Music: Jonathan Larson
JONATHAN: Stop the clock—take time out
Time to re-group before you lose the bout
Freeze the frame—back it up
Time to refocus before they wrap it up
Years are getting shorter
Lines on your face are getting longer
Feels like you're treading water
But the rip tide's getting stronger
Don't panic—don't jump ship
Can't fight it—like taxes
At least it happens only once in your life
They're singing happy birthday
You just want to lay down and cry
Not just another birthday
It's thirty ninety
Why can't you stay twenty nine, hell
You still feel like you're twenty two
Turn thirty 1990—bang, you're dead
What can you do?
What can you do?
What can you do?
MICHAEL: Clear the runway—make another pass
Try one more approach
Before you're out of gas
JONATHAN: Friends are getting fatter
Hairlines are head-ing getting thinner
Feel like a clean up batter
On a team that ain't a winner?
MICHAEL: Don't freak out—don't strike out
Can't fight it like city hall
JONATHAN: At least you're not alone
Your friends are there too—
They're singing happy birthday
JONATHAN & MICHAEL: You just wish you could run away
JONATHAN: Who cares about a birthday?—but
JONATHAN & MICHAEL: Thirty ninety!—Hey!
JONATHAN: Can you be optimistic
JONATHAN & MICHAEL: You're no longer the ingenue
Turn thirty 1990—
JONATHAN: Boom—you're passe
JONATHAN & MICHAEL: What can you do?
JONATHAN: What can you do?
What can you do?
Peter Pan and Tinker-bell—
Which way to Never-Neverland?
Emerald City’s gone to hell
Since the wizard
MICHAEL & SUSAN: Ah...
ALL: Blew off his command
JONATHAN: On the streets you hear the voices—
Lost children, crocodiles
You're not into
Making choices wicked witches,
Poppy fields or men behind the curtain
Tiger lilies, ruby slippers
ALL: Clock is ticking—that's for certain
JONATHAN: They're singing happy birthday
MICHAEL & SUSAN: (Happy birthday)
JONATHAN: I just wish it all were a dream
It feels much more like doomsday
****
ALL: Thirty ninety—
JONATHAN: Seems like I'm in for a twister
I don't see a rainbow—do you?
MICHAEL & SUSAN: Ah...
ALL: Turn thirty in the nineties
JONATHAN: Into my hands now—
The ball is passed
I want the spoils—
But not too fast
The world is calling —
It's now or Neverland
Why can't I stay a child forever
and thirty ninety, thirty ninety
Thirty ninety thirty ninety
Thirty ninety thirty thirty ninety
Ah...
ALL:What can I do—?
Thirty ninety, thirty thirty ninety ooh
What can I do?