On Lexington & 52nd Street is an original song first featured in The Workshop, the seventh episode of the first season of Smash. Being an original song, it was written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. The version released as a single features Will Chase (Michael Swift) on lead vocals.
In the context of Bombshell, the number occurs as Marilyn shoots a scene from the 1954 film The Seven Year Itch in which the air from a subway grating must blow her skirt up. As the director orders for the scene to be reshot time and time again, a large crowd gathers to watch Marilyn. Joe DiMaggio is infuriated by the spectacle, which leads to his eventual divorce from Marilyn. It was written by Tom Levitt and Julia Houston and was first performed in the New York Marilyn workshop with Michael Swift as Joe DiMaggio, Ivy Lynn as Marilyn Monroe, and Sam Strickland as the News Reporter.
Lyrics[]
DiMaggio:
Hurry, hurry, step right up
See the star who lives for the spotlight
Turn the mics and cameras on or she feels incomplete
Now before it hits the screen
Watch us play the final scene
Right here on Lexington and 52nd Street
News Reporter:
It is chaos down here on 52nd and Lexington! Film star Marilyn Monroe brings Hollywood to Manhattan as she films Billy Wilder's Seven Year Itch.
DiMaggio:
Hurry, all you faceless men
And catch the end of the match of the century
You're just in time for the final round
'Cause I know when I'm beat
See the girl who's become a joke
See the man whose heart she broke
Right here on Lexington and 52nd Street
From Hollywood to Niagara Falls
In barber shops, on barroom walls
The things I thought were only mine
Are up for grabs, so get in line!
Hurry, hurry, take a peak
The traffic stops for the queen of the movies
The centerfold live in the flesh, so get a ringside seat
You want to see what her husband sees?
Just wait for the next subway breeze
Right here on Lexington and 52nd Street
Marilyn:
(spoken) Joe! Joe! Where's Joe? ... Oh, Joe ...
DiMaggio:
Hurry, hurry, going fast
Watch the fool as he heads for the exit
He sees what she has to have, and he cannot compete
See the girl who's ten feet high
See the man who's learned to cry
Right here on Lexington and 52nd...
Videos[]
Smash - On Lexington & 52nd Street HD