Nothing (From "a Chorus Line")

I'm so excited

Because I'm gonna go to the High School of Performing Arts

I mean, I was dying to be a serious actress

Anyway, it's the first day of acting class

And we're in the auditorium

And the teacher, Mr. Karp, puts us up on the stage

With our legs around everybody

One in back of the other, and he says

"Okay, we're gonna do improvisations

Now, you're on a bobsled and it's snowing out and it's cold

Okay, go"

Every day for a week we would try to feel the motion

Feel the motion

Down the hill

Every day for a week we would try to hear the wind rush

Hear the wind rush

Feel the chill

And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul

To see what I had inside

Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of my soul

And I tried, I tried!

And everybody's going, "Woosh, woosh

I feel the snow, I feel the cold, I feel the air"

And Mr. Karp turns to me and he says

"Okay, Morales, what did you feel?"

And I said, "Nothing

I'm feeling nothing"

And he says "'Nothing' could get a girl transferred"

They all felt something

But I felt nothing

Except the feeling that this bullshit was absurd

But I said to myself, "Hey, it's only the first week

Maybe it's genetic, they don't have bobsleds in San Juan"

Second week, more advanced, and we had to be a table

Be a sports car

Ice cream cone

Mr. Karp, he would say, "Very good, except Morales

Try, Morales

All alone"

And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul

To see how an ice cream felt

Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of my soul

And I tried to melt

The kids yelled, "Nothing!"

They called me "Nothing"

And Karp allowed it, which really makes me burn

They were so helpful

They called me "Hopeless"

Until I really didn't know where else to turn

And Karp kept saying

"Morales, I think you should transfer to Girls' High

You'll never be an actress, never"

Jesus Christ!

Went to church, praying, Santa Maria

Send me guidance

Send me guidance

On my knees

Went to church, praying, Santa Maria

Help me feel it

Help me feel it

Pretty please

And a voice from down at the bottom of my soul

Came up to the top of my head

And a voice from down at the bottom of my soul

Here is what it said:

"This man is nothing!

This course is nothing!

If you want something, go find a better class

And when you find one

You'll be an actress"

And I assure you that's what finally came to pass

Six months later I heard that Karp had died

And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul

And cried

'Cause I felt nothing