Show Synopsis:
Ensign Nellie Forbush, a nurse, and Emile de Becque, a plantation owner, have fallen in love on an island in the South Pacific during World War II and become engaged. Nellie discovers that Emile's two children are half-Polynesian and breaks off the engagement, despite Emile's pleadings. Emile goes on a mission to report on Japanese ship movements and goes missing. Nellie comes to know and love his children, despite her racial prejudice, and when Emile returns, they are ready to start life as a family.
Character:
Ensign Nellie Forbush, an unsophisticated but optimistic WWII nurse from Arkansas.
Song Context:
Nellie has just accepted Emile's marriage proposal after he tells her his desire for universal freedom, which he feels eliminates the need to bring politics into their relationship.
Fun Facts:
1) Oscar Hammerstein II asked Mary Martin to play Nellie because he was intent on casting her in a role that showed "the real Mary, a corn-fed girl from Texas."
2) During rehearsals for the Broadway production, Martin was supposed to conclude this song with a cartwheel, but it was cut after she accidentally knocked out Trude Rittman, one of the orchestrators.
3) This musical was based on a series of short stories called Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1947.
"I expect everyone of my crowd to make fun
Of my proud protestations of faith in romance,
And they'll say I'm naïve as a babe to believe
Every fable I hear from a person in pants.
Fearlessly I'll face them and argue their doubts away,
Loudly I'll sing about flowers in spring,
Flatly I'll stand on my little flat feet and say
""Love is a grand and a beautiful thing!""
I'm not ashamed to reveal
The world famous feelin' I feel.
I'm as corny as Kansas in August,
I'm as normal as blueberry pie.
No more a smart little girl with no heart,
I have found me a wonderful guy!
I am in a conventional dither,
With a conventional star in my eye.
And you will note there's a lump in my throat
When I speak of that wonderful guy!
I'm as trite and as gay as a daisy in May,
A cliché comin' true!
I'm bromidic and bright
As a moon-happy night
Pourin' light on the dew!
I'm as corny as Kansas in August,
High as a flag on the Fourth of July!
If you'll excuse an expression I use,
I'm in love, I'm in love,
I'm in love, I'm in love,
I'm in love with a wonderful guy!
I'm as trite and as gay as a daisy in May,
A cliché comin' true!
I'm bromidic and bright
As a moon-happy night
Pourin' light on the dew!
I'm as corny as Kansas in August,
High as a flag on the Fourth of July!
If you'll excuse an expression I use,
I'm in love,
I'm in love,
I'm in love,
I'm in love,
I'm in love,
I'm in love,
I'm in love with a wonderful guy!"