It is from the musical "Seesaw." The music is by Cy Coleman. The lyrics are by Dorothy Fields.
http://www.geocities.com/thornwyckwomen/Seesaw.html It's Not Where You Start (It's Where You Finish)
Music by Cy Coleman
Lyrics by Dorothy Fields
If you start at the top, you're certain to drop.
You've got to watch your timing;
Better begin by climbing up, up, up the ladder.
If you're going to last, you can't make it fast, man,
Nobody starts a winner, give me a slow beginner.
Easy does it my friend, conserve your fine endurance,
Easy does it my friend, for that's your life insurance.
It's not where you start, it's where you finish,
It's not how you go, it's how you land.
A hundred to one shot, they call him a klutz,
Can outrun the fav'rite, all he needs is the guts.
Your final return will not diminish,
And you can be cream of the crop.
It's not where you start, it's where you finish,
And you're gonna finish on top.
The Story:
Jerry Ryan, a simple, handsome, young lawyer from America's Midwest, comes to New York where he gets involved in a romance with a kookie, young dancer whose background, ideas and attitudes are completely different from his own. This is Gittel Mosca - and the two keep in touch by telephone. They meet and part through that medium. (The original play, on which this musical adaptation was based, was originally a two-hander.)
Gittel introduces Jerry to all aspects of her life in New York, peopled as it is with strange and wonderful characters from every part of the globe. Jerry finds himself outside X-rated cinemas marquees in Times Square and is propositioned by Eighth Avenue hookers.
There are compensatory tender moments for Gittel and Jerry at Lincoln Center. And other bizarre events? How about a performance of Hamlet by a mobile street theatre - in the original Puerto Rican? Gittel has a close friend, David, as aspiring choreographer who dreams up the ultimate Broadway production number.
Sadly the relationship between Jerry and Gittel fails in the end to lead anything more permanent. But both have learned things about themselves and about their emotional hang-ups - and also about New York, that very special and exciting city.
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