A Life in Song Tim Rice: A Life in Song

Tonight, we're celebrating one of our most successful songwriters

whose love affair with words is both irrepressible and inexhaustible -

lyricist Sir Tim Rice.

The man who took Jesus Christ from the page to the stage

and crowned his talent with The Lion King.

Flashback to the '60s, Tim Rice, legal intern and wannabe pop star

meets Andrew Lloyd Webber, prolific young composer,

a legendry partnership is born and Tim becomes a superstar writer.

Tonight, some classics from Tim's Song Book

are performed by stars including

Tom Chaplin...

# Can you feel the love tonight? #

..Gemma Arterton...

# I don't know how to love him. #

..Alexander Armstrong...

# John, sing in unison. #

..Cynthia Erivo and Frances Ruffelle...

# So good

# Wasn't it fine? #

..Rob Brydon...

# It's easy for you. #

..Sophie Ellis-Bextor...

# So what happens now?

# So what happens now? #

..Roger Daltrey...

# Won't you tell me

# Cos I just want to know. #

..Laura Mvula...

# It's the circle of life. #

..and Rufus Wainwright.

# Don't cry for me Argentina. #

Wow.

Now, Tim, let's begin

with the question you always get asked at school,

what do you want to be when you grow up?

Now, neither of us have grown up really, but

what... Did you have an answer to that when you were at school?

Well, not a really decent answer.

I...I was supposed to be doing something very respectable,

the law or accountancy or the church, but erm...

And I did have a go at the law but what I really wanted to do secretly

was to get into the pop world and I...I fancied myself as a...

as a pop star and I still do sometimes.

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

Now, I've got a letter here, Tim, or a copy of a letter that you wrote,

which was quite important in your life.

It says, "Dear, whoever it is..."

Will be revealed at the end. "..I've been given your name.

"Mr Elliott told me you were looking for

"a with-it writer of lyrics for your songs

"and as I've been writing pop songs for a short while now

"and particularly enjoy writing the lyrics, I wondered if you'd

"consider it worth your while meeting me."

Who was that to?

Well, that, of course, was Andrew Lloyd Webber

and erm, I was recommended him by Desmond Elliott, book publisher,

erm, and the first thing I thought, "Andrew Lloyd Webber,

"he'll have to change his name if he's going to make it."

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

But when I went round to meet him,

I realised I was in the presence of a very, very talented young musician.

-What did he play you?

-He said, "How do you do? My name's Andrew

"Lloyd Webber, I've written eight musicals. Here's one of them,"

and he just sat down and began playing wonderful tunes

and I thought, "I...I will get in on this."

How early in the relationship did Superstar emerge?

I guess it was probably two years after we'd been writing and failing

with other projects that we finally got going on Superstar, but no-one

wanted to know. We...we had to do it as a record instead of a show

and that was a very last minute, desperate resort,

but in fact that was what made it much better because it was more rock.

Doing it on record really made Superstar the hit it was.

Had you got any idea of the impact it was going to have

and how it was going to change your lives?

No, obviously not, you, you don't expect that sort of success.

I mean, even now, well, one is very grateful if something works

and that worked in a big, big way and we were just...

It was good timing. Erm, it was a good idea,

although we didn't think it was at the time,

when everybody said, "No, we don't want to do it,"

and we were very lucky.

Well, I think it's time we heard some music.

Our first guest is no stranger to creating a hit.

His award-winning musical Matilda is playing to packed houses

in the West End and on Broadway.

He first sang Judas in his family living room. The rest is history.

Singing Heaven On Their Minds from Jesus Christ Superstar,

please welcome musician, composer, actor, comedian and writer,

Tim Minchin.

APPLAUSE

# My mind is clearer now

# At last

# All too well

# I can see

# Where we all

# Soon will be

# If you strip away

# The myth

# From the man

# You will see

# Where we all

# Soon will be

# Jesus

# You've started to believe the things they say of you

# You really do believe

# This talk of God is true

# And all the good you've done

# Will soon get swept away

# You've begun to matter more

# Than the things you say

# Listen, Jesus

# I don't like what I see

# All I ask is that you listen to me

# And remember I've been your right-hand man all along

# But you have set them all on fire

Ha!

# They think they've found the new Messiah

# And they'll hurt you when they find they're wrong

# I remember when this whole thing began

# No talk of God then We called you a man

# And believe me

# My admiration for you hasn't died

# But every word you say today

# Just gets twisted round some other way

# And they'll hurt you if they think you've lied

# Nazareth, your famous son should've stayed a great unknown

# Like his father carving wood He'd have made good

# Tables, chairs and oaken chests would have suited Jesus best

# He'd have caused nobody harm

# No-one alarm

# Listen, Jesus Do you care for your race?

# Can't you see we must keep in our place?

# We are occupied

# Have you forgotten how far down we are?

# I am frightened by the crowds

# For we are getting much too loud

# And they'll crush us if we go too far

# If we go too far

# Listen, Jesus to the warning I give

# Please remember I just want us to live

# But it's sad to see our chances weakening with ev'ry hour

# All of your followers are blind

# They've too much heaven on their minds

# It was beautiful but now it's sour

# Yes, it's all gone sour

# Listen, Jesus to the warning I give

# Please remember that I want us to live

# Come on, come on Why won't he listen to me?

# Oh-oh

# Oh-oh-oh

# It's all

# Gone

# Sour. #

Thank you, thank you, Tim. Thank you very much.

All the lyrics are so simple and so deceptively simple, aren't they?

Well, I'm trying to, always with characters, trying to make it that...

that...that more or less you could read them

and they would work as speech.

We're going to hear I Don't Know How To Love Him.

Did it come to you straight away or...?

No, the original lyric I wrote for this tune

was called Kansas Morning and obviously it wasn't in Superstar.

Erm, and, and it was a very bad lyric

when we were trying to sell this, this beautiful tune and my bad lyric

as a pop song and nobody wanted to know because the lyric was so awful

but when, erm, we came to write Superstar, Andrew said, "Well, I've

"got that wonderful tune, Kansas Morning,"

and I wrote a new lyric for it and it was a better lyric

and...and the song became a hit.

It all came together. Well, let's hear it.

I Don't Know How To Love Him and to sing it,

we're thrilled to have an artist from the James Bond film

Quantum Of Solace, Gemma Arterton.

# I don't know how to love him

# What to do, how to move him

# I've been changed

# Yes, really changed

# In these past few days

# When I see myself

# I seem like someone else

# I don't know how to take this

# I don't see why he moves me

# He's a man

# He's just a man

# And I've had so many men before

# In very many ways

# He's just one more

# Should I bring him down?

# Should I scream and shout?

# Should I speak of love?

# Let my feelings out?

# I never thought I'd come to this

# What's it all about?

# Don't you think it's rather funny

# I should be in this position?

# I'm the one

# Who's always been

# So calm, so cool

# No lover's fool

# Running every show

# He scares me so

# I never thought I'd come to this

# What's it all about?

# Yet, if he said he loved me

# I'd be lost

# I'd be frightened

# I couldn't cope

# Just couldn't cope

# I'd turn my head

# I'd back away

# I wouldn't want to know

# He scares me so

# I want him so

# I love him so. #

Amazing. Is it hard to write for a woman?

No, I think it's, erm, interesting really.

It's like... I think it's...it's...

Blokes don't normally like revealing too much of their emotion,

so it's a good...good way of doing it by doing it through

what you conceive to be the eyes of a woman.

I'm going to reread all your feminine lyrics.

Erm, do you, when you hear a song, do you know

-if it's going to be a hit or not?

-No.

-Can you...?

-No.

You don't? Isn't there some story about you entering a competition,

though, at some point?

Well, er, yes. I entered a competition erm, in The Sun.

Somebody else's copy, obviously.

Erm...

and it...it was just before we...we'd had success with Superstar

and the idea was to prophesy the top 10 in a month's time.

And erm, I prophesied, erm, that

Lee Marvin's Wandering Star, which at that time was number 48

or something on the chart, I...I put it down as number one on a hunch,

mainly because I loved the lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner.

And it went to number one, but I didn't get all the others right

in the top 10, so I was a little bit disappointed and then I got a call

from The Sun or a letter rather, saying, "Congratulations, Tim,

"you have won first prize," which was to go to Luxemburg

and be a disc jockey for 20 minutes.

Wow, wow.

And, and then after that, I heard nothing for about six weeks

and I rang up The Sun and I said,

"When am I going to Luxemburg?" And they said,

"Oh, you don't really want to go, do you?"

I said, "Yes, I do." And they, they got the gardening correspondent

reluctantly to accompany me to Luxemburg.

And when I got to Luxemburg, they said,

"Who are you and why are you here?"

But I got on air and I think I played Superstar by Murray Head.

-You slipped it in?

-Yes, well, it had just come out

and Tony Prince, I think was the DJ,

and I said, "Look, this is a great record," and he said,

"Well, it's not bad," and we played it. Luxemburg were good to us.

The British radio didn't want to know, but Luxemburg did.

Let's hear that song now. The title song from Jesus Christ Superstar

and here to sing it, an absolute superstar,

who sang the role of Judas in 1996,

believe it or not, Roger Daltrey.

# Ev'ry time I look at you I don't understand

# Why you let the things you do get so out of hand

# You'd have managed better if you'd had it planned

# So why'd you choose such a backward time and such a strange land?

# If you'd come today you would've reached a whole nation

# Israel, 4BC had no mass communication

-# Don't you get me wrong

-Don't you get me wrong

-# Don't you get me wrong, now

-Don't you get me wrong

-# Don't you get me wrong

-Don't you get me wrong

-# Don't you get me wrong, now

-Don't you get me wrong

-# Only want to know

-Only want to know

-# Only want to know, now

-Only want to know

-# Only want to know

-Only want to know

-# Only want to know, now

-Only want to know

# Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ

# Who are you? What have you sacrificed?

# Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ

# Who are you? What have you sacrificed?

# Jesus Christ Superstar

# Do you think you're what they say you are?

# Jesus Christ Superstar

# Do you think you're what they say you are?

# Tell me what you think about your friends at the top

# Who d'you think besides yourself was the pick of the crop?

# Buddha was he where it's at? Is he where you are?

# Could Mahomet move a mountain Or was that just great PR?

# Did you mean to die like that?

# Was that a mistake or

# Did you know your messy death would be a record breaker?

-# Don't you get me wrong

-Don't you get me wrong

-# Don't you get me wrong, now

-Don't you get me wrong

-# Don't you get me wrong

-Don't you get me wrong

-# Don't you get me wrong, now

-Don't you get me wrong

-# Only want to know

-Want to know

-# Only want to know, now

-Only want to know

-# Only want to know

-Only want to know

-# Only want to know, now

-I only want to know

# Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ

# Who are you? What have you sacrificed?

# Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ

# Who are you? What have you sacrificed?

-# Jesus Christ...

-Jesus!

# Do you think you're what they say you are?

# Jesus Christ Superstar

# Do you think you're what they say you are?

# Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ

# Don't get me wrong Don't you just get me wrong

# Don't you get me wrong Don't get me wrong

# Who are you? What have you sacrificed?

# Jesus Christ Superstar

# Do you think you're what they say you are?

# Jesus Christ Superstar

# Do you think you're what they say you are?

# I really wanna know

# Are you what they...

# Say you...

-# Please, tell me

-..Are? #

Wow, thank you, thank you, Roger.

-As, as a child, were you Meccano mad?

-No.

-Were you...?

Typewriter, that was my favourite toy. My mum's typewriter. Fantastic.

-I couldn't keep... That I had to play with. I loved it.

-Really?

And in the end, she... I mean, I wrecked it because I was just

bashing away at it from the age of four

and, erm, eventually I inherited it.

And it still worked and she...she got an electric one as a big boost.

Did you, did you go and watch the Disney movies of the day?

Yes, I loved the Disney, erm, films, really loved them.

I must have seen Peter Pan, Cinderella,

all those great early ones, Snow White, Bambi, Dumbo

literally dozens of times. I absolutely adored them.

So, how was it you ended up working for Disney?

Well, animation had faded away a bit in the '70s and '80s

and Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Eisner were determined to bring

the Disney brand back in a big way. And they did that with Alan Menken

and Howard Ashman who wrote two beautiful scores for Little Mermaid,

erm, and Beauty and the Beast, which were mega hits.

And they were so successful, they then wanted to do more than one film

at once. So, while Alan was working on, erm, Aladdin,

I was...I was brought in to work on Lion King and I was told,

"You can have any composer you want," so I said, "Well, Elton John."

And they said, "All right, we'll get him."

I said, "You won't get him," but they got him.

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

And that's how you ended up working with Elton.

And once I got Elton, erm,

I would say that the greatest favour I did Disney was to get Elton John

into the team because he, he wrote just a wonderful,

-wonderful score for The Lion King.

-I think it's time we heard one.

Disney's classic love song from The Lion King.

1994 Academy Award winner for Best Song can still be heard

on the West End stage, after its premiere, 15 years ago.

Tonight, sung by Keanes lead singer, the sublime-voiced Tom Chaplin.

Thank you.

# There's a calm surrender

# To the rush of day

# When the heat of the rolling world

# Can be turned away

# An enchanted moment

# And it sees me through

# It's enough for this restless warrior

# Just to be with you

# And can you feel the love tonight?

# It is where we are

# It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer

# That we got this far

# And can you feel the love tonight?

# How it's laid to rest?

# It's enough

# To make kings and vagabonds

# Believe the very best

# There's a time for everyone

# If they only learn

# That the twisting kaleidoscope

# Moves us all in turn

# There's a rhyme and reason

# To the wild outdoors

# When the heart of this star-crossed voyager

# Beats in time with yours

# Can you feel the love tonight?

# It is where we are

# It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer

# That we got this far

# And can you feel the love tonight?

# How it's laid to rest?

# It's enough

# To make kings and vagabonds

# Believe the very best

# It's enough

# To make kings and vagabonds

# Believe the very best. #

Thank you.

Gorgeous, thank you, thank you, Tom.

It was... I've got a book here that may bring back some memories.

There's some amazing illustrations in here.

Does that look familiar at all to you?

-Is that something you had at home?

-Yeah, we did.

The Wonder Book Of The Bible, this was, erm... I mean, I've often said

I use this for the story of Joseph, but I did also go back to Genesis.

It's my favourite school story, erm, from the Bible and I never dreamt

that it would lead to so much good fortune for me,

but this was the book. This was the book where I was browsing through it

for the best Bible story that we could have a go at

cos we were writing for, for a kids' school and I thought, "Yes, Joseph,

"that...that really works." It's a great story.

Do you remember writing Any Dream Will Do?

Yes, erm, I do remember. It was a very catchy tune.

The first lyric I wrote for it was called, I Fancy You...

AUDIENCE LAUGHS

..and erm, it was...it was going to be for Herman's Hermits.

Erm, and we...we thought Herman will love this one,

HE HUMS: I fancy you, I think you're lovely.

But it...but it never, it never got to Herman...

THEY LAUGH

..to his great relief, I think. Er...

You talk about it being a jaunty melody, a jaunty tune,

but if you... The lyrics are... There's some sadness in the lyrics.

-It's rather a melancholy lyric in a way.

-I'm just going to quote,

"Far, far away, someone was weeping,

"but the world was sleeping. Any dream will do."

-Now that's quite sad, isn't it?

-Well, it's...

Is there a sad side to you?

I guess so, I mean, not tonight, I hope, but erm, now and then,

occasionally. Well, everybody is, I hope,

a mixture of...of happiness and sadness. This is getting

philosophically rather corny, but erm, I... In, in that song,

I think the, the very pretty tune that Andrew wrote,

coupled with a slightly melancholy lyric,

made it a stronger song. And people don't get that it's sad, really,

because of the lovely tune.

Well, I think we should hear it. Any Dream Will Do was a number one hit

and here to sing it tonight, with his own rendition,

a big welcome for Devon-born folk singer, songwriter

and multi-instrumentalist, Seth Lakeman and his viola.

# I closed my eyes

# Drew back the curtain

# To see for certain

# What I thought I knew

# Far, far away

# Someone was weeping

# As the world was sleeping

# Any dream will do

# I wore my coat

# With golden lining

# Bright colours shining

# Wonderful and new

# And in the east

# The dawn was breaking

# As the world was waking

# Any dream will do

# A crash of drums

# A flash of light

# My golden coat

# Flew out of sight

# Colours faded into darkness

# I was left alone

# May I return

# To the beginning

# As the light is dimming

# And the dream is too

# The world and I

# We are still waiting

# Still hesitating

# Any dream will do

# A crash of drums

# A flash of light

# My golden coat

# Flew out of sight

# Colours faded into darkness

# I was left alone

# May I return

# To the beginning

# As the light is dimming

# And the dream is too

# The world and I

# We are still waiting

# Still hesitating

# Any dream will do. #

Back to the day job.

Do you...do you like making lists. Are you a good list man?

-I do nothing else in life, but make lists.

-Really?

-Yes.

I get up in the morning, I make a list of...

Well, I've got a huge running list. It's been going since 1964

of...of things to do and some of those things have been

-on the list since 1964.

-Ah.

Well, in Joseph, there is a list song, isn't there,

which is a well-known technique for lyric writers.

-Oh, well, the...

-Which is Coat Of Many Colours.

-Coat Of Many Colours.

Yes, well, actually I feel a bit of a cheat on that because,

erm, we had a very good review, I think in the Financial Times

of all papers, for erm, the lyrics of Coat Of Many Colours

and the critic, erm, listed all the colours and said, you know,

red, yellow and green, orange, blue and purple, and whatever it is

and he said, "This is pure poetry. Tim Rice is a genius."

Actually, I hadn't written that.

All I'd written was red and yellow and green and brown and blue.

And the boys of Colet Court, we were...

erm, added lots of colours themselves,

so they should get the credit,

but they won't be getting the royalties.

THEY LAUGH

One of the key tools in a...in a lyric writer's armoury is rhyming.

-Yes.

-And are there any words that you've found impossible to rhyme?

A piece I wrote with the late, great Steven Oliver, erm, a musical,

which was not wildly successful, erm, called Blondel, erm, we had a song

in it which addressed this problem of rhyming.

And erm, Blondel is the court musician

who is trying to write a song for King Richard, the Lion Heart,

and John, the evil nasty Prince John, points out that Richard is a word

that doesn't rhyme with anything, so he would be much better off

writing a song about John.

Let's hear the song, No Rhyme For Richard and here to prove a point

is Pointless, Alexander Armstrong.

# There's no rhyme for Richard

# Which'd be suitable

# You won't find a rhyme that'll fit

# When rhyming with Richard

# A hitch'd be indisputable

# Re-Richard, my tip is to quit

# But John

# The problems are gone

# Observe how the rhymes flow

# It's a phenomenon

# When you write your chanson

# It's easy with John

# A name with no rivals

# Well, maybe Yvonne

# Where upon

# I must now recommend

# You improve certain stanzas my friend

# With John

# This isn't a con

# For all your creations

# John's a sine qua non

# Oh, the plusses of John

# I'll continue anon

# For at our disposal's

# The whole lexicon

# So, poet, write on

# For instance

# There's venison and stone of scone

# I'm sure you will concede

# That in 1189 they're rhymes you may not need

# My growing reputation

# From here to Runnymede

# Gives you the chance to be the second Venerable Bede

# There's mastodon, automaton and don should not be missed

# Hoots mon, Peron pantechnicon,

# Can Richard match this list?

# I see no use for skeleton

# But on the other hand

# The use of John with paragon

# Is something rather grand

# There's silicon and Amazon

# And more at your command

# Or tarragon

# Accordion

# Iguanodon

# Decathlon, Armageddon

# Celine Dion

# Jean Valjean 24601

# Colon

# Chiffon

# Oberon

# Cameron, Bab-y-lon

# Tradition

# Tradition

# Ooh, John

# Coupon!

# Each time I swan

# Dyson!

# Around this great Kingdom

# Strap on!

# Mere Dicks are outshone

# In comparison

# Moron!

# All others seem wan

# My name in itself will

# Attract hangers on

# So be gone to the hole

# Where you write

# And erase every Richard in sight

# Won't you shout it for John

# Sing in unison

# Let the rest be consigned to

# Oblivion

# And let no simpleton

# Say, "Well, what about Ron?"

# Cos Ron's really Ronald

# And I am sheer John

# I'm nothing but John

# Immaculate John

# So, poet

# The time has come to spell it out

# Away with subtle hints

# Yes, I propose that you compose a tribute to your Prince

# A rose by any other name but John might smell as sweet

# My time has come, prepare to strum

# You'll love this job

# You have the perfect subject

# Me

# Go hit the quill

# Give me a thrill

# You'll love this job

# Cos Richard's obsolete

# What d'ya say? #

Thank you, thank you, Alexander.

I should have, I should have counted the John rhymes there.

-There must have been...

-It's about 70 or 80,

but I mean, the evil characters are always much more fun

and easier to write for. I mean, Scar in The Lion King,

that song came quickest. That was a very quick one to write.

If... I don't know what it is, it's about, you know, nasty blokes.

There's something, maybe I identify with them.

One of the...one of the things I know about you

and I think lots of people do,

is that you have a fantastic encyclopaedic knowledge and love for

the charts and all the songs that have gone into the charts.

Well, yes, only up to about Duran Duran's fourth single.

Erm, I lost track of it, really,

about the end of...end of the '80s, I think.

Erm, but I'm pretty good if you're going to ask me questions

-of sort of '54 to '65 and I'll get them.

-Very good.

When did you first become aware of the ABBA phenomenon?

Well, erm, Waterloo, obviously, and erm...

-Did you watch the Eurovision that night?

-Er, I guess...

I've seen it so many times, I can't remember,

erm, but probably yes. I mean, they were clearly very gifted.

I mean, it was an unusually good record that was already being a hit

before even the Eurovision.

Extraordinary that the lyrics written in a second language.

Bjorn Ulvaeus is one of the best English lyric writers I know

and he's Swedish. He's, I mean, some of those ABBA lyrics

are just magnificent.

How did it come about that you worked with them?

Well, I was a very huge fan of Bjorn and Benny

and indeed all of ABBA by the ninth or tenth number one,

as most of the world was and I had this idea for a musical

about the Cold War, based around chess and it was romance.

And it was inspired by the Bobby Fischer, Boris Spassky

chess match in Iceland, which in 1972, at the height of the Cold War,

was very important, even a chess board in Iceland mattered

in the Cold War and the confusing thing was, that the American guy

who was meant to be our guy, was a bastard

and the Russian guy, who was meant to be the enemy, was a jolly, nice chap.

-That was, the original idea was yours.

-Yeah, and I took it to Bjorn

and Benny. I thought, "Well, they'll never want to do it,"

but I got them just at the right time. They were thinking that ABBA

had almost run its course and they liked the idea.

-Wow.

-I was, I mean, it was a terrific thrill

-for me to work with them.

-Well, let's hear some songs from Chess.

I Know Him So Well is a classic unforgettable duet from Chess

about two women loving the same man, another number one hit here

and to sing it tonight, please welcome Frances Ruffelle

and Cynthia Erivo.

# Nothing is so good it lasts eternally

# Perfect situations must go wrong

# But this has never yet prevented me

# Wanting far too much for far too long

# Looking back I could have played it differently

# Won a few more moments who can tell

# But it took time to understand the man

# Now at least I know I know him well

-# Wasn't it good?

-Oh, so good

-# Wasn't he fine?

-Oh, so fine

# Isn't it madness

-BOTH:

-# He can't be mine?

# But in the end, he needs a little bit more than me

# More security

# He needs his fantasy

# And freedom

# I know him so well

# No-one in your life is with you constantly

# No-one is completely on your side

# And though I'd move my world to be with him

# Still the gap between us is too wide

# Looking back I could Have played things

# Looking back I could have played some other way

# Learned about the man before I fell

# I was just a little careless maybe

# But I was ever so much younger then

# Now at least I know him well

# But now at least

# I know I know him well

-# Wasn't it good?

-So good

-# Wasn't he fine?

-Oh, so fine

# Isn't it madness

# He won't be mine?

# Didn't I know

# How it would go?

# If I knew from the start

# Why am I falling apart?

# Wasn't it good?

# Wasn't he fine?

# Isn't it madness

# He won't be mine?

# But in the end he needs a little bit more than me

# More security

# He needs his fantasy and freedom

# I know him so well

# It took time to understand him

# I know him so well. #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Thank you, thank you.

And now, Someone Else's Story from Chess,

a poignant ballad sung tonight by Cynthia Erivo.

# Long ago in someone else's lifetime

# Someone with my name

# Who looked a lot like me

# Came to know a man and made a promise

# He only had to say and that's where she would be

# Lately although the feelings run just as deep

# The promise she made has grown impossible to keep

# And yet I wish it wasn't so

# Will he miss me if I go?

# In a way

# It's someone else's story

# Someone else's life as taking part at all

# Yesterday the girl that I was fond of

# Finally could see the writing on the wall

# Sadly she realised she'd left him behind

# And sadder than that she knew he wouldn't even mind

# And though there's nothing left to say

# Would he listen if I stay?

# It's all very well to say You fool, it's now or never

# I could be choosing

# No choices whatsoever

# I could be

# In someone else's story

# In someone else's life and he could be in mine

# I don't see a reason to be lonely

# I should take my chances further down the line

# And if that girl I knew should ask my advice

# Oh, I wouldn't hesitate She needn't ask me twice

# Go now! I'd tell her that for free

# Trouble is, the girl is me

# The story is, the girl is me. #

APPLAUSE

Tim, I'm just going to take the liberty of quoting

a bit of your lyric from the next song -

"She is eternal, long before nations lines were drawn,

"where no flags flew and no army stood.

"My land was born."

This was about the Cold War but it's...

it's scarily relevant today, isn't it?

Well, I guess so. I mean, that song,

The Anthem, is particularly about the fact that

it's hard for people to cast aside where they're from and indeed people

don't want to. And it was inspired a bit by the hymn

I learnt in my childhood -

I Vow To Thee My Country - it's that sort of emotion I wanted

to get, and Benny and Bjorn came up with a pretty strong tune for it.

Well, let's hear it.

Singing the show-stopper Anthem where the Russian chess master

Anatoly explains why he's deserting his country, is the extremely

charismatic and brilliant actor/singer, Julian Ovenden.

APPLAUSE

# No man, no madness

# Though their sad power may prevail

# Can possess, conquer my country's heart

# They rise to fail

# She is eternal

# Long before nations' lines were drawn

# When no flags flew and no armies stood

# My land was born

# And you ask me why I love her

# Through wars, death and despair

# She is the constant

# We who don't care

# And you wonder will I leave her

# But how?

# I cross over borders

# But I'm still there now

# How could I leave her?

# Where would I start?

# Let men's petty nations

# Tear themselves apart

# My land's only borders

# Lie around...

# My heart. #

APPLAUSE

Thank you. Thank you, Julian.

What was the first record you ever bought?

Tommy Steele's Singing The Blues, on Decca.

Which was a cover, wasn't it?

It was a cover of Guy Mitchell and I admire Guy Mitchell,

but I have to say that Tommy Steele was a rare example of the

British cover being better than the American original, cos Tommy was a...

had a real rock'n'roll and he slurred the words a bit, you know?

Singing the blues, and Guy Mitchell was very sort of straight.

He was lovely, Guy, but it was...

He wasn't rock'n'roll and Tommy then was.

And Elvis was a bit of a slurrer too, wasn't he?

Elvis was... Oh, Elvis, I mean, he was...he was Elvis.

Well, I have to tell you I met Elvis. I actually met Elvis.

AUDIENCE: Ooh.

-Did you meet him?

-I did.

Very, very briefly.

I shook his hand for about... Well, obviously not for that long,

but I mean, the...

LAUGHTER

The conversation that we had with

Elvis was very brief, as we were leaving a very distinguished party,

erm, a post-Elvis Presley, post-Las Vegas concert party

and we made the mistake after he hadn't turned up for three hours

of deciding to leave and just as we were leaving, he came and we were

too overcome to say, "Well, actually, we don't have to go now, we'll stay."

That was it and we thought, we'll meet him again but we never did.

-Ah, and you wrote a song for him.

-We did.

We wrote two, really, specifically for Elvis -

one which was not recorded by the King,

was called Please Don't Let Lorraine Come Down and that was...

-HE LAUGHS

-Sorry.

No, no. That was a song about a bloke living on the second

floor of an apartment block and there was a rather dodgy girl called

Lorraine on the third floor and he was trying to resist temptation,

hence the title.

But Elvis didn't like that one...

So he recorded a song called

It's Easy For You, which was a ballad which I kind of put Elvis'

personal situation into. His marriage had broken up and it was a ballad.

Andrew wrote a lovely tune for it. It's almost a country song, really.

Well, let's hear it.

Let's hear It's Easy For You, sung by a man who claims to know every

single Elvis song.

A big welcome please for Rob Brydon.

APPLAUSE

No...no pianist.

There is a pian... Good evening.

Er, there is piano in the song.

Don't panic, Michael, Tim, I met a man in the wings who says

he can play the piano.

Now, I don't know if he's telling the truth,

but let's give him a chance.

What was his name?

Andrew Lloyd Webber.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# You may not mind that it's over

# But I've a different point of view

# Even though I am shattered

# It's easy for you

# You don't have to face the music

# You don't have to face the crowd

# Just go back where you came from

# You ain't even proud

# I had a wife and I had children

# I threw them all away

# And now you tell me You dare to tell me

# I should go back to them

# What do you think I should say?

# I found it hard to leave them

# Saddest thing I ever had to do

# My problems haven't started

# It's easy for you

# I had a wife and I had children

# I threw them all away

# And now you tell me

# You dare to tell me I should go back to them

# What do you think, what on earth do you think I should say?

# If you ever tire of the good life

# Call me in a year or two

# I've got no choice I'll forgive you

# It's easy for you

# You only have to call me

# It's easy for you

# You only have to call me

# It's easy for you. #

APPLAUSE

-Terrible, terrible.

-Congratulations, great to see you.

Thank you very much.

We must move on now to the final section, which is, of course, Evita.

APPLAUSE They've heard of that one.

It's your third collaboration with Andrew, I think.

Well, it is, yes, if you don't count the first one, the, erm,

The Likes Of Us, which didn't really get anywhere at the time.

And you cast aside the Bible, for once?

-Yes, yes, we switched to...

-Where on Earth did the idea come from?

It came really from a radio programme I heard in my car.

I was late for a dinner and lost driving around the streets somewhere

in London and, erm, I heard the beginning of a programme

about Eva Peron and I thought, "This sounds interesting."

I knew a little bit about her.

I'd...I can recall her from collecting stamps as a kid

and her face was on the Argentine stamps and I knew she was dead.

That was about all I knew, but when I heard the beginning of the story,

I thought, "This is very interesting."

And at the time we were looking for something to follow up Superstar

which was a tough act to follow.

It certainly was.

It's a most unlikely subject for a musical, it seems to me,

but you pulled it off.

Yes, I often think that the obvious subjects for musicals,

if they're really obvious, somebody would have already had a hit

with them and I think it's often the wacky left-field ideas that work.

What you created in that show was a massive star role.

I mean, the whole thing evolves on the personality and the drive

and the performance of Evita.

Today, I'm not sure you'd take a chance with an unknown

but you did take a huge gamble picking an unknown to play Evita

and carry the whole show.

Well, Elaine Paige was the unknown. She wasn't unknown in the business,

she was unknown to the public at large, but she'd worked

for ten years in shows and musicals and she'd been progressing

up the stage to gradually take the second or third lead in one or

two musicals, but the public didn't really know her

and she was brilliant.

She was 29, 30 at the time. She'd paid her dues and she

came through a competition of about 400 or 500 people.

But we also had balancing Elaine,

we had a brilliant performance from David Essex

who was then as well-known as he is now, a wonderful performer.

APPLAUSE

So the combination of Elaine and David was, you know,

for my money, unbeatable before or since. It was fantastic.

Hollywood then had its go with Evita.

It was very funny because Evita kept being taken on by some studio

and we were paid an advance, and then it was...

The studio didn't do it and they were paid another advance.

Did they see it as a vehicle for a star?

I don't know, it just never quite happened.

The rumours were that Meryl Streep looked at it, Michelle Pfeiffer.

No, Warners wanted to do it. Meryl Streep and all these artists,

and it kept being... We were being paid all the time

but for the film not being done.

And I remember David Land saying,

ringing and saying, "I've got terrible news, boys,

"Evita's going to be done.

HE LAUGHS

"No more advances."

Let's take a moment to remind ourselves of the movie -

one of my favourite clips.

# But who is this Santa Evita?

# Why all this howling hysterical sorrow?

# What kind of goddess has lived among us?

# How will we ever get by without her?

# She had her moments She had some style

# The best show in town was the crowd

# Outside the Casa Rosada crying "Eva Peron"

# But that's all gone now

# As soon as the smoke from the funeral clears

# We're all gonna see and how

# She did nothing for years... #

APPLAUSE

Amazing change of pace there with the kind of the narrative song,

you know, really telling the story.

That was almost the first lyric I wrote.

I think Andrew's score is flawless frankly, on that one,

and it's such a wonderful variety and yet it all hangs together

as one piece of music. It's a terrific score.

I think one of the many, many phrases in your lyrics

that live with me forever is,

-"Another suitcase, another town," which is...

-Another hall.

Another hall, sorry.

LAUGHTER

-Sorry.

-It's all right.

-This heart-rending ballad from Evita.

On stage, sung by Peron's teenage mistress,

Another Suitcase, Another Hall was meant to be the show's big hit,

peaking at number seven in the charts in 1997.

Now performed by the captivating singer-songwriter

Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

APPLAUSE

# I don't expect my love affairs to last for long

# Never fool myself that my dreams will come true

# Being used to trouble I anticipate it

# But all the same, I hate it

# Wouldn't you?

-# So what happens now?

-Another suitcase in another hall

-# So what happens now?

-Take your picture off another wall

# Where am I going to?

# You'll get by You always have before

# Where am I going to?

# Time and time again I've said that I don't care

# That I'm immune to gloom That I'm hard through and through

# But every time it matters

# All my words desert me

# So anyone can hurt me and they do

-# So what happens now?

-Another suitcase in another hall

-# So what happens now?

-Take your picture off another wall

# Where am I going to?

# You'll get by You always have before

# Where am I going to?

# Call in three months' time and I'll be fine, I know

# Well, maybe not that fine but I'll survive anyhow

# I won't recall the names and places of this sad occasion

# But that's no consolation here and now

-# So what happens now?

-Another suitcase in another hall

-# So what happens now?

-Take your picture off another wall

# Where am I going to?

# You'll get by You always have before

-# Where am I going to?

-Don't ask any more. #

APPLAUSE

Thank you, Sophie. Wonderful.

Don't Cry For Me Argentina.

-Did that come easily?

-All except the title.

-I felt the first line wasn't right.

-What was the first line?

Well, the original one, we had terrible titles - all my fault,

like, It's Only Your Lover Returning and All Through My Wild Days

or something, I mean, it was... They were bad.

But I used the phrase Don't Cry For Me Argentina

earlier in the piece.

It was in the funeral scene at

the very beginning when the sort of dead Evita, if you like,

or the ghost of Evita sings Don't Cry For Me Argentina at the funeral.

And that line just sounded so good on that...

on those notes that we said,

"Well, let's put it in now and if it doesn't work,

"we can change it if there's a show."

But of course, it became THE phrase of the piece

and became a very big hit.

-Amazing.

-So we were stuck with it.

-Wonderful.

Well, with his own interpretation, please welcome Rufus Wainwright.

APPLAUSE

# It won't be easy You'll think it strange

# When I try to explain how I feel

# That I still need your love after all that I've done

# You won't believe me

# All you will see is a girl you once knew

# Although she's dressed up to the nines

# At sixes and sevens with you

# I had to let it happen

# I had to change

# Couldn't stay all my life down at heel

# Looking out of the window

# Staying out of the sun

# So I chose freedom

# Running around trying everything new

# But nothing impressed me at all

# I never expected it to

# Don't cry for me Argentina

# The truth is I never left you

# All through my wild days

# My mad existence

# I kept my promise Don't keep your distance

# And as for fortune and as for fame

# I never invited them in

# Though it seemed to the world

# They were all I desired

# They were illusions

# They're not the solutions they promised to be

# The answer was here all along

# I love you and hope you love me

# Don't cry for me, Argentina

# Don't cry for me, Argentina

# The truth is I never left you

# All through my wild days My mad existence

# I kept my promise Don't keep your distance

# Have I said too much?

# There's nothing more I can think of to say to you

# But all you have to do is look at me to know

# That every word is true

# Don't cry for me, Argentina. #

APPLAUSE

Wow, thank you, Rufus.

Now, Tim, you're not going to like answering this question cos

I know you're a very modest man, I know you to be a very modest man,

but how big is your trophy cabinet at home?

I would say that they're won for either being around a long time

or just for turning up to the ceremony.

But it's... I keep them in Cornwall, you know,

people stare at them occasionally.

-And you've got three Oscars, haven't you?

-Yeah.

-So far?

Yes, Alan Menken has eight so, erm, you know,

I'm in league division two compared with him.

-Ah, but the first one was for Aladdin, wasn't it?

-Er, yeah.

And I think we're going to hear a song, er, the 1992 Oscar-winning

song A Whole New World tonight

sung by Diana Vickers and James Fox.

APPLAUSE

# I can show you the world

# Shining, shimmering, splendid

# Tell me, princess Now when did you last

# Let your heart decide?

# I can open your eyes

# Take you wonder by wonder

# Over, sideways, and under on a magic carpet ride

# A whole new world!

# A new fantastic point of view

# No-one to tell us no or where to go

# Or say we're only dreaming

# A whole new world

# A dazzling place I never knew

# But now from way up here It's crystal clear

# That now I'm in a whole new world with you!

# Unbelievable sights

# Indescribable feeling

# Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky

-# A whole new world!

-Don't you dare close your eyes

-# A 100,000 things to see

-Hold your breath, it gets better!

# I'm like a shooting star I've come so far

# I can't go back to where I used to be!

-# A whole new world!

-Every turn a surprise

-# With new horizons to pursue

-Every moment, red-letter

BOTH: # I'll chase them anywhere There's time to spare

# Let me share this whole new world with you

-# A whole new world

-A whole new world

-# That's where we'll be

-That's where we'll be

# A thrilling chase

# A wondrous place

BOTH: # For you and me! #

APPLAUSE

Thank you, Diana and James.

Which of your songs do you think, which of your lyrics do you think

is really going to stand the real test of time?

Well, I don't know. I mean, I think if

any stand the test of time, it would probably be Joseph

because that's, erm, you know for children of all ages

and children, you know, there's a new generation every time appreciating it

and it doesn't really date at all. You know, I mean, it's something

which is just wonderful tunes and a good story, funny.

I think that's the piece that will probably last longest, but who knows?

It's up to my great-grandchildren to find that one out.

What's next for Tim Rice?

I don't know. I mean, you know, you listen to all this stuff

and you think, quite difficult to top some of this and, erm,

I'm...maybe I should just retire quietly into the background.

We don't want you to retire, do we?

It wasn't a very convincing no.

LAUGHTER

Now, the song we're going to end with tonight is The Circle Of Life.

Right.

How quickly did you write this?

Circle Of Life, well, we had two goes at it. We, the first time, erm,

for Circle Of Life, I wrote a rather jaunty, slightly comic lyric

and Elton wrote a very nice jaunty little tune but it wasn't...

it didn't have the oomph for the film

and it had to be something that was going to go over the opening titles.

And the second lyric was... Cos Elton likes the lyrics first,

which is unusual, so I was supplying lyrics to Elton and

then I'd get a tune.

And the second lyric which was more or less the one that ended up,

that was much heavier,

-and Elton wrote this wonderful tune in about an hour and a half...

-Wow.

..in the studio and I was watching him do it. And halfway through,

he was just playing the words,

he had these words, "On the day we arrived on the planet,"

and all that, and he was playing it over and over again with slight

variations in tune and just singing it along. It was wonderful, I mean,

if you recorded the whole thing you'd have a wonderful double album of

one song with the tunes gradually changing and developing.

And halfway through the session he said, "I need one more phrase,"

cos he'd written this wonderful tune that ascends and I said,

"On the path unwinding."

I wasn't quite sure what I meant by that, but it just sounded right

and it fitted beautifully and Elton finished the tune,

as I said, in about an hour and a half from coming into the studio.

Let's hear it.

How better to end a marvellous evening than with Laura Mvula

and the choir in The Circle Of Life.

APPLAUSE

Thank you, Tim, for making tonight possible

and thank you for all your amazing, amazing lyrics.

We wish you well and look forward to your next project.

Thank you very much.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Nants ingonyama bagithi baba

# Sithi, uhm, ingonyama

# Ingonyama baba

# Nants ingonyama bagithi baba

# Sithi, uhm, ingonyama

# Ingonyama

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala...

# From the day we arrive on this planet

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# And blinking, step into the sun

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# There's more to be seen than can ever be seen

# More to do than can ever be done

# There is far too much to take in here

# Or to find that can ever be found

# But the sun rolling high

# On the sapphire sky

# Keeps great and small on the endless round

# It's the circle of life

# And it moves us all

# Through despair and hope

# Through faith and love

# Till we find our place

# On the path unwinding

# In the circle

# The circle of life

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala

# Ingonyama nengw' enamabala...

# It's the circle of life

# And it moves us all

# Through despair and hope

# Through faith and love

# Till we find our place

# On the path unwinding

# In the circle

# The circle of life. #