A Purple Summer: Notes on the Lyrics of Spring Awakening

by Steven Sater

In February 1999, Steven Sater conceived the radical notion of creating a rock musical from Frank Wedekind's notorious Symbolist drama, Frühlings Erwachen , and he enlisted his friend and writing partner Duncan Sheik in the enterprise. That night, Sater came home and began writing the first lyric of Spring Awakening : “Mama Who Bore Me” – a lyric which still stands, verbatim, just as he first wrote it.

Ten years later, in the wake of the enormous international success of this groundbreaking, multiaward-winning show, its original director, Michael Mayer, urged Sater to write notes explicating its famously evocative, poetic lyrics.

In rich detail, Sater's notes address the literary sources and allusions of each lyric. He also writes feelingly of what prompted the songs over the course of the show's eight years of development. In so doing, Sater expands on his partnership with Sheik and his experiences with original cast members, Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, now also known from Glee .

These notes will prove invaluable for fans of the show, for all those interested in theater, and most especially for all the young performers who will play the roles and sing these songs.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theatre, Plays, Music, Essays, Collections, Musicals

100 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2012

Reviews

[cossette · Rating 5 out of 5]

sometimes u just gotta have a little spring awakening breakdown in the middle of the day

[Scott Fabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I have seen Spring Awakening more than any other Broadway Musical. Much of that has to do with my friendship with Jonathan Groff, who played the original Melchior on Broadway. Of course, the show itself is spectacular, and I was eager to read what Steven Sater had to say about the songs' lyrics. For the most part, I was happy with the book. All of the lyrics were included, and the author provided a nice bit of commentary. In general, I thought that it was a bit light on commentary--I thought there could have been more. Also, I was a little surprised by the amount of reference to classical literature. Personally, I find it a bit hard to believe that the lyricist could have referenced so many different works of literature when writing a song. Hindsight might show some connections (when deliberated sought); however, the author's descriptions seemed a bit too contrived. Nevertheless, the lyrics made me think about the show fondly. I'll be seeing it again at the Ephrata Performing Arts Center in two months, and I cannot wait to see what they do with the production.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good little book, if entirely inessential. It never quite over-explains the lyrics, thereby robbing them of their qualities, but similarly it contains no real revelations.

Not fully following the development of the show - cut songs, rearranged lyrics, and so on - was a missed opportunity, especially when compared to Sondheim's lyric books, as was the only scanty insight into the collaborative process.

Plus, the exploration highlights the main weakness of the lyric set as a whole - it tends either too classical or too contemporary, when its strength lies in the middle ground between the two. Still, you may well get something out of it, and it is always good to revisit this uncommonly good show in any form.

[Maya Macomber · Rating 4 out of 5]

So gr8, could’ve been a little more detailed but wow so gr8, life changing

[Kacie Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick little insight into some of the inspiration, influences, and intent behind the lyrics of Spring Awakening. It reviews how some of the translations of the songs into languages other than English was at times trying, and I think it would have been interesting for the author to maybe spends some time talking about how the language of the original play also maybe was twisted while they were developing the musical. I also would have liked more information about the evolution of the show. But in terms of just reviewing the songs? This is a fun little read.

[Kelsey Love · Rating 3 out of 5]

This very short book doesn't offer much insight you couldn't find in the libretto, unfortunately. I appreciate knowing all of the references and literary allusions Sater utilizes, yet was expecting a much deeper lyrical analysis than is found in these pages. Some songs only get one page of notes.

I was also troubled by the fact that the characters singing the lyrics aren't listed. This becomes confusing when the notes reference specific characters, but you don't know which lines were theirs unless you're already intimately familiar with the songs.

[Katrina Kauffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

lowkey wish there was a bit more detail in this when it came to sater’s thought process, especially bc many of the lyrics in this show are so entrenched in dense figurative language. I did appreciate his explanations of some references to other literature and philosophy. I’m not sure how helpful this is ultimately gonna be for my research project on the show, but I’m glad I have it if I need it.

[Ashley Michaelas · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3/5 ⭐️)

I think I’ve read every book on Spring Awakening I possibly can this week.

I was just really interested in finding the origin and deeper meaning of the lyrics from this musical. This book really enlightened me and now when I’m listening to the music I have all this background information to really solidify what i’m listening to.

[Rik · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the songs of Spring Awakening, however in my opinion the book fails to reach its goal. Most of the lyrics are not explained, and if they are explained, they are not always explained in the context of the play.
If you hope to find more context to the lyrics, this may bring you some, but not as much as you probably hope

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely sobbed reading through the last two songs. I love this musical more than anything and really enjoyed the insight into Steven Sater's reasoning and thought process. I would've liked it to go into a little more detail but what is there is great

[natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who recently became obsessed with Spring Awakening and deemed it my favorite musical, I never realized how almost every song and lyrics meaning went over my head. This book beautifully clarified and explained what's really going on in this timeless show and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Hugh McKinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm performing in a production of the show and found the insights useful without over-explaining. A good set of lyric notes should clarify the author's thoughts while leaving the door open to the actors' interpretations, and I felt it was successful in that regard.

[Grace Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but although I've seen the documentary, and listened to the music, there is so much that would be better understood if I'd seen the show itself (hoping to do so someday- it's not produced much).

[katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, it wasn't like enlightening, but it'll definitely give me some good quotes to back up what I already discerned (I'm writing my thesis on spring awakening).

[Ciah · Rating 4 out of 5]

favorite musical ever!

[Consuelo Bobadilla Cagliero · Rating 5 out of 5]

everything about this musical is just so cozy to me

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steven Sater is a silly and pretentious guy.

[Tara - tarareads517 on Storygraph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice companion to the libretto, with more information on the songs from Spring Awakening.

[Anjum Choudhury · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would love it if this book were more detailed, but even as it is, I think that it's amazingly helpful. It was really eye-opening to read about all of the references to old texts that were not extremely explicit in the lyrics of the song, and now I'm honestly intrigued to find inspiration in particularly colorful passages in older writing.

I particularly found entry for 'The Mirror-Blue Night' to be the most interesting, because I didn't realize that the text was so literal. I honestly didn't understand it at all (understand that I'm very dense with poetry), and could not connect it with the beating scene. The only line that I felt I truly understood was the "I'm a man and a child." Not exactly impressive. But all of this about Melchior's dream...It's beautiful, and so incredibly obvious I can't believe that I didn't see it. Thank god for this book.

[Ian Hrabe · Rating 2 out of 5]

An unnecessary explanation of Spring Awakening's lyrics by the guy who wrote 'em. The main takeaway is that there are a lot of references to Shakespeare and other classical texts and that it was really hard for the person translating this thing into German to get the words right. I generally like when artists talk about their work and when songwriters talk about their lyrics, but only up to a point. There's a reason most don't (usually under the guise of wanting to let the listener's interpretation be the correct one) as it strips away the mystery. That said, Steven Sater says up front that this is mainly so the actors in future productions to glean some insight into the characters/songs, so me whizzing through this on my lunch break was not the intended purpose.

[Meredith Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

a one-star rating kind of book overall but the insight into a few specific lyrics brought it up to a two-star. i guess i understand the purpose of this book - to give actors performing in future productions of the show insight into the lyrics & their meanings - but it felt more like a cheap attempt to make more money off the spring awakening name (and i fell for it, obviously). many of the explanations were bland and obvious, with no real insight or connection to anything besides "we thought this sounded important." a very quick read but only for actors truly needing guidance with the roles and very passionate spring awakening fans who miss the show (i fall into that one).

[Emmie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars. It was an interesting read, although boring at times. I don't often look into "making of _________" novels, so my hopes weren't set too high for A Purple Summer--I read it, actually, to better understand some of the song lyrics that I didn't quite grasp. In that sense, the book was everything I wanted it to be. I got a decent view into the creative mind behind the musical and a better view into the meanings behind the lyrics.

I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of/has seen the play.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so absolutely passionate about my view of SA that Sater's commentary on his own work...blew my mind a little bit. There are a few sentences about Melchior that absolutely sum up the character. I've never really understood Melchior - he's arrogant, he's proud, he doesn't listen to his friends when they're in crisis, there's the whole issue of dubious consent. But reading Steven Sater's commentary about the music of Spring Awakening really brought about a new appreciation of the character. "He has learned to learn from his heart."

That's my boy.

[Christina Mortellaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like so much more could have been explained. Maybe it's the English major in me, but there was a lot of things that were not explained as thoroughly as it could have been. Some of the historical references were interesting and if you're preparing as an actor for this show, I think this book is probably helpful. I love Spring Awakening though and I'm glad to have my ideas confirmed.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm approaching this book from the point of view of a dramaturg and how useful it is to me going into prepping a production. It provides some really invaluable insights. However, at the same time, I always found myself wishing it would go a step farther. I particularly wish "The Dark I Know Well" had a more extensive explanation.

[StageNotes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book that gives the rare background information to a lyricist's songs. The book lists a song by song description about the process of inspiration, interpretation, and creation of the lyrics in Spring Awakening. We think it's a perfect read for anyone interested in musical theater, poetry, or literature.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did a lot to illuminate some of the more vague lyrics in this show (aka all of them). Was fascinated to see how many references he made to ancient poetry and Facebook.
Also, if anyone has a chance to see the Deaf West production on Broadway DO IT

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a must read for anyone who is a fan of the show. Great explanations of the lyrics and also gives other historical references that inspired Sater's writing.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great background and explanation to the lyrics of Spring Awakening.

[Dominic Grijalva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quick read, provided excellent clarification. Excited to put on the show this summer...