A Little Night Music: A Weekend in the Country

Look, ma'am, an invitation
Here, ma'am, delivered by hand
And, ma'am, I notice the stationery's engraved
And very grand

Petra, how too exciting!
Just when I need it
Petra, such elegant writing!
So chic, you hardly can read it
What do you think?
Who can it be?
Even the ink! No, here, let me

"Your presence"
Just think of it, Petra
"Is kindly" - it's at the chateau
"Requested" et cetera, et cetera
"Madame Leonora Armf" - oh, no!

A weekend in the country
(We're invited)
What a horrible plot
A weekend in the country
(I'm excited)
No, you're not!

A weekend in the country!
Just imagine (It's completely depraved)
A weekend in the country
(It's insulting) It's engraved!

It's that woman! It's that Armfeldt!
(Oh, the actress?)
No, the ghoul!
She may hope to make her charm felt
But she's mad if she thinks I would be such a fool
As to weekend in the country
(How insulting)
And I've nothing to wear
A weekend in the country
Here! The last place I'm going is there

Guess what? An invitation
Guess who? Begins with an "A"
Armfeldt? Is that a relation to the decrepit Desiree?
Guess when we're asked to go, sir
See, sir, the date there
Guess where - a fancy chateau, sir
Guess too, who's lying in wait there
Setting her traps
Fixing her face

Darling, perhaps a change of pace (Oh no!)
A weekend in the country
Would be charming, and the air would be fresh

A weekend with that woman
(In the country)
In the flesh

I've some business with her mother
(See, it's business)

Oh, no doubt!
But the business with her mother
Would be hardly the business I'd worry about

Just a weekend in the country
Smelling jasmine
Watching little things grow
A weekend in the country
Go!
My darling, we'll simply say no
Oh!

A weekend (how very amusing)
A weekend (but also inept)
A weekend, of course we're refusing
(Au contraire, you must accept!)
Oh, no!

A weekend in the country
(But it's frightful)
No, you don't understand
A weekend in the country
Is delightful if it's planned
Wear your hair down and a flower
Don't use makeup; dress in white
She'll grow older by the hour
And be hopelessly shattered by Saturday night

Spend a weekend in the country
(We'll accept it)
I'd a feeling you would
A weekend in the country
Yes! It's only polite that we should
Good!

(Well?)
I've an intriguing little social item
(What?)
Out at the Armfeldt family manse
(Well, what?)
Merely a weekend, still I thought it might
Amuse you to know who's invited to go
This time with his pants

(You don't mean -)
I'll give you three guesses
(She wouldn't)
Reduce it to two
(It can't be)
It nevertheless is (Egerman)
Right! Score one for you
(Aha!) Aha
(Aha) Aha

A weekend in the country
We should try it
(How I wish we'd been asked)
A weekend in the country
Peace and quiet
(We'll go masked)

A weekend in the country
(Uninvited, they'll consider it odd)
A weekend in the country
I'm delighted (Oh my God!)

And the shooting should be pleasant
If the weather's not too rough
Happy birthday, it's your present (But -)
You haven't been getting out nearly enough

And a weekend in the country
(It's perverted)
Pack my quiver and bow
A weekend in the country
At exactly two-thirty we go
(We can't) We shall
(We shan't) I'm getting a car and we're motoring down
(Yes, I'm certain you are and I'm staying in town)

Pack my suits (I won't) (We'll go)
My boots (We should)
Pack everything I own that shoots (Pack everything white) (That's wonderful news)
Charlotte (I'm thinking it out) (We'd be rude to refuse)
Charlotte (There's no need to shout) (We are?)
Charlotte (All right, then) (We'll bring champagne and caviar)

We're off and away
What a beautiful day for a weekend in the country
How amusing
How delightfully droll
A weekend in the country
While we're losing our control

A weekend in the country
How enchanting
On the manicured lawns
A weekend in the country
With the panting and the yawns

With the crickets and the pheasants
And the orchards and the hay
With the servants and the peasants
We'll be laying our plans while we're playing croquet

For a weekend in the country
So inactive that one has to lie down
A weekend in the country
Where -

A weekend in the country
The bees in their hives
The shallow worldly figures
The frivolous lives
The devil's companions know not whom they serve
It might be instructive to observe

A weekend in the country (We're off) (We are?) (I'm thinking it out)
The bees in their hives (We'll bring champagne and caviar)
We're off and away, what a beautiful day
Surveilling each other while playing croquet
Controlling our feelings while strolling the lawns
Confiding our motives while hiding our yawns

With riotous laughter we quietly suffer
The season in town which is reason enough for
A weekend in the country
How amusing! How delightfully droll
A weekend in the country
While we're losing our control

A weekend in the country
How enchanting, on the manicured lawns
A weekend in the country
With the panting, and the yawns
With the crickets and the pheasants
And the orchards and the hay
And the servants and the peasants
We'll be laying our plans while we're playing croquet

For a weekend in the country
So inactive that one has to lie down
A weekend in the country
Where we're twice as upset as in
Twice as upset as in
Twice as upset as in
Twice as upset as in

A weekend (We're uninvited)
A weekend (Charlotte, we're going)
A weekend (We're uninvited) (Are you sure you want to go?)
A weekend (Charlotte, we're going)
A weekend, a weekend (We're uninvited)
A weekend, a weekend (Charlotte, we're going)
Town!