'Tonight there will be no morning Star' What does that phrase mean?
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friendoffilm — 11 years ago(August 23, 2014 07:13 PM)
Thanks again for your interesting input, Dan_the_Man_88. I'm inclined to think, however, that even though Riff, Bernardo and Tony never thought they'd die, I still think that the phrase "Tonight there will be no morning star" was a prediction not only of the destruction of Tony and Maria's newfound love, but of the deaths of Tony, Riff and Bernardo.
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friendoffilm — 11 years ago(August 25, 2014 06:24 AM)
In a way, yes, I think it is a form of foreshadowing and predicting what will happen, but it can also mean that Tony and Maria's love for each other will stand until the end of time (whatever that means.).
It could be either or, if one gets the drift, or possibly some combination of both. -
friendoffilm — 11 years ago(November 07, 2014 07:10 PM)
You've made some good points, stevenackerman69, but I also think that Tony is also predictingthat the romance between him and Maria will go up in smoke, because it was really
not
meant to be, after all. -
leader-7 — 11 years ago(November 09, 2014 10:11 AM)
Hi Friend of Film:
If I recall correctly, that part of the lyric comes in the Tonight
reprise
that is sung right before the rumble.
The full lyric there is:
Tonight, tonight,
Won't be just any night,
Tonight there will be no morning star.
Tonight, tonight!
I'll see my love tonight
And for us stars will stop where they are.
Today the minutes seem like hours,
The hours go so slowly,
And still the sky is light
Oh moon, grow bright,
And make this endless day endless night!
So my loose interpretation (I was never good at this in English Class. "What do you think the poet meant in Stopping by woods on a snowy evening!") is that they are all collectively hoping for a great outcome "morning star" is the brightest light in the evening skies it's the planet Venus "Stars will stop where they are" so that everyone's lives will be happy, beautiful, and full of hope
The world doesnt owe you a damn thing.
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friendoffilm — 11 years ago(November 09, 2014 07:21 PM)
Hi, leader-7:
Thanks for your interesting points about the 'Tonight there will be no morning star" phrase in the song "Tonight'.
Although I'm aware that the full lyric is sung during the pre-Rumble Ensemble, I'm aware of the youthful hopefulness that exists between Tony and Maria. Yet, at the same time, I think that, deep down, there's also the prediction that things won't necessarily turn out the way they were hoping, if one gets the drift. -
friendoffilm — 10 years ago(July 12, 2015 07:45 AM)
Here's something else that the phrase
"Tonight there will be no morning star"
means:
That the film
West Side Story
, as a great golden oldie-but-keeper of a Classic movie, has withstood the test of time, beautifully. The people who were predicting that there would never be another film like it again were absolutely correct.
The MGM quote "
Unlike other classics,
West Side Story
grows younger."
also plays into that meaning, as well, because it rings so true, and because of the fact that the film
West Side Story
, for all kinds of reasons, continues to have such a special appeal for so many people, myself included. As I see it, the film
West Side Story
will continue to withstand the test of timeforever. -
leader-7 — 10 years ago(July 27, 2015 10:22 AM)
friendoffilm look at the gem I just found on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6gok589fVg -
leader-7 — 10 years ago(July 27, 2015 11:25 AM)
And I just now (after 55 years) made the astounding discovery that the original Broadway RIFF was played by Michael Callan, billed as Mickey Calin.
Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. we're sweltering here in NY -
friendoffilm — 10 years ago(July 28, 2015 04:52 AM)
Hi, leader-7. Thanks for the well-wishing. Things are fine here in the Bay State, but we've got some hot weather coming our way, also.
I was also aware of the fact that the original Broadway Riff of
West Side Story
was played by Mickey Calin. -
leader-7 — 10 years ago(July 28, 2015 04:59 AM)
I grew up singing that album and the name Mickey Calin never hit home since the photo on the cover is of Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence I only had the 2+2 moment yesterday!
Hot here too they're expecting a week long heat wave for us on the east coast. Stay cool, real coollll.!
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friendoffilm — 10 years ago(July 28, 2015 03:11 PM)
My initial introduction to
West Side Story
was through the soundtrack of the original Broadway
stage
production, with Mickey Calin as Riff, and Larry Kert as Tony, and Carol Lawrence as Maria, as well as Chita Rivera as Anita. This was back in the summer of 1962, prior to my entering the sixth grade, while attending day camp out in Tucson, AZ. A girl in the group I was with at day camp, who'd just received a copy of the LP album of the Broadway production of
West Side Story
as a birthday present, brought it to day camp with her one day, and played it for the rest of the group. My love for
West Side Story
and its music and the story behind it took off instantly.
Five days a week, every day on the bus to and from day camp, the kids sang all the songs from
West Side Story.
Kids would also roam the hallways in packs, snapping their fingers and singing the WSS songs, also. It was kind of cool.
When I got home, I'd play my parents' copy of that same WSS LP soundtrack album on my parents' Hi-Fi whenever I could, and I used to love to bang around with some of the songs from
West Side Story
on the piano.
Due, at least in part, to my relative social isolation from other kids while growing up, and partly because my mom didn't consider
West Side Story
a kids' movie (my parents would not take my sister and I to see it when its popularity and newness was at its height.), I didn't get to see the film version of
West Side Story
until around Christmastime of 1968, as a high school Senior, at a now-defunct cinema north of Boston, and where my siblings grew up, during a huge national re-release of the film. On seeing the film version of
West Side Story
for the first time, I fell in love with it instantly, and have been hooked on it ever since. -
Weber4278 — 10 years ago(January 17, 2016 12:19 AM)
I always thought that line was relatively straightforwardTony and Maria plan on meeting that night, and they don't want it to end.
"oh moon grow bright, and make this endless day endless night"
they want to remain in their blissfully oblivious world where its just the two of them forever, yet within that song we see all the forces that are going to tear them apart coming to a head.