When I first saw the movie “Chicago”, what stood out for me was not the song “All that jazz”, not the cute dimple of Richard Gere nor the acting of Renee Z or Cat Z-J, but a character called ‘Amos’ played by John Reilly and that was because of the song -Cellophane.
It felt like deja-vu watching and hearing it because I could associate with it to a large extent. I was painfully shy and awkward as a teenager and maybe the stigma of being a plain dowdy girl who couldn’t carry on a conversation with anyone still surfaces now and then, but I did get over it and have no idea how, the transformation was almost overnight (I was in a boarding school till my 12th standard and my warden told my mum that no-one seemed to have taught me to laugh when I was in my 10th. The same warden wrung her hands in despair because I could never seem to stop talking and laughing in my 11th).
I am dedicating this post to people like me – strange, awkward, wierd, ungainly, shy, people who feel like they never belong anywhere and the lyrics are re-produced here:
If someone stood up in a crowd
And raised his voice up way out loud
And waved his arm and shook his leg
You’d notice himIf someone in the movie show
Yelled “Fire in the second row
This whole place is a powder keg!”
You’d notice himAnd even without clucking like a hen
Everyone gets noticed, now and then,
Unless, of course, that personage should be
Invisible, inconsequential me!Cellophane
Mister Cellophane
Shoulda been my name
Mister Cellophane
‘Cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I’m there…I tell ya
Cellophane
Mister Cellophane
Shoulda been my name
Mister Cellophane
‘Cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I’m there…Suppose you was a little cat
Residin’ in a person’s flat
Who fed you fish and scratched your ears?
You’d notice himSuppose you was a woman, wed
And sleepin’ in a double bed
Beside one man, for seven years
You’d notice himA human being’s made of more than air
With all that bulk, you’re bound to see him there
Unless that human bein’ next to you
Is unimpressive, undistinguished
You know who…Cellophane
Mister Cellophane
Shoulda been my name
Mister Cellophane
‘Cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I’m there…
I tell ya
Cellophane
Mister Cellophane
Shoulda been my name
Mister Cellophane
‘Cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I’m there
Never even know I’m there.Hope I didn’t take up too much of your time.
And for those who haven’t yet seen this scene:
Now that I think of it, with the number of musicals I keep watching, I think I have quite a number of beautiful songs that come creeping up in my memory now and then. So I just might make this kind of post a regular feature if anyone is interested.
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