Rock Island

This "song" is one of the greatest talking rhythm sections that I've ever heard. It has got all kinds of rhythms in it, and it seems like all of the rhythms are happening naturally. Although I have a lot of bias, I must say that the Broadway version is much better than the movie version- both of them. Both versions of the scene fail to take an account enough rhythms by the train. Also, both could have lots more inflection by the actors. The old video of Robert Preston's version is more bouncy than Broderick's version, but both could use the train as rhythm much more often. For example, every time someone repeats something, it is often because the train made a bump and he felt like he had to say it again to keep in with time. For example, at around 2:00 in the new video the man talking repeats the U-needa several times. When he says this each time, the whole train could have a bump and he could stress the "U" part of the word. Another part is at 3:15 when the man repeats "Big Brass Bass." At this time he could again stress the word "Big" and the train could have a beat there. Little things like that would make both scenes much more interesting. They just need some more stresses in the text. Also, the new movie failed to remember that these train tracks of the time were not perfect and were often very bumpy, thus making it difficult for the men to walk without rocking. Also, the beginning of the song in the first one seems very fake. The words and rhythms seem too artificial and contrived.

Nonetheless, the "song" is very great, and just by listening I think you could see the potential of the music to really entertain an audience. I really love The Music Man, and I think this scene is a great way to start off the whole musical.

Here's the new, Matthew Broderick version:



Here's the older version with Preston: