Menken has collaborated with several renowned lyricists including Howard Ashman (1950-1991), Tim Rice and Stephen Schwartz. He is best known for his work on several Disney animated features, including The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Hercules, Pocahontas, Aladdin, and Home on the Range. His first successful work was the 1982 off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors. Menken has received eight Academy Awards, and has one of the the highest film to Oscar ratio of anyone in the industry.
Howard Ashman ( May 17, 1950 - March 14, 1991) was an American playwright and movie music lyricist. Ashman first studied at Boston University and Goddard College (with a stop at Tufts University's Summer Theater) and then went on to achieve his master's degree from Indiana University in 1974. He collaborated with Alan Menken on several films, notably animated features for Disney, Ashman writing the lyrics and Menken composing the scores.
Ashman and Menken first worked on a 1979 musical adapted from Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. They also collaborated on Little Shop of Horrors with Ashman as director, lyricist, and librettist.
Along with Menken, Ashman was the co-recipient of two Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and two Oscars. His second Academy Award in 1992 was awarded posthumuously for Best Song and was accepted by his partner, Bill Lauch. It was the first Academy Award given posthumously to someone who had died of AIDS.
Ashman died on March 14, 1991, at age 40, during the making of both Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. The song Proud of Your Boy was the one of the last songs ever written by Ashman, for Aladdin but was cut from the movie after the mother was taken out of the story. Ashman and Menken had finished the songs for Beauty and the Beast, but Tim Rice was brought in to finish the Aladdin songs with Menken. Beauty and the Beast was dedicated to him with the following:
To our friend, Howard,
Who gave a mermaid her voice,
and a beast his soul.
We will be forever grateful.
Howard Ashman
1950-1991
Gaston
Alan Menken & Howard Ashman Lyrics
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That girl has tangled with the wrong man!
Darn right!
No one says, "No" to Gaston!
Dismissed! Rejected! Publically humiliated!
It's more than I can bear
More beer?
What for? Nothing helps, I'm disgraced
Gaston, you've got to pull yourself together
Gosh, it disturbs me to see you Gaston
Looking so down in the dumps
Every guy here'd like to be you, Gaston
Even when taking your lumps
There's no man in town as admired as you
You're everyone's favorite guy
Everyone's awed and inspired by you
And it's not very hard to see why
No one's slick as Gaston
No one's quick as Gaston
No one's neck's as incredibly thick as Gaston's
For there's no man in town half as manly
Perfect, a pure paragon!
You can ask any Tom, Dick, or Stanley
And they'll tell you whose team they prefer to be on
No one's been like Gaston
A kingpin like Gaston
No one's got a swell cleft in his chin like Gaston
As a specimen, yes, I'm intimidating!
My, what a guy, that Gaston!
Give five, "Hurrahs!"
Give twelve, "Hip hips!"
Gaston is the best and the rest is all drips
No one fights like Gaston
Douses lights like Gaston
In a wrestling match nobody bites like Gaston
For there's no one as burly and brawny
As you see I've got biceps to spare
Not a bit of him scraggly or scrawny
That's right!
And every last inch of me's covered with hair
No one hits like Gaston
Matches wits like Gaston
In a spitting match nobody spits like Gaston
I'm especially good at expectorating!
Ten points for Gaston!
When I was a lad I ate four dozen eggs
Every morning to help me get large
And now that I'm grown I eat five dozen eggs
So I'm roughly the size of a barge!
My, what a guy, that Gaston!
Hold
Girls, girls, girls, please
There's plenty for all
Oh yeah
[Incomprehensible]
No one shoots like Gaston
Makes those beauts like Gaston
Then goes tromping around wearing boots like Gaston
I use antlers in all of my decorating!
My, what a guy, Gaston!
The lyrics to the song Gaston by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman give us insight into the character of Gaston, who is portrayed as arrogant, entitled, and prideful. The opening lines show Gaston's outrage because a woman he's interested in rejected him. He's dismissive and cruel, insisting that no one says "No" to him. He's full of self-pity and can't believe he's been rejected. The second verse then presents Gaston as a character who's admired by everyone in the town. He's portrayed as the epitome of masculinity, celebrated for his strength and courage. The bridge of the song reveals Gaston's unique habits and talents that continue to make him stand out. And the final part of the song expresses the admiration of the townspeople for Gaston by highlighting his physical attributes.
Overall, the song is a character study that highlights the negative aspects of Gaston's personality. It presents him as someone who's self-obsessed, rude, and insensitive towards others. The song creates a contrast between Gaston's perception of himself and the reality of who he is. It serves to underline not only the flaws and shortcomings of Gaston as a character, but also the destructive nature of toxic masculinity.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ALAN MENKEN, HOWARD ELLIOTT ASHMAN, TRINE DANSGAARD, ALAN IRWIN MENKEN, JESPER KJAER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Matthew Koh
No one writes lyrics like Gast- I mean, Howard Ashman.
I'm just some Canadian guy and I say
NOBODY in musical history was better at rhyming than Howard Ashman!
MrGabeanator
I admit I wasn't the biggest fan of this song in the live action film but I do applaud the use of Howards lyrics from this
Stephen Murphy
MrGabeanator I had no idea the new lyrics for the new version of the song were by Ashman.
MrGabeanator
some of em were
Aldrius
All of them were at least adapted from Ashman. I remember thinking when I first heard it: "I have never heard these lyrics before, and I'm not sure why they changed them, but they're pretty good."
MrGabeanator
ik
MrGabeanator
Aldrius they didn't change em
janeyrevanescence12
How in the world was Alan Menkin to not crack up while they were recording this?
MaggieMag 356
He cracked up when Howard presented him the lyrics.