(This is not really a great video; the last minute and a half of this is not, in fact, “If I Said I Love You.” I thought I’d have this problem at some point, and I’m pleasantly surprised it took this long. Go find it on Spotify.) Honorable mentions: “I’ll Be There,” “Here on this… Read More Songs from Musicals: #20, “If I Said I Love You,” from The Pirate Queen
Honorable mentions: “Too Many Mornings,” “You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow/Love Will See Us Through” I’ve already talked about Follies at some length on this blog, back before I started this little series. Then I was working with “Losing My Mind,” which is one of the key songs from this musical, and which is not unlike “One… Read More Songs from Musicals: #21, “One More Kiss,” from Follies
A few posts ago, when I was talking about “Til I Hear You Sing” from Love Never Dies, I called Anthony Warlow “the absolute best male voice on Broadway in the past fifty years.” This is one heck of a claim, because I’m not actually an authoritative source on these things, and because there are a lot… Read More Songs from Musicals: #22, “Confrontation,” from Jekyll & Hyde
Honorable mentions: “But, Mr. Adams,” “Cool, Cool Considerate Men” There was a musical about the Founding Fathers years before Hamilton was dreamed of; heck, it was first performed more than ten years before Lin-Manuel Miranda was born. And in these rankings, a song from 1776 outshines a song from Hamilton, and a little balance is restored to the universe. The… Read More Songs from Musicals: #23, “Molasses to Rum,” from 1776
Honorable mentions: “Say No to This,” “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?” My original plan was to write this entry from Hamilton about “Say No to This.” Look, I even got this much of it done: Long version: Okay, so everyone knows that scene near the end of The Shawshank Redemption where Andy has just… Read More Songs from Musicals: #24, “Burn,” from Hamilton
Honorable mentions: “Tevye’s Dream,” “Tradition” The bottle dance from Fiddler on the Roof is about as Jewish as eating Chinese food on Christmas, which is to say there’s nothing inherently Jewish about it, but if you watch enough late 20th Century media on the topic, you’d certainly think it was. It hurts a little not… Read More Songs from Musicals: #25, “Bottle Dance,” from Fiddler on the Roof
Honorable mentions: “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream,” “I Believe” Do you guys remember when The Book of Mormon was changing Broadway? And then Hamilton came along and everything changed? Gosh, we were not prepared. Speaking of Hamilton, Andrew Rannells came on Broadway for a couple months to fill in for Jonathan Groff as King George in… Read More Songs from Musicals: #26 “All-American Prophet,” from The Book of Mormon
Honorable mentions: “Tower of Babble,” “Bless the Lord” Unless I discover that Boublil and Schonberg stole a theme from “Mars, the Bringer of War” or something, I’m willing to bet that this is the highest-rated song with roots in Gustav Holst. Virtually every sung lyric in this song is originally found in the lyrics by… Read More Songs from Musicals: #27, “Turn Back, O Man,” from Godspell
Honorable mentions: “Many a New Day,” “It’s a Scandal! It’s an Outrage!” There’s a 12-step program out there for people who are addicted to male solos from musicals, and I don’t know where it is yet, but I’m starting to worry that I need to find it and join it. It’s hard not to feel… Read More Songs from Musicals: #28, “Lonely Room,” from Oklahoma!
Honorable mentions: “No One Is Alone,” “Giants in the Sky” The farther away from my English degree I get, and the longer I spend teaching English, the more I find myself thinking about genre. This is one of my great weaknesses, a reason why I don’t intend to go back to school for an English… Read More Songs from Musicals: #29, “Children Will Listen,” from Into the Woods
Seeing Things Secondhand 