Annotations for Carrie hope fletcher and original west end cast of heathers fight for me

Lyric: Good bone structure
Annotation:
Stemming from the phrase “spineless,” stating that Chandler believes Sawyer is not a stepping stool, at least for now. or more accurately, she believes Sawyer is at least a little brave for her action.

Lyric: How about prescriptions?
Annotation:
Heather Duke is trying to gain access to pills like weight loss pills, medications, ect. Drugs, basically.

Lyric: We’re helping her
Annotation:
Heather (Chandler, FYI) feigns being concerned for Heather (Duke) and her vomiting as to (at least try) not being late for class.  Not that she could be bothered for caring about Heather or attendance.

Lyric: Slut!
Annotation:
This is widely considered slut shaming, basically shaming someone for being sexually promiscuous. Here, it’s being used to degrade others for being a promiscuous person. Like I just said.

Lyric: Short bus!
Annotation:
The ‘short bus’ is the specialized bus used to transport the special need students. Basically, the students (and .. faculty?) are calling each other “special needs students,” trying to insult each other by using mental disabilities as a sort of derogative thing. (For the record, it is WRONG to insult people because they have mental disabilities)

Lyric: We were so tiny
 Happy and shiny
 Playing tag and getting chased
Annotation:
A reference to being younger, like a little tater tot in middle and elementary school

Lyric: Dear diary:
Annotation:
veronica addresses the audience, which is how she expresses her thoughts and emotions throughout the show

Lyric: [HIPSTER]
 Why did I wear this?
Annotation:
The original line was sung by Ram and instead of the Hipster being concerned about what’s he’s wearing, Ram asks “Why did I hit him?” I have no idea why this is changed so if anyone does please let me know-

Lyric: Veronica? Veronica? Veronica!!
Annotation:
At the end, they’re shocked because they realize it’s Veronica, who they obviously thought of as a nerd.

Lyric: September 1st, 1989
Annotation:
A Friday, in case you’re interested!

Lyric: Veronica?
Annotation:
When she says this, she sounds almost surprised. Like she betrayed her.

Lyric: Who’s that with Heather?
Annotation:
Ms. Fleming said this, despite having seen Veronica just a few moments before. This could be showing how much the Heathers changed Veronica visually. If Ms. Fleming didn’t notice that’s Veronica despite having seen here moments before…

Lyric: And you know, you know, you know?
 This could be beautiful
 Mascara, maybe some lip gloss
 And we’re on our way
 Get this girl some blush
 And Heather, I need your brush
 Let’s make her beautiful...
Annotation:
In westerburg high, it is quite clear the only way to be poplular and not get bullied is being ‘beautiful’. Which then was makeup, and Body and growing up instead of being intelligent or book smart

Lyric: Hold your breath and count the days-
 We’re graduating soon
Annotation:
This is saying that Veronica cannot wait to leave school since it so just scary and a bad enviournent for her. So she’s counting down the days till she graduates and just keeps her head down until then

Lyric: Perhaps you didn’t hear the bell over all the vomiting. You’re late for class
Annotation:
Yikes. Ms. Fleming is more concerned with the girls' class attendance than she is with Heather Duke getting sick in the bathroom. This clearly illustrates her as an out of touch and incompetent staff member.

Lyric: Heather, I need a mint
Annotation:
To freshen her breath after just having vomited, her method of purging.

Lyric: Bulimia is so ’87
Annotation:
Bulimia is an eating disorder characterized by binging and purging. While it is a very serious issue, Heather Chandler makes it seem like a trend that has gone out of fad. Many young girls struggle with eating disorders, however, due to pressure for their bodies to look a certain way.

Lyric: I’d like to kidnap a Heather and photograph her naked in an abandoned warehouse and leave her tied up for the rats
Annotation:
No one says anything in response to this line, and the music stops for a moment. Everyone would like to pretend this very creepy thing was not just said, much like the school’s response to the immoral and illegal activity that happens behind its walls.

Lyric: Teflon
Annotation:
A chemical coating often used to make cookware or bullets non-stick. Veronica’s implying that any harassment the Heathers receive simply slides right off them.

Lyric: [KURT]
 Why do I act like such a creep?
Annotation:
A humanizing moment for Kurt.

Lyric: Look at you, you’re a high school has-been waiting to happen. A future gas station attendant
Annotation:
Veronica (correctly, as we will see later in Our Love Is God) implies that Kurt has no future beyond high school, and his glory days as a football player will be short-lived.

Lyric: He is the smartest guy on the football team. Which is kind of like being the tallest dwarf
Annotation:
It’s not difficult to look smart when surrounded by idiots, so this isn’t much of a testament to Kurt’s intelligence at all.

Lyric: Dumptruck
Annotation:
A rude spin on Martha’s last name (Dunnstock) that insults her weight.

Lyric: What can I say? I’m a sucker for a happy ending
Annotation:
Martha is a bit naive, as is illustrated here by her optimistic outlook. Additionally, the Princess Bride tells the story of two young lovers who are parted and then reunite after many years, something Martha is probably hoping will happen with her and Ram.

Lyric: You’re on Jiffy Pop detail
Annotation:
Jiffy Pop is a brand of popcorn- Veronica jokingly sluffs the responsibility of providing popcorn for their movie night off onto Martha.

Lyric: I pray, I pray...
Annotation:
The beginning of allusions to god/religion throughout the show.

Lyric: Wake from this coma
Annotation:
Like many feel in their senior year, Veronica is sleepwalking through this year. High school is a haze and she’s ready to graduate and get going. (Additionally, may be a slight nod to a later track, “Dead Girl Walking”.)

Lyric: Smoky
Annotation:
More fire imagery, foreshadowing the show’s explosive ending.

Lyric: Ivy-covered walls
Annotation:
More imagery of old European institutions (fits in with the mention of French cafes) while also referencing the Ivy-league schools listed earlier.

Lyric: Harvard, Duke, or Brown
Annotation:
Ivy-League schools; the best of the best. Veronica is smart, and has the brains to get in to any of these places. At this point in the show, her future looks bright.

Lyric: Cripple
Annotation:
A dated term used to describe someone who is unable to walk due to some sort of disability or injury to the back or legs.

Lyric: White trash!
Annotation:
“White trash” is a derogatory term used to describe poor and/or uneducated white people from a lower class and usually coming from the South.

Lyric: This is the Thunderdome
Annotation:
A reference to the 1985 film “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”. The Thunderdome was a steel cage that served as an arena for deadly fights.

Lyric: Like the Huns invading Rome
Annotation:
The Huns' invasion of Rome (which was one of many invasions across the empire) contributed largely to Rome’s fall. Their attacks were brutal, and Veronica’s comparison of them to her classmates illustrates their barbaric and overpowering nature.

Lyric: Then we got bigger
 That was the trigger
Annotation:
Puberty and generally growing older was the catalyst for these kids to become aggressive teenagers. Additionally, the word “trigger” conjures up the image of a gun, contributing to allusions towards violence and providing some foreshadowing.

Lyric: If you wanna lose a few pounds, you need more protein in your diet
Annotation:
This line was changed to show that Kurt is “smarter” than anyone else.

Lyric: Of course, you could stand to lose a few pounds
Annotation:
Heather Duke is shown numerous times to be very insecure (mostly about her body, causing her to become bulimic). Here, she is projecting her own insecurities onto Veronica as she is getting less attention from both Chandler and McNamara, causing her insecurities to be more present in this moment

Lyric: Actually, Ms. Fleming, all four of us are out on a hall pass. Yearbook committee
Annotation:
Ms. Flemming doesn’t actually acknowledge Veronica until she makes herself heard and seen. Veronica isn’t just invisible and uncared for by students but by faculty also.

Lyric: Homo! Homo! Homo!
Annotation:
I don’t know if it’s done in all performances, but in the one I watch religiously, one of the extras points to two people on the first two “homo!"s but at herself on the last one, and laughs. PROPOSED SUGGESTION: In the production I saw the hipster points to Kurt then Ram and then to herself and I liked the foreshadowing again I don’t think it’s done in all performances

Lyric: What you need, Heather, is to see a doctor
Annotation:
McNamara’s little display of concern for her friend sets her up as being kinder than the other two Heathers, which ultimately leads to her redemption arc. It could also show desperation. She is trying to make her friends like her because she depends on them so much and doesn’t want to be left alone. This is much harsher compared to the 2014 cast recording, which could imply that although Heather M cares, she still needs to act tough and sassy so that the other two Heathers will still like her.

Lyric: Grow up, Heather.
Annotation:
Childhood and maturity is a constant theme throughout the musical. Even though H. Duke is trying desperately to fit in and be ‘mature’ and pretty like H. Chandler and the others (who obviously value being mature), H. Chandler still tells her to ‘grow up’, implying that her bulimia is something immature that H. Duke needs to grow out of, and not in fact an illness on its own.

Lyric: I’d like them to be nicer
Annotation:
Martha, unlike the other kids talking about the Heathers, is the only one who does not ask for something that would give her personal gain. Instead, she merely wishes for the Heathers' kindness, demonstrating her naivety and selflessness. This, unfortunately, makes her a target within the student body.

Lyric: Their
Annotation:
“Their” implies that people don’t see the 3 Heathers as separate people, almost dehumanising them.

Lyric: If I sat at their table, guys would notice me
Annotation:
This girl wants exactly what Veronica later gets in the song. She just wants to sit at their table.

Lyric: She is a mythic bitch
Annotation:
By calling her the Almighty, Heather is raised to a Godly pedestal. Although she dies halfway through, she is constantly on Veronica’s shoulder and conscience. She is the ever present yet intangible force in the musical. This use of “mythic” foreshadows her state later in the play. Her ghost is on stage for a great deal of the runtime and the students revere her as a symbol or legend of power. Let’s not forget that Heather Chandler is almost always seen in a trio. She is part of the Heathers and part of the three (not so holy) ghosts Veronica sees.

Lyric: They float above it all
Annotation:
This implies that the Heathers have so much power, that no one dares touch them. This also could imply that they are spectators of everything going on at Westerburg. While at the top of the social pyramid, they are detached from the rest of the world, out of touch with society.

Lyric: Ah... Heather, Heather, and Heather!
Annotation:
The timing of the Heathers entering right after the kids beg for something to live for insinuates jokingly that the Heathers are the asked-for reason to live, which emphasises just how popular they are at Westerburg.

Lyric: Send me a sign, God!
 Give me some hope, here!
 Something to live for!
Annotation:
Preludes the three Heathers' introduction, implying how the school idolises them as superiors, almost worshipping them.

Lyric: You got a zit right there
Annotation:
This has nothing to do with what Veronica is saying. Kurt either knows Veronica’s statement is true, or he is too stupid to realise he’s just been dissed. His comeback is incredibly simplistic and juvenile, but the chorus of laughter indicates that the rest of the school agrees with him. The students knows that “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”, especially when the alternative is getting beaten up.

Lyric: I’m sorry, are you actually talking to me?
Annotation:
Once again we see how abusers and bullies react to their victims when they stand up to them. They are unafraid and cruel when their actions are met with resistance. Kurt’s tone of disbelief shows how he’s more popular or of higher “ranking” than Veronica, and he expects to be respected.

