good show tunes have their own structures of repetition and
refrain, waiting for a good singer to do something with them.
Out-of-the-Blue Numbers
So, diegetic songs have a built-in detachability. The song that
is called for in a show has been called for elsewhere and can be
called for again. “I thought only black folks knew that song”
alludes to the previous history of the song and sets up the pos-
sibility that great crowds of white folks are going to be hearing
it over the years. But most songs in musicals are not diegetic,
not called for. Most songs in musicals seem to be happening
for the first time, arising spontaneously from within the char-
acters in the book. We need a phrase to distinguish the diegetic
number from the usual kind, where characters burst into song.
When Ado Annie sings “I’m Just a Girl Who Cain’t Say No”
in Oklahoma!, she is not said to be singing by the book. She and
Laurey have been talking about how to behave with boys, with
Laurey trying to teach her friend a bit of restraint. Ado Annie
illustrates her approach by breaking into song. The debate
comes to a pause and a solo number takes over, uncalled for.
This is the standard convention of musical theatre, obvious
and commonplace, and therefore requiring attention.
When characters burst into song or dance the number seems
to come from out of the blue. That will do for our phrase. Out-
of-the-blue numbers are distinct from diegetic numbers be-
cause they are not called for as numbers by the book but are
forms of spontaneous expression by the characters.
The distinction can be seen in the musical that is practically
built on it, Guys and Dolls. When the leading ladies are caught
up in their work, Miss Adelaide at the nightclub, Miss Sarah
Brown at the Salvation Army mission, they sing diegetic songs.
When they are caught up in romance, they sing out-of-the-
blue songs. Miss Sarah Brown comes into the opening scene
singing “Follow the Fold” with the Salvation Army band. This is
what Salvation Army bands do—the number is part of the book.
Miss Adelaide sings in a nightclub with the Hot Box Girls.