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Georges Seurat – “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte”

“Sunday, by the blue purple yellow red water
On the green purple yellow red grass
Let us pass through our perfect park
Pausing on a Sunday
By the cool blue triangular water
On the soft green elliptical grass
As we pass through arrangements of shadow
Toward the verticals of trees
Forever
By the blue purple yellow red water
On the green orange violet mass of the grass
In our perfect park
[[George]]
Made of flecks of light
And dark
And parasols
Bum bum bum bum bum bum
Bum bum bum
People strolling through the trees
Of a small suburban park
On an island in the river
On and ordinary Sunday
Sunday
Sunday.”

These song lyrics were shared with me in a music class I took this semester. The lyrics were written and composed by Stephen Sondheim. The play in which these lyrics were sung is called Sunday in the Park with George, a fictional story based off of the famous painter George Seurat. The main character George along with the entire cast sings this number “Sunday”.Sondheim mentions that this song is just one sentence. Also, this song refers to Seurat’s painting style, primary colors and simple shapes. Interestly, the word forever brings the entire song together and provides a deeper meaning which is that art is forever, once art is out in the world it will remain there forever for people to see, analyze and interpret.