Show Me
My Fair Lady [1959 Original London Cast] Lyrics
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If you're in love, show me
Tell me not dreams, filled with desire
If you're on fire, show me
Never do I ever want to hear another word
There isn't one, I haven't heard
Here we are together in what ought to be a dream
Sing me no song, read me no rhyme
Don't waste my time, show me
Please don't implore, beg on the seats
Don't make all the speech, show me
Here we are together in the middle of the night
Don't talk of spring, just hold me tight
Anyone who's ever been in love'll tell you that
This is no time for a chat
Haven't your arms, hungered for mine?
Please don't explain, show me, show me
And don't wait until wrinkles and lines
Pop out all over my brow, show me now
Never do I ever want to hear another word
There isn't one, I haven't heard
Here we are together in what ought to be a dream
Say one more word and I'll scream
Haven't your lips longed for my touch?
Don't say how much, show me, show me
Don't wait until wrinkles and lines
Pop out all over my brow, show me now
The song "Show Me" from the musical My Fair Lady is a plea from the female lead, Eliza Doolittle, to her love interest, Henry Higgins. Eliza is tired of Higgins' empty promises and wants him to demonstrate his love for her, rather than simply talk about it or make grand romantic gestures. She demands action, rather than words or dreams. Eliza insists that she no longer wants to hear him talk about stars, spring, or other romantic ideals. She wants to be held and touched, and to feel loved. The song showcases Eliza's transformation into a confident, assertive woman who knows what she wants and demands respect.
The lyrics of "Show Me" are cleverly written, with the repetition of the phrase "show me" emphasizing Eliza's desire for action rather than empty talk. The song also demonstrates the misogyny of the time, with Eliza's demand for physical affection being somewhat scandalous for the era. However, Eliza refuses to be satisfied with mere words or promises, demonstrating her newfound strength of will and her refusal to be held back by societal norms.
Line by Line Meaning
Don't talk of stars, burning above
Don't speak of grand romantic ideas like stars burning above, if you truly love me, show me through actions.
If you're in love, show me
Prove your love through actions.
Tell me not dreams, filled with desire
Don't waste time telling me about your desires and dreams, show me your intentions through actions.
If you're on fire, show me
If you're passionate and eager, demonstrate it through actions.
Never do I ever want to hear another word
I don't want to hear any more empty words.
There isn't one, I haven't heard
I have heard everything you could say.
Here we are together in what ought to be a dream
We are together in a situation which is supposed to be dream-like and romantic.
Say one more word and I'll scream
I don't want to hear one more word that doesn't come with action. Talking without action is frustrating me to the point of screaming.
Sing me no song, read me no rhyme
I don't want to hear any poetic words or songs, I want to see tangible evidence of your love.
Don't waste my time, show me
Don't make me listen to empty speeches or wait for too long, prove your love now.
Please don't implore, beg on the seats
Don't beg or implore me, your words means nothing until your actions prove it.
Don't make all the speech, show me
Talking too much is not going to prove anything, show me by your actions.
Here we are together in the middle of the night
We are together in a romantic and intimate situation.
Don't talk of spring, just hold me tight
Don't talk about future promises, just hold me and prove your love in this moment.
Anyone who's ever been in love'll tell you that
Experience has shown that true love is evident through actions and not words.
This is no time for a chat
This is not the time for empty promises or small talk.
Haven't your arms, hungered for mine?
Haven't you desired physical intimacy with me?
Please don't explain, show me, show me
Don't bother explaining, just prove your love to me through your actions.
And don't wait until wrinkles and lines
Don't wait until we are old before proving your love.
Pop out all over my brow, show me now
Prove your love to me now, don't wait until it's too late.
Contributed by Micah K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
YvesNY
Eliza:
Words, words, words!
I'm so sick of words
I get words all day through
First from him, now from you
Is that all you blighters can do?
Don't talk of stars, burning above
If you're in love, show me!
Tell me no dreams, filled with desire
If you're on fire, show me!
Here we are together in the middle of the night
Don't talk of spring, just hold me tight
Anyone who's ever been in love will tell you that
This is no time for a chat
Haven't your lips longed for my touch?
Don't say how much, show me, show me
Don't talk of love lasting through time
Make me no undying vow
Show me now!
Sing me no song, read me no rhyme
Don't waste my time, show me!
Don't talk of June, don't talk of fall
Don't talk at all!
Show me!
Never do I ever want to hear another word
There isn't one, I haven't heard
Here we are together in what ought to be a dream
Say one more word and I'll scream
Haven't your arms, hungered for mine?
Please don't "expline", show me, show me!
Don't wait until wrinkles and lines
Pop out all over my brow, show me now!
Read more: My Fair Lady - Show Me Lyrics | MetroLyrics
Eyden Byrd
Words Words Words
I'm so sick of words
I get words all day through
First from him, now from you
Is that all you blighters can do
Don't talk of stars
Burning above
If you're in love
Show me
Tell me no dreams
Filled with desire
If you're on fire
Show me
He we are together
In the middle of the night
Don't talk of spring
Just hold me tight
Anyone who's ever been
In love'll tell you that
This is no time
For a chat
Haven't your lips
Longed for my touch
Don't say how much
Show me, show me
Don't talk of love
Lasting through time
Make me no undying vow
Show me now
Sing me no song
Read me no rhyme
Don't waste my time
Show me
Don't talk of June
Don't talk of fall
Don't talk at all
Show me
Never do I ever
want to hear another word
There isn't one
I haven't heard
Here we are together in
What ought to be a dream
Say another word
And I'll scream
Haven't your arms
Hungered for mine
Please don't explain
Show me, show me
Don't wait until
Wrinkles and lines
Pop out of my brow
Show me now
Kurzemesmeita
Words, words, words, I'm so sick of words.
I hear words all day through first from him, now from you.
Is that all you blighters can do!
Don't talk of stars burning above, if you're in love, show me.
Tell me no dreams filled with desire, if you're on fire, show me.
Here we are together in the middle of the night, don't talk of spring just hold me tight.
Anyone who's ever been in love'll tell you that this is no time for a chat.
Haven't your lips longed for my touch, don't say how much, show me, show me.
Don't talk of love lasting through time, make me no undying vow!
Show me now!
Sing me no song, read me no rhyme, don't waste my time, show me.
Don't talk of June, don't talk of fall, don't talk at all, show me.
Never do I ever want to here another word, there isn't one I haven't heard
Here we are together in what ought to be a dream, say one more word and I'll scream!
Haven't your arms hungered for mine, please don't explain, show me, show me.
Don't wait until wrinkles and lines pop up all over my brow!
Show me now!
Mark Blackburn
For a long time the world agreed that the best Broadway musical ever was the best one composed by Alan Jay Lerner and Fritz Lowe -- MY FAIR LADY. (They also gave us Brigadoon – which opened on a most auspicious date in human history – the night of the day I was born, March 13, 1947. Pardon the aside)
All the great musicals by my favorite composer Dick Rodgers included one or two songs that were, well . . . less than brilliant. Same is true for Lerner & Lowe's Brigadoon and Camelot. But not so with My Fair Lady.
I was just thinking about the two principal types of lyrics: “Tell me” (something) and “Show Me.” And as I like to say, “like the song of the same name in My Fair Lady, Show Me is better every time.”
The whole world knows songs like “I Could Have Danced All Night” (Sinatra's's version is fabulous) and “I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face” (why Frank never got around to that great ballad, we'll never know). But even the most obscure song from that show, SHOW ME, has a brilliant lyric with a perfect 'trumpeting' melody to match the words. Come to think of it, "Show Me" captures (more than any other song) 'in short order' what most women want from us men.
A check at Youtube shows approximately no one has ever recorded it. Maybe because it's the shortest song in the show? It gets the job done in well under two minutes. So . . . in case you've forgotten the scene, this one is the very first offering at YouTube this day: the original movie version. (Wasn't Audrey luverly?)
cafeAmericano1984
The moral of the whole song is very simple. Actions speak louder than words. It's very easy to give people romantic fluff but it requires a whole nother level of energy to actually step up and prove what you mean in your actions.
Preman Tilson
Marni Nixon does an amazing job of dubbing in Audrey Hepburn's voice and making it sound like Audrey would have sounded if she could actually sing well. She really studied the way Audrey spoke and tried to sound exactly like her.
Johnny Gainor
Well, Marni Nixon was a great soprano, but Audrey had such an unusual timbre to her voice, personally, I don't feel Marni was able to match it but then again, she did her best. In the end, it's rather obvious that it's not Audrey Hepburn doing most of the singing (she did sing some notes in "Just You Wait" and a few short notes in "I could Have Danced all night") - to me, it comes across as an artificial performance - I don't mean that in a critical manner it's just my overview of it.
RaymondHng
She sounds like Maria in West Side Story .
Preman Tilson
@Johnny Gainor I think she does a really good job of getting the consonants similar. Agreed, it's not exactly the same timbre, but I don't think anyone could have done it better. And there is no way they could have released it with Audrey's voice, it's just not up to the task. They did use her in those few spots where being in tune was not so important. I must say, though, that all of Marni Nixon's performances have a bit of an "artificial" quality to them, a little shallow. Which is maybe why she didn't have a big career in her own right. She's a technically very good singer though.
Preman Tilson
@RaymondHng Sure, since she dubbed both of them, you would expect a similarity.
Melindora Nightsilver
I love how she keeps saying for "show me you love me instead of telling me" yet every time he tries, he fails because she pulls away, or walks off.
Jessie Spindler
MoonGlow Simon that's because she has to tell him. If it was your birthday, would you rather have to tell people that it's your birthday and then they give you a gift or they do it by their self?
Hillary Slack
It's not only that but she is also not really saying what she wants. Which is to have a man treat her like an equal. So the acts that he is trying are not the ones that she wants. In fact at this point in the story I am unsure she even knows what it is that she wants. It is often a hard thing to put into words.
cierrad1
It also wasn't truly aimed at Freddie. This was basically a girl mad at her kinda bf and complaining to a guy who's actually trying to date her. She can't even see Fred. All she could see was Higgins the good, bad and ugly.