I’m Not That Girl vs For Good

One of the powerful things about the musical, Wicked belongs to the songs alone. It even has the kind of score that I look for- the combo of positive and negative emotions. It has the heartbreaking “I’m Not That Girl” (which started out as no more than a sad song) and the bittersweet “For Good” Those are the two songs that made me realize sad was a musical theatre emotion. So, what of those two is exactly the MOST emotional?

I’m Not That Girl- possible spoilers

Well, from just glance, you would think this is the most emotional. I’m Not That Girl is an unrequited love song- true, it is a heartbreaking love song, but also ironic. Little does Elphaba know that she will get Fiyero in the end- the irony behind I’m Not That Girl. It is true——I had originally thought the song was sad (not heartbreaking)- but I knew the song was deepening. I had to discover the emotion, heartbreak first, and another song had to help it (as in a stronger and more powerful unrequited love song). It was On My Own that finally made me realize I’m Not That Girl was an unrequited love song, and memorizing the lyrics saw me see even more insight in the song

For Good

This is the more emotional song in Wicked. Yes, it is a bittersweet song—–a powerful one that centers on our two protagonists. Elphaba and Glinda have a powerful and beautiful friendship- they even wouldn’t let a boy get in the way. The most important person in their lives belongs to each other- Glinda was Elphaba’s only friend and Elphaba was the only friend that truly mattered in Glinda’s life.

The center core of Wicked is between Glinda and Elphaba- their friendship. That is why For Good is the most emotional song in the show- the last moment the two friends will see each other, and are able to say that they mattered to each other

First Unrequited Love Song I Fell in Love With

As known by musical theatre fans, a common theme is ROMANCE. Plus, we also know that there are love triangles, which results in one character dealing with the pain and heartbreak of unrequited love. As a result, we see several responses with some being poor and some being good. Plus, we also love the incredible unrequited love songs. So, what was the first unrequited love song I fell in love with?

I’m Not That Girl (possible major spoilers)

Wicked is home to one of the most complex love triangles. ” I’m Not That Girl” was one of the first sad songs I fell in love with. True, I originally called this song just a sad song—-not a heartbreaking love song. But it still is an unrequited love song. It is originally sung by Elphaba, who gets the full version. “I’m Not That Girl” is one of the songs that made the emotion of sad come to the forefront for musicals. Do you know what made me realize “I’m Not That Girl” was an unrequited love song and heartbreaking? Well, it ended up being “On My Own” from Les Mis due to the fact that both songs are about the same thing. At the same time, memorizing the lyrics made me look deeper into the song (as in seeing some insight, as in aspects beyond the unrequited love).

Crazily enough, the song is ironic——little does she know, she will get Fiyero in the end. Meaning Glinda will eventually get the unrequited love. Their responses to the unrequited love show how far they will go to keep their friendship alive (as in will they let a boy get between them). Well, they BOTH decide not to steal him away from each other.

Only Romance Numbers of Musical Theatre

In the world of musical theatre, we experience a variety of emotions. They are known to be emotional, but each one takes you on a different emotional journey. There are five core emotions- excitement, joy, love, sad, and heartbreak (while the other sprout from those). Romance is known to be one of the most common themes- shown either in the form of a couple or a love triangle.

Romantic Songs- Including Breakup and Unrequited Love

1. As Long as Your’e Mine
2. I’m Not That Girl
3. A Heart Full of Love
4. On My Own
5. All I Ask of You
6. Something Good
7. Sixteen Going on Seventeen
8. Ten Minutes Ago
9. People Will Say We’re in Love
10. Some Enchanted Evening
11. This Nearly Was Mine
12. Younger Than Springtime
13. As Long as He Needs Me
14. Something There
15. Beauty and the Beast
16. If I Can’t Love Her
17. Evermore
18. A Whole New World
19. A Million Miles Away
20. Can You Feel the Love Tonight
21. Something to Believe In
22. Till There Was You
23. I Should Tell You
24. Light My Candle
25. I’ll Cover You
26. Rewrite the Stars
27. Tonight
28. One Hand, One Heart
29. Somewhere

Conclusion

As you can notice from the list above, there is a LOT of romance songs in musical theatre. Some musicals are love stories and some musicals have romance as a subplot.

Empty Chairs at Empty Tables Analysis

This Marius’ solo in Les Mis, and happens after the uprising.

There’s a grief that can’t be spoken
There’s a pain goes on and on
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone

Here they talked of revolution
Here it was they lit the flame
Here they sang about tomorrow
And tomorrow never came

From the table in the corner
They could see a world reborn
And they rose with voices ringing
And I can hear them now

The very words that they had sung
Became their last communion
On this lonely barricade
At dawn

Oh my friends, my friends forgive me
That I live and you are gone
There’s a grief that can’t be spoken
There’s a pain goes on and on

Phantom faces at the window
Phantom shadows on the floor
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will meet no more

Oh my friends, my friends
Don’t ask me what your sacrifice was for
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will sing no more

Joshua Grosso (Empty Chairs at Empty Tables)

This song is quite devastating in so many ways. Marius is the only survivor of the barricades- he had to lose all of his friends during the uprising. In the song, he is dealing with survivor’s guilt. All he has left in his life is Cosette, the love of his life. He doesn’t understand why he lives and why all of his friends are gone. So much trauma he had to face. In the song, you really did to see just how unsuccessful the uprising was- considering that only Marius lived. Marius, as a matter of fact, is my favorite survivor from Les Mis.

The Beauty of Negative Emotions

There are five core emotions in musical theatre, which are excitement, love, joy, sad, and heartbreak. As a matter of fact, the negative emotions have beauty, which is hard to think about. But why, exactly?

The Reasoning

Most of the time, sad loves to be in the form of heartbreak. Heartbreak isn’t just part of tragic musicals, but in happy musicals as well. Heartbreak ends up existing in some of the most beautiful songs—–there are various ways they exist in here—–unrequited love, death, survivor’s quilt, broken dreams, etc……But, why all the beauty?

For one thing, there are many wonderful ways to express those emotions. Through word, obviously, but you can express them more beautifully through song. Though some of those ways did surprise me, glad I learned- never did I once think heartbreak would happen at a death scene. If it didn’t, there might be a chance death scenes would still be unmemorable and not moving. The beautiful nature of heartbreak comes from how it is expressed and how you are feeling it.

Musicals with Heartbreak

1. CATS
2. Newsies
3. Frozen
4. Lion King
5. Beauty and the Beast
6. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
7. South Pacific
8. Fiddler on the Roof
9. Wicked
10. Man of La Mancha
11. Miss Saigon
12. West Side Story
13. Phantom of the Opera
14. Rent
15. Les Mis

All the ones above have heartbreak in at least one or more of their songs. Frozen did make one mistake- “True Love”, its heartbreaking love song, used to be in the Broadway Musical, but got kicked out when the tour started, but will always see it as part of the musical.