Once More, With Feeling
Since this is the special musical episode sung lines will be in blue & italics
Quotes are taken from the original un-cut version of the episode
Buffy: Every single night, the same arrangement. I go out and fight the fight. Still I always feel this strange estrangement. Nothing here is real, nothing here is right. I've been making shows of trading blows. Just hoping no one knows. That I've been going through the motions. Walking through the part. Nothing seems to penetrate my heart. I was always brave, and kind of righteous. Now I find I'm wavering. Crawl out of your grave, you'll find this fight just doesn't mean a thing.
Vamp 1: She ain't got that swing.
Buffy: Thanks for noticing.
Vamps & Demon: She does pretty well with fiends from hell, but lately we can tell. That she's just going through the motions.
Demon: Going through the motions.
Vamp 2: Faking it somehow.
Demon: She's not even half the girl she... ow.
Buffy: Will I stay this way forever? Sleepwalk through my life's endeavor?
Handsome Guy: How can I repay...
Buffy: Whatever. I don't want to be.... Going through the motions, losing all my drive. I can't even see, if this is really me, and I just want to be... Alive.
Xander: Respect the cruller, and tame the doughnut!
Anya: That's still funny, sweetie.
Buffy: So did anybody... last night, you know, did anybody, um... burst into song?
Xander: Merciful Zeus!
Willow: We thought it was just us!
Giles: Well, I sang, but I had my guitar at the hotel...
Tara: It was bizarre. We were talking, and then it was like...
Buffy: You were in a musical?
Tara: Yeah!
Giles: That would explain the huge backing orchestra I couldn't see and the synchronized dancing from the room service chaps.
Willow: We did a whole duet about dish washing.
Anya: And we were arguing and, and then everything rhymed and there were harmonies, and a dance with coconuts.
Willow: There was an entire verse about the cous-cous.
Xander: It was very disturbing.
Giles: I've got a theory, that it's a demon. A dancing demon! No, something isn't right there.
Willow: I've got a theory, some kid is dreamin', and we're all stuck inside his wacky Broadway nightmare.
Xander: I've got a theory we should work this out.
Anya/Tara/Willow/Xander: It's getting eerie, what's this cheery singing all about?
Xander: It could be witches! Some evil witches! Which is ridiculous, cause witches they were persecuted, Wicca good and love the earth and woman power and I'll be over here.
Anya: I've got a theory! It could be bunnies!
Tara: I've got a...
Anya: Bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes! They've got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses! And what's with all the carrots? What do they need such good eyesight for anyway? Bunnies! Bunnies! It must be bunnies!... Or maybe midgets.
Willow: I've got a theory we should work this fast.
Willow/Giles: Because it clearly could get serious before it's passed.
Buffy: I've got a theory. It doesn't matter. What can't we face if we're together? What's in this place that we can't weather? Apocalypse? We've all been there. The same old trips. Why should we care?
All Except Giles: What can't we do if we get in it? We'll work it through in just a minute.
All: We have to try. We'll pay the price. It's do or die.
Buffy: Hey, I've died twice.
All: What can't we face if we're together?
Giles: What can't we face...
All: What's in this place that we can't weather?
Giles: ...if we're together...
All: There's nothing we can't face.
Anya: Except for bunnies.
Xander: See, okay, that was disturbing.
Willow: I thought it was neat.
David: They got... the mustard... out!
Crowd: They got the mustard out!
Dawn: Oh, my god. You will never believe what happened at school today.
Buffy: Everybody started singing and dancing?
Dawn: I gave birth to a pterodactyl.
Anya: Oh my god, did it sing?
Xander: So what'd you sing about?
Dawn: Math.
Giles: Well I'm a hair's breadth from investigating bunnies at the moment, so I'm open to anything.
Tara: Oh, my god. I'm cured! I want the boys!
Tara: I lived my life in shadow, Never the sun on my face. It didn't seem so sad though, I figured that was my place. Now I'm bathed in light. Something just isn't right. I'm under your spell. How else could it be, anyone would notice me? It magic, I can tell. How you set me free, brought me out so easily. I saw a world enchanted. Spirits and charms in the air. I always took for granted, I was the only one there. But your power shone, brighter than any I've known. I'm under you spell. Nothing I can do. You just took my soul with you. You work your charms so well. Finally, I knew, everything I dreamed was true, you made me believe. The moon to the tide, I can feel you inside. I'm under your spell, surging like the sea, wanting you so helplessly. I break with every swell. Lost in ecstasy, spread beneath my willow tree. You make me complete! You make me complete, you make me complete, you make me...
Xander: You see the way they were with each other? The get-a-roominess to them? I bet they're... singing. They're probably singing right now.
Dawn: Besides, it's all kind of romantic.
Xander/Buffy: No, it's not.
Sweet: That's entertainment.
Anya: You don't have to work?
Xander: No, I shut the crew down for the day. My guys started dancing around me. I don't know if I can deal. It's a flab thing. So, waffles?
Anya: This is the man that I plan to entangle, isn't he fine? My claim to fame was to maim and to mangle, vengance was mine! But I'm out of the biz, the name I made, I'll trade for his. The only trouble is. I'll never tell.
Xander: She is the one, she's such wonderful fun. Such passion and grace. Warm in the night when I'm right in her tight - Embrace! Tight embrace! I'll never let her go, the love we've known can only grow. There's just one thing that - no. I'll never tell.
Both: Cause there's nothing to tell.
Anya: He snores.
Xander: She wheezes.
Anya: Say 'housework' and he freezes.
Xander: She eats these skeezy cheeses that I can't describe.
Anya: I talk, he breezes.
Xander: She doesn't know what pleases.
Anya: His penis got diseases from a Chumash tribe!
Both: The vibe gets kind of scary.
Xander: Like she thinks I'm ordinary.
Anya: Like it's all just temporary.
Xander: Like her toes are kind of hairy.
Both: But it's all very well, cause god knows, I'll never tell.
Anya: When things get rough, he just hides behind his Buffy! Now look, he's getting huffy cause he knows that I know.
Xander: She clings. She's needy. She's also really greedy. She nev-
Anya: His eyes are beady!
Xander: This is my verse, hello! She-
Anya: Look at me! I'm dancing crazy!
Both: You know...
Xander: You're quite the charmer.
Anya: My knight in armor.
Xander: You're the cutest of the Scoobies. With your lips as red as rugies. And your firm yet supple - Tight embrace!
Anya: He's swell.
Xander: She's sweller.
Anya: He'll always be my feller.
Xander: That's why I'll never tell her that I'm petrified.
Anya: I've read this tale, there's wedding, then betrayal. I know there'll come the day I'll want to run and hide.
Both: I lied, I said it's easy. I've tried, but there's these fears I've can't quell.
Xander: Is she looking for a pot of gold?
Anya: Will I look good when I've gotten old?
Xander: Will our lives become too stressful if I'm never that successful?
Anya: When I get so worn and wrinkly that I look like David Brinkley?
Xander: Am I crazy?
Anya: Am I dreaming?
Xander: Am I marrying a demon?
Both: We could really raise the beam in making marriage a hell! So, thank god, I'll never tell! I swear that I'll never tell!
Xander: My lips are sealed.
Anya: I take the Fifth.
Xander: Nothing to see, move it along.
Both: I'll never tell!
Xander: It's a nightmare.
Anya: It has to be stopped.
Xander: It's a plague. It's like a nightmare about a plague.
Anya: It was like we were being watched.
Xander: It's like, I didn't wanna be saying things-
Anya: Like there was a wall missing-
Xander: -but they just kept pouring out.
Anya: -in our apartment.
Xander: And they rhymed and they were mean and...
Anya: Like there were only three walls and not a fourth wall and...
Xander: My eyes are not beady!
Anya: My toes are not hairy!
Anya: Clearly our number is a retro-pastiche that's never going to be a break-away pop hit.
Marti: I'm asking you please no. It isn't right, it isn't fair. There was no parking anywhere. I think that hydrant wasn't there. Why can't you let it go? I think I've paid more than my share...
Giles: I was able to examine the body while police were taking witness arias.
Spike: The sun sets, and she appears. Come to serenade me?
Spike: You've just come to pump me for information.
Buffy: What else would I want to pump you for? I really just said that, didn't I?
Spike: I died, so many years ago. But you can make me feel, like it isn't so. And why you come to be with me I think I finally know. Mmm, mmm. You're scared. Ashamed of what you feel, and you can't tell the ones you love. You know they couldn't deal. Whisper in a dead man's ear, it doesn't make it real. That's great, but I don't wanna play. Cause being with you touches me more than I can say. But since I'm only dead to you, I'm saying stay away. And let me rest in peace. Let me rest in peace. Let me get some sleep. Let me take my love and bury it, in a hole six foot deep. I can lay my body down, but I can't find my sweet release. So let me rest in peace! You know, you've got a willing slave. And you just love to play the thought, that you might misbehave. But till you do I'm telling you, stop visiting my grave, and let me rest in peace. I know I should go. But I follow you like a man possessed. There's a traitor here beneath my breast. And it hurts me more than you've ever guessed. If my heart could beat, it would break my chest. But I can see you're unimpressed. So leave me be. And let me rest in peace. Let me get some sleep. Let me take my love and bury it in a hole six foot deep. I can lay my body down, but I can't find my sweet release... Let me rest in peace. Why won't you let me rest in peace?
Spike: So... you're not staying then?
Dawn: Yes, the fifteen year old can spend half an hour alone in her locked house.
Dawn: Does anybody even notice? Does anybody even care?
Sweet: Why'd you run away? Don't you like my... style? Why don't you come and play? I guarantee a... great big smile. I come from the imagination. And I'm here strictly by your Invocation. So what do you say? Why don't we dance awhile? I'm the hot swing. I'm the twist and shout. When you gotta sing, when you gotta... let it out. You call me and I come a-running. I turn the muxic on. I bring the fun in. Now we're a partyin' That's what it's all about. Cause I know... what you feel girl. I know just what you feel girl. Dawn: So... you're like a good demon? Bringing the fun in? Sweet: All these melodies... they go on too long. Then that energy starts to come on way too strong. All those hearts laid open, that must sting. Plus, some customers just start combusting. That's the penalty when life is but a song. You brought me down into this town. So, when we blow this scene. Back we will go to my kingdom below. And you will be my queen. Cause I know what you feel, girl. Dawn: No, you see. You and me, wouldn't be very regal. Sweet: I'll make it real, girl. Dawn: What I mean, I'm fifteen, so this queen thing's illegial. Sweet: I can bring whole cities to ruin, and still ahve time to get a soft-shoe in. Dawn: Well,that's great. But I'm late, and I'd hate to delay her. Sweet: She'll get pissed, if I'm missed. See my sister's the Slayer. Sweet: Now we're partying. That's what it's all about.
Giles: You're not ready for the world outside. You keep pretending but you just can't hide. I know I said that I'd be standing by your side, but i... Your path's unbeaten and it's all uphill. And you can meet it, but you never will. And I'm the reason that you're standing still. But I... I wish I could say the right words. To lead you through this land. Wish I could play the father, and talk you by the hand. Wish I could stay here, but now I understand. I'm standing in the way. The cries around you, you don't hear at all. Cause you know I'm here to take that call. So you just lie there when you should be standing tall. But I... I wish I sould lay your arms down and let you rest at last. Wish I could slay your demons, but not that time has passed. Wish I could stay here, your stalwart, standign fast. But I've been standing in the way. I'm just standing... in the way.
Tara: I'm under your spell. God, how can this be? Playing with my memory. You know I've been through hell. Willow, don't you see? There'll be nothing left of me. You made me believe. Giles: Belive me, I don't wanna go. Both: And it'll grieve me cause I love you so, but we both know. Giles: Wish I could say the right words, to lead you through this land. Wish I could play the father and take you by the hand. Tara: Wish I could trust that it was just this once, but I must do what I must. I can't adjust to this disgust. We're done and I just... Both: Wish I could stay. Wish I could stay. Wish I could stay. Wish I could stay...
Spike: Strong. Someday, he'll be a real boy.
Buffy: So, Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday.
Anya: Dawn may have had the wrong idea in summoning this creature, but I've seen some of these Underworld child bride deals and they never end well. Maybe once.
Xander: Spike sing a wittle song?
Anya: Would you say it was a break away pop hit or more of a book number?
Xander: Let it go, sweetie.
Buffy: I touch the fire and it freezes me. I look into it and it's black. Why can't I feel? My skin should crack and peel. I want the fire back! Now through the smoke, she calls to me. To make my way across the flame. To save the day, or maybe melt away. I guess it's all the same. So I will walk through the fire. Cause where else can I turn? I will walk through the fire and let it... Spike: The torch I bear is scorching me. Buffy's laughing, I've no doubt. I hope she fries. I'm free if that bitch dies! I better help her out. Sweet: Cause she is drawn to the fire. Some people... Spike: She will... Spike/Sweet: ...never learn. And she will walk through the fire. And let it... Giles: Will this do a thing to change her? Am I leaving Dawn in danger? Is my Slayer too far gone to care? Xander: What if Buffy can't defeat it? Anya: Beady eyes is right, we're needed! Or we could just sit around and glare. All: We'll see it through it's what we're always here to do. So we will walk through the fire. Buffy: So one by one, they turn from me. I guess my friends can't face the cold. But why I froze, not one among them knows and never can be told. Tara: What can't we face... If we're together? Anya: She came from the grave much graver. Spike: First he'll kill her, then I'll save her. Tara: Everything is turning out so dark. Spike: No, I'll save her, then I'll kill her. Willow: I think this line's mostly filler. Giles: What's it gonna take to strike a spark? Sweet: So one by one they turn to me. The distant redness as their guide. That single flame. Ain't what they had in mind. It's what they have inside. Buffy: Going through the motions. Walking through the part. Sweet: She will come to me. Buffy: These endless days are finally ending in a blaze. All: And we are caught in the fire. The point of no return. So we will walk through the fire. And let it burn. Let it burn. Let it burn. Let it burn!
Buffy: Life's a show, and we all play our parts, and when the music starts we open up our hearts. It's all right, if some things come out wrong. We'll sing a happy song, and you can sing along. Where's there's life, there's hope. Every day's a gift. Wishes can, come true. Whistle while you work, so hard, all day, to be like other girls. To fit in this glittering world. Don't give me songs. Giles: She needs backup. Anya, Tara. Buffy: Don't give me songs. Give me somethint to sing about. I need something to sing about. Life's a song, you don't get to rehearse. And every single verse can make it that much worse. Still my friends, don't know why I ignore, the million things or more I should be dancing for. All the joy, life sends. Family and friends. All the twists and bends. Knowing that it ends. Well that depends on if they let you go. On if they know enough to know. That when yo've bowed. You leave the crowd. There was no pain. No fear, no doubt, till they pulled me out of Heaven. So that's my refrain. I live in Hell cause I've been expelled from Heaven. I think I was in Heaven. So give me something to sing about. Please. Give me something. Spike: Life's not a song. Life isn't bliss. Life is just this. It's living. You'll get along. The pain that you feel. You only can heal by living. You have to go on living, so one of us is living.
Dawn: The hardest thing in this world is to live in it.
Giles: If it was in the shop, then one of us probably...
Anya: Xander!
Xander: I just thought there was gonna be dances and songs.
Xander: Does this mean that I have to... be your queen?
Sweet: It's tempting. But I think we'll waive that clause just this once.
Sweet: Big smiles, everyone. You beat the bad guy.
Sweet: What a lot of fun. You guys have been real swell. And there's not a one who can say this ended well. All those secrets you've been concealing. Say you're happy now once more with feeling. Now I gotta run. See you all... in Hell!
Dawn: Where do we go from here?
Buffy/Spike: Where do we go... from here?
Giles: The battle's done and we kind of won.
Giles/Tara: So we sound our victory cheer. Where do we go from here?
Anya/Xander: Why is the path unclear. When we know home is near?
All: Understand we'll go hand in hand, but we'll walk along in fear.
Giles: Tell me!
All: Where do we go from here? When does the end appear?
Spike: Bugger this.
All: When do the trumpets cheer? The curtains close on a kiss, god knows, we can tell the end is near. Where do we go from here?
Buffy: I touch the fire and it freezes me.
Spike: I died...
Buffy: I look into it and it's black. This isn't real but I just wanna feel.
Spike: So many years ago, but you can make me feel.
*Big Ending Kiss*
All: Where do we go from here?
*Curtain Falls*