PROGRAM NOTES

“You might as well live” is a musical setting of the poem “Résumé” by Dorothy Parker. The piece aims to evoke the dark, disturbing, and ironic qualities within the text, as well as a feeling of unease, emptiness, or perhaps something unreachable. The music is mapped onto each of the two quatrains and emphasizes the poetic structure, declamation, rhyme scheme, and emotions that the poem elicits.

 

“Resumé” by Dorothy Parker

Razors pain you;

Rivers are damp;

Acids stain you;

And drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren’t lawful;

Nooses give;

Gas smells awful;

You might as well live.

 

Analysis of the poem:

https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/dorothy-parker/resume