What A Piece Of Work Is Man
Gerome Ragni and James Rado Lyrics

We have lyrics for 'What A Piece Of Work Is Man' by these artists:

Cast of Hair What a piece of work is man How noble in…
Darius De Haas Paul Castree What a piece of work is man How noble in…
Galt MacDermot & Tom Pierson What a piece of work is man How noble in…
Hair What a piece of work is man How noble in reason How…
Hair - Movie Soundtrack What a piece of work is man How noble in reason How…
Hair Cast What a piece of work is man How noble in…
Ronald Dyson and Walter Harris What a piece of work is man How noble in…
The cast of Hair What a piece of work is man How noble in…
Walter Harris;Ronald Dyson;Company What a piece of work is man How noble in…

We have lyrics for these tracks by Gerome Ragni and James Rado:

Easy To Be Hard How can people be so heartless How can people be so…
Going Down Me and Lucifer Lucifer and me Just like the angel…
Good Morning Starshine Good morning starshine, the earth says "Hello" You twinkle a…
Hair She asks me why, I'm just a hairy guy I'm hairy…
I Got Life I got life, mother I got laughs, sister I got freedom, broth…
Manchester Manchester England England Across the Atlantic Sea And I'm…
Manchester England Manchester England England Across the Atlantic Sea And I'm…
Walking In Space Doors are locked Doors locked Blinds pulled Blinds pulled L…

Where Do I Go? Where do I go Follow the river Where do I go Follow the…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@gustavomatias4870

4y↑16

What a piece of work is man
How noble in reason
How infinite in faculties
In form and moving
How express and admirable
In action how like an angel
In apprehension how like a god
The beauty of the world
The paragon of animals

I have of late
But wherefore I know not
Lost all my mirth
This goodly frame
The earth
Seems to me a sterile promontory
This most excellent canopy
The air, look you
This brave o'erhanging firmament
This majestical roof
Fretted with golden fire
Why it appears no other thing to me
Than a foul and pestilent congregation
Of vapors

What a piece of work is man
How noble in reason

@sunnskyy

8y↑1

Look you!
I'd like some artist out there to draw us a cartoon.
Hamlet holding up a globe ( as he did Yorrick's skull)

He muses the caption:

"This goodly frame, the earth...a sterile promontory;
this most excellent canopy, the air...
a foul and pestilent contagion of vapours..."

Any takers? Would make a great Greenpeace T-shirt!

All comments from YouTube:

@marissadower-morgan3313

3y↑11

I was 13 1/2 , when I saw this beautiful Musical Classic , at the Aquarius Theatre in 1969 in LA , Ca..., it never left my heart philosophically to this day .

@phmmts

Was you too young to watch this adult musical?

@cockeyedoptimista

I was almost 15. I loved this musical, and loved it more over the years as I understood it more. I think we got up and danced on the stage at the end: is that possible? I saw it in Chicago.

@cchris874

8y↑92

In short, a masterpiece. But then the whole album is.

@toecutterjones

4y↑1

Truth. 💜

@iammumawaldi

7y↑71

I have this fantastic song to thank for a lifelong love of Shakespeare.

@katlovesdogs4119

5y↑3

I actually loved Shakespeare before this came out, but I was a bit of a nerd.

@kirkkirkmani8713

Twisted Tales From Shakespeare, a book by Richard Armour, uses parody to get you interested. great book, and this is a great song.

@mousiebrown1747

51w↑3

Hamlet is so eminently quotable, with Macbeth a close second.

@mousiebrown1747

51w↑1

@@katlovesdogs4119 I think true Nerds are the people who understand “Hair” the best. It’s not for the slow witted.

@judithsmith9582

2y↑5

This, married with "Ripped Open By Metal Explosions...," ought to be played as A UNIT; inseparable. The dichotomy is mind twisting.

And yet, we still live it to this day...

@gustavomatias4870

4y↑16

@vwsmusic

8y↑87

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act II, Scene II, Shakespeare: "What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god!..."

@scalporf

7y↑6

Uh, yeah, we know.

@MissAstorDancer

7y↑22

scalporf......

Not everyone knows.......

There can be something new learned at all times.

@caseyvee4419

7y↑4

You mean Omlette, The Cheese Danish?

@seanwalsh5717

5y↑5

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world. The paragon of animals. *And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me. No, nor woman neither*

@davidyoung5018

2y↑4

One of the greatest examples of what this species can and have produced.
Simply overwhelming with human understanding.
It pains me to think how the social fabric and levels of social discourse waxes and wanes throughout history,reaching unimaginable heigts,only to sink later to basedrivel,bereft of magic!!!!!
All hail Bill Shakespeare0000

1 More Replies...

@Zaywex

12y↑24

I love it when artwork makes allusions to other artwork. One of the ways to add more meaning, you know? :)

@Zatzachi

9y↑41

What a piece of work is "HAIR"…

@EchoPariah

11y↑17

The most beautiful song in the world. Ever. Seriously.

@SecretGarden1963

10y↑9

LOL, while watching Hamlet last night, I thought of this song, so wanted to come and listen to it. Thanks for the upload.

@AndrewVelonis

4y↑2

I had this album some 50 years ago. I listened to this cut any number of times, but I didn't understand it back then.

@fmurphy55

12y↑14

One of my first exposures to Shakespeare.

@davewade2041

6y↑13

Our eyes are open
Our eyes are open
WIDE....

@ghosttwo2

6y↑3

Just realized this is one of my favorite songs! I'll put it in my head with 'right where it belongs' and 'The only way'

@Christophercrispytwo

4y↑6

These words are a bit of sarcasm from William Shakespeare.

@KT-io3so

8y↑5

The only play I would consider trying for

@rkgk1517

10y↑29

Ronnie Dyson's singing is so beautiful.

@sosexymagazinerobinwatkins8467

YESSSSSSS, IM IN LOVE!

@PeterRiddell

44w↑2

Thanks to Hair, the only Shakespeare I can quote. The verses are reversed but who cares. Brilliant!

@shejean

The title and some of the words in this song were written by William Shakespeare! An absolutely beautiful, brilliant and thought-provoking piece of music.

@VCVTV

11y↑6

Excellent. Of course-it's Shakespeare.

@sunnskyy

8y↑1

@OhTerrful1

10y↑3

Dig it!

@timpyle7452

49w

Why is Walking in Space chopped up and heavily censored?

@SpedisOwl

8y↑4

Likely said (or sung) in irony, right? As in. "He's a real piece of work."

@ds2465

5y↑6

I don’t think so. Hair is about celebrating the body, as the hippie movement was in general. Think of in The Flesh Failures when they sing “wearing smells from laboratories”...people are more comfortable wearing chemicals like perfume than their own B.O. This song is a testament to the beauty of the human body and protests that such a beautiful creature is being sent to war.

@sosexymagazinerobinwatkins8467

@@ds2465 EXACTLY. WELL PUT. THERE IS A CALMING LOVE FOR MAN...AFTER 3500 (THE MOVIE)...AFTER THE BEYOND WORD DEVASTATION OF CHEMICAL WARFARE...THE HORROR OF WAR, THE GOING BACK TO BASICS, THE PAIRING DOWN REVERENCE FOR THE BEAUTY OF MAN. IN ALLL HIS WEAKNESSES AND MESSINESS. HAIR CREATORS WERE GENIUSES IN APPLYING THIS SHAKESPEAREAN TEXT SO BEAUTIFULLY SUNG TO THIS MOMENT IN THE PLAY.

@sarahk5412

4y↑1

It's from Hamlet. He's completely in earnest. In the play the "I have, of late" part comes first, and he's illustrating how he knows the world is beautiful and wonderful but he just can't enjoy it. He talks about how amazing humankind is, and yet he just can't bring himself to socialize. So when he says "what a piece of work" he's actually echoing the Bible in speaking of mankind as the "paragon of animals" - the last and best of Creation.
When we use it as an insult it's the same as saying "Figure that all out yourself, Einstein?" This lyric was written before it became a mockery.