Below is a selection of the songs from the musical “Rent,” a version of which will be broadcast live on Fox tonight January 27, 2019,  8 to 11 p.m. The song titles are linked to lyrics as performed in the original 1996 Broadway production. Since it’s a sung-through musical, many of the songs are not very easy to sing along to, and some of the lyrics have been changed for the broadcast.

(Fox has an issued a statement that the original cast of Rent “will make an appearance” tonight)

For what “Rent” was like in 1996 — what Idina Menzel said then, and how Allen Ginsberg reacted wen I took him to see the show — click here

Rent
One Song Glory
Tango: Maureen
La Vie Boheme
Seasons of Love
Take Me Or Leave Me
Finale/Your Eyes

Click on any photograph to see it enlarged.

Rent

[MARK]
How do you document real life
When real life’s getting more
Like fiction each day
Headlines–bread-lines
Blow my mind
And now this deadline
“Eviction–or pay”
Rent

[ROGER]
How do you write a song
When the chords sound wrong
Though they once sounded right and rare
When the notes are sour
Where is the power
You once had to ignite the air

[MARK]
And we’re hungry and frozen

[ROGER]
Some life that we’ve chosen

[MARK & ROGER]
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
Last year’s rent

[MARK]
We light candles

[ROGER]
How do you start a fire
When there’s nothing to burn
And it feels like something’s stuck in
Your flue

[MARK]
How can you generate heat
When you can’t feel your feet

[MARK & ROGER]
And they’re turning blue!

[MARK]
You light up a mean blaze

[ROGER]
With posters–

MARK
And screenplays

[MARK & ROGER]
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
Last year’s rent

[JOANNE, on phone]
Don’t screen, Maureen
It’s me–Joanne
Your substitute production manager
Hey hey hey! Did you eat?
Don’t change the subject Maureen
But darling–you haven’t eaten all day

You won’t throw up
You won’t throw up
The digital delay
Didn’t blow up, exactly
There may have been one teeny tiny spark
You’re not calling Mark!

[COLLINS]
How do you stay on your feet
When on every street
It’s ‘trick or treat’
And tonight its ‘trick’
‘Welcome back to town’
I should lie down
Everything’s brown
And uh-oh
I feel sick

[MARK]
Where is he?

[COLLINS]
Getting dizzy

[MARK & ROGER]
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
How we gonna pay
Last year’s rent

[BENNY, on phone]
Allison, baby – you sound sad
I don’t believe those two
After everything I’ve done

Ever since our wedding
I’m dirt – they’ll see
I can help them all out in the long run

Forces are gathering
Forces are gathering
Can’t turn away
Forces are gathering

[COLLINS]
Ughhhh
Ughhhh
Ughhhh – I can’t think
Ughhhh
Ughhhh
Ughhhh – I need a drink

[MARK]
“The music ignites the night with
Passionate fire”

[JOANNE]
Maureen, I’m not a theatre person

[ROGER]
“The narration crackles and pops with
Incendiary wit”

[JOANNE]
Could never be a theatre person

[MARK]
Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground

[MARK & ROGER]
And feel the heat of the future’s glow

[JOANNE, on phone]
Hello?

[MARK, on phone]
Hello? Maureen?
Your equipment won’t work?
Okay, all right, I’ll go!

[MARK, 1/2 of COMPANY]
How do you leave the past behind
When it keep finding ways to get to your heart
It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out
‘Til you’re torn apart
Rent

[ROGER, 1/2 of COMPANY]
How can you connect in an age
Where strangers, landlords, lovers
Your own blood cells betray

[COMPANY]
What binds the fabric together
When the raging, shifting winds of change
Keep ripping away

[BENNY]
Draw a line in the sand
And then make a stand

[ROGER]
Use your camera to spar

[MARK]
Use your guitar

[COMPANY]
When they act tough
You call their bluff

[MARK & ROGER]
We’re not gonna pay

[MARK & ROGER & 1/2 THE COMPANY]
We’re not gonna pay

[MARK & ROGER & OTHER 1/2]
We’re not gonna pay

[COMPANY]
Last year’s rent
This year’s rent
Next year’s rent

Rent rent rent rent rent
We’re not gonna pay rent

[MARK & ROGER]
Cause everything is rent

One Song Glory

[Roger]
One song
Glory
One song before I go
Glory
One song to leave behind

Find one song
One last refrain
Glory
From the pretty boy front man
Who wasted opportunity
One song
He had the world at his feet
Glory
In the eyes of a young girl
A young girl
Find glory beyond the cheap colored lights
One song before the sun sets
Glory
On another empty life

Time flies
Time dies
Glory
One blaze of glory
One blaze of glory
Glory
Find glory the song that reigns true
Truth like a blazing fire
An eternal flame
Find one song
A song about love
Glory
From the soul of a young man
A young man
Find the one song before the virus takes hold
Glory
Like a sunset
One song
To redeem this empty life

Time flies
And then no need to endure anymore
Time dies

Tango: Maureen

[JOANNE, spoken]
Mark?

[MARK, spoken]
Hi

[JOANNE]
I told her not to call you

[MARK]
That’s Maureen, but can I help since I’m here

[JOANNE, spoken]
I’ve hired an engineer

[MARK, spoken]
Great!
Well then, nice to have…

[JOANNE, spoken]
Wait!
She’s 3 hours late

[JOANNE]
The samples won’t delay but the cable-

[MARK]
There’s another way
Say something, anything

[JOANNE]
Test 1,2,3

[MARK]
Anything but that

[JOANNE]
This is weird

[MARK]
It’s weird

[JOANNE]
Very weird

[MARK]
Fucking weird

[JOANNE]
I’m so mad that I don’t know what to do
Fighting with microphones
Freezing down to my bones
And to top it all off I’m with you

[MARK]
Feel like going insane
Got a fire in your brain
And you’re thinking of drinking gasoline

[JOANNE]
As a matter of fact

[MARK]
Honey, I know this act
It’s called the Tango: Maureen

The Tango: Maureen
It’s a dark, dizzy, merry go round
As she keeps you dangling (you’re wrong)
Your heart she is mangling (it’s different with me)
And you toss and you turn cause her cold eyes can burn
Yet you yearn and you churn and rebound

[JOANNE]
I think I know what you mean

[BOTH]
The Tango: Maureen

[MARK]
Has she ever pouted her lips and called you “Pookie?”

[JOANNE]
Never

[MARK]
Have you ever doubted a kiss or two?

[JOANNE]
This is spooky

Did you swoon when she walked through the door?

[MARK]
Every time, so be….cautious

[JOANNE]
Did she moon over other boys?

[MARK]
More than moon

[JOANNE]
I’m getting nauseous

[MARK]
Where’d you learn to tango?

[JOANNE]
With the French ambassador’s daughter in her dorm room at Ms. Porters
And you?

[MARK]
With Nanette Himmelfarb, the rabbi’s daughter at the Scarsdale Jewish community center
It’s hard to do this backwards

[JOANNE]
You should try it in heels

[JOANNE]
She cheated

[MARK]
She cheated

[JOANNE]
Maureen cheated

[MARK]
Fucking cheated

[JOANNE]
I’m defeated, I should give up right now

[MARK]
Gotta look on the bright side with all of your might

[JOANNE]
I’d fall for her still anyhow

[BOTH]
When you’re dancing her dance
You don’t stand a chance
Her grip of romance makes you fall

[MARK]
So you think might as well

[JOANNE]
Dance a tango to hell

[BOTH]
At least I’ll have tangoed at all

The Tango: Maureen
Gotta dance ‘til your diva is through
You pretend to believe her
Cause in the end you can’t leave her
But the end it will come
Still you have to play dumb
‘Til you’re glum and you bum and turn blue

[MARK]
Why do we love when she’s mean

[JOANNE]
And she can be so obscene

[MARK, spoken]
Try the mic

[JOANNE, spoken]
My Maureen

[MARK, spoken]
Patched!

[JOANNE, spoken]
Thanks!

[MARK, spoken]
You know, I feel great now!

[JOANNE, spoken]
I feel lousy

[BOTH]
The Tango: Maureen

La Vie Boheme

[WAITER]
No, please no
Not tonight, please no
Mister, can’t you go?
Not tonight, can’t have a scene

[ROGER]
What?

[WAITER]
Go, please go
You — Hello, sir! —
I said no
Important customer

[MARK]
What am I, just a blur?

[WAITER]
You sit all night, you never buy!

[MARK]
That’s a lie, that’s a lie!
I had a tea the other day

[WAITER]
You couldn’t pay

[MARK, spoken]
Oh yeah…

[COLLINS]
Benjamin Coffin III? Here?

[WAITER]
Oh no!

[ALL]
Wine and beer!

[MAUREEN]
The enemy of Avenue A
We’ll stay

[WAITER]
Oy vey!

[COLLINS]
What brings the mogul in his own mind
To the Life Cafe?

[BENNY]
I would like to propose a toast
To Maureen’s noble try
It went well

[MAUREEN]
Go to Hell

[BENNY]
Was the yuppie scum stomped?
Not counting the homeless
How many tickets weren’t comped?

[ROGER]
Why did Muffy–

[BENNY]
Alison

[ROGER]
–miss the show?

[BENNY]
There was a death in the family
If you must know

[ANGEL]
Who died?

[BENNY]
Our Akita

[BENNY, MARK, ANGEL, COLLINS]
Evita

[BENNY]
Mimi, I’m surprised
A bright and charming girl like you
Hangs out with these slackers
Who don’t adhere to deals

They make fun, yet I’m the one
Attempting to do some good
Or do you really want a neighborhood
Where people piss on your stoop every night?

Bohemia, Bohemia’s
A fallacy in your head
This is Calcutta
Bohemia is dead

[MARK]
Dearly beloved
We gather here to say our goodbyes

[COLLINS & ROGER]
Dies irae, dies illa
Kyrie eleison
Yitgadal veyitkadash

[MARK]
Here she lies
No one knew her worth
The late great daughter of Mother Earth
On this night when we celebrate the birth
In that little town of Bethlehem
We raise our glass
You bet your ass, to
La vie Bohème

[ALL]
La vie Bohème
La vie Bohème
La vie Bohème
La vie Bohème

[MARK]
To days of inspiration
Playing hooky
Making something out of nothing
The need to express
To communicate
To going against the grain
Going insane
Going mad

To loving tension, no pension
To more than one dimension
To starving for attention
Hating convention
Hating pretension
Not to mention, of course
Hating dear old Mom and Dad

To riding your bike
Midday past the three-piece suits
To fruits
To no absolutes
To Absolut
To choice
To The Village Voice
To any passing fad

To being an us, for once
Instead of a them

[ALL]
La vie Bohème
La vie Bohème

[MAUREEN]
Is the equipment in a pyramid?

[JOANNE]
It is, Maureen

[MAUREEN]
The mixer doesn’t have a case
Don’t give me that face

[MR. GREY]
Ahem

[MAUREEN]
Hey, Mister
She’s my sister

[WAITER]
So that’s five miso soup
Four seaweed salad
Three soy burger dinner
Two tofu dog platter
And one pasta with meatless balls

[A BOY]
Ew

[COLLINS]
It tastes the same

[MIMI]
If you close your eyes

[WAITER]
And thirteen orders of fries
Is that it here?

[ALL]
Wine and beer!

[MIMI & ANGEL]
To hand-crafted beers made in local breweries
To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese
To leather, to dildos, to curry vindaloo
To huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou

[MAUREEN & COLLINS]
Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion
Creation, vacation

[MARK]
Mucho masturbation

[MAUREEN & COLLINS]
Compassion, to fashion, to passion
When it’s new

[COLLINS]
To Sontag

[ANGEL]
To Sondheim

[FOUR PEOPLE]
To anything taboo

[COLLINS & ROGER]
Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunningham, and Cage

[COLLINS]
Lenny Bruce

[ROGER]
Langston Hughes

[MAUREEN]
To the stage

[PERSON #1]
To Uta

[COLLINS]
To Buddha

[PERSON #4]
Pablo Neruda, too

[MARK & MIMI]
Why Dorothy and Toto went over the rainbow
To blow off Auntie Em

[ALL]
La vie Bohème

[MAUREEN]
And wipe the speakers off before you pack

[JOANNE]
Yes, Maureen

[MAUREEN]
Well, hurry back

(they kiss)

[MR. GREY]
Sisters?

[MAUREEN]
We’re close

(MAUREEN and JOANNE move to the side to reveal ANGEL and COLLINS kissing)

[ANGEL, COLLINS, MARK, MR. GREY]
Brothers!

[MARK, ANGEL, MIMI & THREE OTHERS]
Bisexuals, trisexuals, homo sapiens
Carcinogens, hallucinogens, men
Pee-wee Herman
German wine, turpentine, Gertrude Stein
Antonioni, Bertolucci, Kurosawa
Carmina Burana

[ALL]
To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstasy
Vaclav Havel, The Sex Pistols, 8BC
To no shame, never playing the Fame Game

[COLLINS]
To marijuana

[ALL]
To sodomy
It’s between God and me
To S & M

[MR. GREY]
Waiter… Waiter… Waiter!

[ALL]
La vie Bohème

[COLLINS, spoken]
In honor of the death of bohemia, an impromtu salon will commence immediately following dinner. Mimi Marquez, clad only in bubble wrap will perform her famous lawn chair-handcuff dance to the sounds of iced tea being stirred

[ROGER, spoken]
And Mark Cohen will preview his new documentary about his inability to hold an erection on high holy days

[MARK, spoken]
Maureen Johnson, back from her spectacular one-night engagement at the eleventh street lot, will sing Native American tribal chants backwards through her vocoder, while accompanying herself on the electric cello, which she has never studied

[BENNY]
Your new boyfriend doesn’t know about us

[MIMI]
There’s nothing to know

[BENNY]
Don’t you think that we should discuss —

[MIMI]
It was three months ago

[BENNY]
He doesn’t act like he’s with you

[MIMI]
We’re taking it slow

[BENNY]
Where is he now?

[MIMI]
He’s right — Hmm

[BENNY]
Uh huh…

[MIMI]
Where’d he go?

[MARK, spoken]
And Roger will attempt to write a bittersweet, evocative song

(Roger picks up a guitar and plays)

That doesn’t remind us of “Musetta’s Waltz”

[COLLINS, spoken]
Angel Dumott Schunard will model the latest fall fashions from Paris while accompanying herself on the 10 gallon plastic pickle tub

[ANGEL, spoken]
And Collins will recount his exploits as anarchist, including the tale of the successful reprogramming of the M.I.T. virtual reality equipment to self-destruct, as it broadcasts the words:

[ALL, spoken]
“Actual Reality – ACT UP – Fight AIDS!”

[BENNY]
Check!!

[MIMI]
Excuse me, did I do something wrong?
I get invited, then ignored all night long

[ROGER]
I’ve been trying, I’m not lying
No one’s perfect, I’ve got baggage

[MIMI]
Life’s too short, babe, time is flying
I’m looking for baggage that goes with mine

[ROGER]
I should tell you–

[MIMI]
I’ve got baggage too

[ROGER]
I should tell you–

[BOTH]
Baggage
Wine–

[OTHERS]
–And beer!

[MIMI]
AZT break

[ROGER]
You?

[MIMI]
Me. You?

[ROGER]
Mimi

Seasons of Love

[All]
525,600 minutes
525,000 moments so dear
525,600 minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
In 525,600 minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?

How about love?
How about love?
How about love?
Measure in love
Seasons of love
Seasons of love

[Joanne]
525,600 minutes
525,000 journeys to plan
525,600 minutes
How do you measure the life of a woman or man?

[Collins]
In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried
In bridges he burned, or the way that she died

[All]
It’s time now to sing out
Though the story never ends
Let’s celebrate, remember a year
In the life of friends

[All & Joanne]
Remember the love
You got to, you got to remember the love
Remember the love
You know that love is a gift from up above
Remember the love
Share love, give love, spread love
Measure in love
Seasons of love
Seasons of love
Measure, measure your life in love

Take Me Or Leave Me

[MAUREEN]
Every single day I walk down the street
I hear people say ‘baby’s so sweet’
Ever since puberty
Everybody stares at me
Boys, girls, I can’t help it baby
So be kind
And don’t lose your mind
Just remember that I’m your baby

Take me for what I am
Who I was meant to be
And if you give a damn
Take me, baby
Or leave me
Take me baby or leave me

A tiger in a cage can never see the sun
This diva needs her stage baby let’s have fun
You are the one I choose
Folks would kill to fill your shoes
You love the limelight too now baby
So be mine
And don’t waste my time
Crying oh honey bear are you still my my my baby (don’t you dare)

Take me for what I am
Who I was meant to be
And if you give a damn
Take me baby or leave me

No way
Can I be what I’m not
But hey
Don’t you want your girl hot?
Don’t fight
Don’t lose you head
Cause every night who’s in your bed
Who?
Who’s in your bed
Kiss pookie

[JOANNE]
It won’t work
I look before I leap
I love margins and discipline
I make lists in my sleep baby
What’s my sin?
Never quit I follow through
I hate mess but I love you
What to do with my impromptu baby
So be wise
Cause this girl satisfies
You got a prize so don’t compromise
You’re one lucky baby

[JOANNE]
Take me for what I am
Who I was meant to be
And if you give a damn
Take me baby or leave me [MAUREEN]
Control freak
Snob yet over attentive
Lovable droll geek
Anal retentive
That’s it
The straw that breaks my back
I quit
Unless you take it back
Women, what is it about them?
Can’t live
With them or without them

Take me for what I am
Who I was meant to be (who I was meant to be)
And if you give a damn (and if you give a damn)
Take me baby (oh take me, baby)
Or leave me (take me or leave me)
Take me, baby
Or leave me

Guess I’m leaving
I’m gone

Without You

[MIMI]
Without you
The ground thaws
The rain falls
The grass grows
Without you
The seeds root
The flowers bloom
The children play
The stars gleam
The poets dream
The eagles fly
Without you
The earth turns
The sun burns
But I die
Without you

Without you
The breeze warms
The girl smiles
The cloud moves
Without you
The tides change
The boys run
The oceans crash
The crowds roar
The days soar
The babies cry
Without you
The moon glows
The river flows
But I die
Without you

[ROGER]
The world revives—

[MIMI]
Colors renew—

[BOTH]
But I know blue, only blue, lonely blue, within me blue

[MIMI]
Without you
Without you
The hand gropes
The ear hears
The pulse beats

[ROGER]
Without you
The eyes gaze
The legs walk
The lungs breathe

[ROGER (MIMI)]
The mind churns! (The mind churns!)
The heart yearns! (The heart yearns!)

[BOTH]
The tears dry
Without you
Life goes on
But I’m gone
Cause I die

[ROGER]
Without you

[MIMI]
Without you

[ROGER]
Without you

[BOTH]
Without you

Finale/Your Eyes

ALL SEVEN HOMELESS]
Christmas bells are ringing
Christmas bells are ringing
Christmas bells are ringing
How time flies
When compassion dies
No stockings
No candy canes
No gingerbread
No safety net
No loose change
No change no

[ONE HOMELESS MAN]
“Santy Claus is coming”

[ALL SEVEN HOMELESS]
Cause Santy Claus ain’t coming
No room at the Holiday Inn again
Well, maybe next year
Or — when

[MARK]
December 24th, ten PM
Eastern standard time
I can’t believe a year went by so fast
Time to see what we have time to see
Turn the projector on
First shot Roger
With the fender guitar he just got out of hock
When he sold the car
That took him away and back

[ROGER]
I found my song

[MARK]
He found his song
If he could just find Mimi

[ROGER]
I tried – you know I tried

[MARK]
Fade in on Mark
Who’s still in the dark

[ROGER]
But he’s got great footage

[MARK]
Which he’s cut together

[ROGER]
To screen tonight

[MARK]
In honor of Benny’s wife

[ROGER]
Muffy

[MARK]
Alison
Pulling Benny out of the East Village location

[ROGER]
Then again, maybe we won’t screen it tonight

[MARK (spoken)]
I wonder how Alison found out about Mimi?

[ROGER (spoken)]
Maybe a little bird told her

[COLLINS]
Or an angel
I had a little hunch that you could use a little flow

[ROGER]
Tutoring again?

[COLLINS]
Negative

[MARK]
Back at N.Y.U.?

[COLLINS]
No, no, no
I rewired the ATM at the food emporium
To provide an honorarium to anyone with the code

[ROGER & MARK]
The code
Well…?

[COLLINS]
A-N-G-E-L
Yet Robin Hooding isn’t the solution
The powers that be must be undermined where they dwell
In a small, exclusive gourmet institution
Where we overcharge the wealthy clientele

[COLLINS]
Let’s open up a restaurant in Santa Fe

[MARK & ROGER]
Santa Fe

[COLLINS]
With a private corner banquette

[COLLINS, MARK, & ROGER]
In the back

[COLLINS]
We’ll make it yet, we’ll somehow get to Santa Fe

[MARK & ROGER]
Santa Fe

[ROGER]
But you’d miss New York before you could unpack

[COLLINS, MARK, & ROGER]
Ohh

[MAUREEN]
Mark! Roger! Anyone – help!

[MARK]
Maureen?

[MAUREEN]
It’s Mimi – I can’t get her up the stairs

[ROGER]
No

[MAUREEN]
She was huddled in the park in the dark
And she was freezing
And begged to come here

[ROGER]
Over here
Oh, God

[MIMI]
Got a light – I know you – you’re shivering

[JOANNE]
She’s been living on the street

[ROGER]
We need some heat

[MIMI]
I’m shivering

[MARK]
We can buy some wood and something to eat

[COLLINS]
I’m afraid she needs more than heat

[MIMI]
I heard that

[MAUREEN]
Collins will call for a doctor, honey

[MIMI]
Don’t waste your money on Mimi, me, me

[COLLINS]
Hello 911?
I’m on hold

[MIMI]
Cold…cold… would you light my candle?

[ROGER]
Yes we’ll oh God – find a candle

[MIMI]
I should tell you
I should tell you

[ROGER]
I should tell you
I should tell you

[MIMI]
I should tell you
Benny wasn’t any

[ROGER]
Shhh–I know
I should tell you why I left
It wasn’t cause I didn’t

[MIMI]
I know
I should tell you

[ROGER]
I should tell you

[MIMI]
I should tell you
I love you

[ROGER]
Who do you think you are?
Leaving me alone with my guitar
Hold on!
There’s something you should hear
It isn’t much but it took all year