Bernstein Leonard - "What A Waste" lyrics

Betty Comden and Adolph Green music by Leonard Bernstein GO WEST! GO HOME! OH, WHY DID YOU EVER LEAVE OHIO' GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM! A MILLION KIDS JUST LIKE YOU COME TO TOWN EVERY DAY WITH STARS IN THEIR EYES. THEYRE GOING TO CONQUER THE CITY, THEYRE GOING TO GRAB OFF THE PULITZER PRIZE, BUT ITS A TERRIBLE PITY, BECAUSE THEYRE IN FOR A BITTER SURPRISE. LIKE HIS, AND THEIR STORIES ALL FOLLOW ONE LINE, LIKE HIS, LIKE MINE! NATURAL WRITER, BORN IN DULUTH, PUBLISHED AT SEVEN -- GENIUS TYPE -- WROTE THE SCHOOL PAPER, WROTE THE SCHOOL PLAY, SUMMA CUM LAUDE -- ALL OF THAT TRIPE -- CAME TO NEW YORK, GOT ON THE STAFF HERE, THIS WAS MY CHANCE TO BE HEARD. WELL, SINCE THEN I HAVENT WRITTEN A WORD. WHAT A WASTE, WHAT A WASTE, WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME! MAN FROM DETROIT, WONDERFUL ARTIST, WENT TO PICASSO -- PABLO SAID WOW! SETTLED IN FRANCE, LIVED IN MONTMARTRE, BOUGHT HIM A BERET, REALLY LEARNED HOW. CAME TO NEW YORK -- HAD AN EXHIBIT, ART CRITICS MADE A BIG FUSS. NOW, HE PAINTS THOSE TOOTHPASTE ADS ON THE BUS! WHAT A WASTE, WHAT A WASTE, WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME! VERSATILE ACTRESS, GIRL FROM MOBILE, TRAGIC OR COMIC, ANY OLD PLAY, SUFFERED AND STARVED, MET STANISLAVSKY. HE SAID THE WORLD WOULD CHEER HER SOME DAY. CAME TO NEW YORK, NOW, THEY WATCH HER FLIPPING FLAPJACKS AT CHILDS. REPERTOIRE READY, WHAT A WASTE, CHEKHOVS AND SHAKESPEARES AND WILDES. WHAT A WASTE, WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME! KID FROM CAPE COD, FISHERMANS FAMILY, MARVELOUS SINGER -- BIG BARITONE -- RENTED HIS BOAT, STARVED FOR HIS STUDIES, PAID FOR HIS LESSONS, DOWN TO THE BONE. CAME TO NEW YORK, SING RIGOLETTO HIS WISH. AIMED AT THE OPERA, AT THE FULTON MARKET NOW HE YELLS FISH! WHAT A WASTE, WHAT A WASTE, AH -- FISH! WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME! GO HOME! GO WEST! GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM! GO HOME!