoo-ray-ha-rah!
Boom!
Clang it, clash it, oo-la-dee-dah!
Don't quite while you're ahead!
Don't say "I'm off to bed, farewell!"
Full well I know!
Don't let the moment go to waste
Not with the vic'try close enough to taste!
Heed the call with all due haste!
For God's own sake!
So raise the stake, you struck a lucky vein!
Never break through any lucky chain!
The refrain: "Don't quit while you're ahead,"
As eas'ly done as said, you'll see:
Ta-rah-ta-ree!
Boom!
*** it, bash it, oo, glory be!
Boom!
Clang it, clash it, oo-lah-dee-dee!
Don't quit while you're ahead
Sing out, "There's more in store for me!"