Defying Gravity From the Broadway Musical “Wicked”

Defying Gravity

GLINDA

(Spoken)

Elphaba - why couldn't you have stayed calm for

once, instead of flying off the handle!

(Sung)

I hope you're happy!

I hope you're happy now

I hope you're happy how you

Hurt your cause forever

I hope you think you're clever!

ELPHABA

I hope you're happy

I hope you're happy, too

I hope you're proud how you

Would grovel in submission

To feed your own ambition

BOTH

So though I can't imagine how

I hope you're happy right now

GLINDA

(Spoken)

Elphie, listen to me. Just say you're sorry:

(Sung)

You can still be with the Wizard

What you've worked and waited for

You can have all you ever wanted:

ELPHABA

(Spoken)

I know:

(Sung)

But I don't want it -

No - I can't want it

Anymore:

Something has changed within me

Something is not the same

I'm through with playing by the rules

Of someone else's game

Too late for second-guessing

Too late to go back to sleep

It's time to trust my instincts

Close my eyes: and leap!

It's time to try

Defying gravity

I think I'll try

Defying gravity

And you can't pull me down!

GLINDA

Can't I make you understand?

You're having delusions of grandeur:

ELPHABA

I'm through accepting limits

'Cuz someone says they're so

Some things I cannot change

But till I try, I'll never know!

Too long I've been afraid of

Losing love I guess I've lost

Well, if that's love

It comes at much too high a cost!

I'd sooner buy

Defying gravity

Kiss me goodbye

I'm defying gravity

And you can't pull me down:

(Spoken)

Glinda - come with me. Think of what we could

do: together.

(Sung)

Unlimited

Together we're unlimited

Together we'll be the greatest team

There's ever been

Glinda -

Dreams, the way we planned 'em

GLINDA

If we work in tandem:

BOTH

There's no fight we cannot win

Just you and I

Defying gravity

With you and I

Defying gravity

ELPHABA

They'll never bring us down!

(Spoken) Well? Are you coming?

GLINDA

I hope you're happy

Now that you're choosing this

ELPHABA

(Spoken)

You too

(Sung)

I  hope it brings you bliss

BOTH

I really hope you get it

And you don't live to regret it

I hope you're happy in the end

I hope you're happy, my friend:

ELPHABA

So if you care to find me

Look to the western sky!

As someone told me lately:

"Everyone deserves the chance to fly!"

And if I'm flying solo

At least I'm flying free

To those who'd ground me

Take a message back from me

Tell them how I am

Defying gravity

I'm flying high

Defying gravity

And soon I'll match them in renown

And nobody in all of Oz

No Wizard that there is or was

Is ever gonna bring me down!

GLINDA

I hope you're happy!

CITIZENS OF OZ

Look at her, she's wicked!

Get her!

ELPHABA

:Bring me down!

CITIZENS OF OZ

No one mourns the wicked

So we've got to bring her

ELPHABA

Ahhh!

CITIZENS OF OZ

Down!

To What End? The Purpose of Our Relationships

I love the Broadway musical Wicked. For those readers unfamiliar with the story, it is based on the best-selling novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory McGuire which runs parallel to the classic novel by L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Wicked tells the story of Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West and her relationship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. Their friendship causes them to face their opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, their reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government and ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace. The plot is set mostly before Dorothy's arrival from Kansas and includes several references to well-known scenes and dialogue in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz as a back-story.

Wicked is running here in the Phoenix metro area at Tempe’s Gammage Auditorium throughout the month of July, 2009. Find out if Wicked is coming to your area and check this musical out. In the meantime, I wanted to share the lyrics to a song from Wicked. The song is sung between Elphaba and Glinda, just before the finale. I've shared the lyrics to Defying Gravity from Wicked in an earlier post.

For Good

(Elphaba)

I'm limited
Just look at me - I'm limited.
And just look at you
You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda.
So now it's up to you
For both of us - now it's up to you...

(Glinda)

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba)

It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a sky bird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

(Glinda)

Because I knew you
(Both) I have been changed for good

(Elphaba)

And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the thing I've done you blame me for

(Glinda)

But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share

(Both) And none of it seems to matter anymore

(Glinda)

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood

(Elphaba)

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood

(Both)

Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better

(Glinda)

And because I knew you...

(Elphaba)

Because I knew you...

(Both)

Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good.

This song has inspired me at a time when I have been feeling challenged by my relationships. Some of my relationships seem static and difficult. I have begun to wonder if it would be in the best interest of both of us to move along.

Bring On The Rain - Jo Dee Messina

This inspirational song by Jo Dee Messina has never failed to get my partner and I through some of our toughest times. To us, it is a song that testifies to one's strength.

Bring On The Rain

Another day has almost come and gone
Can’t imagine what else could wrong
Sometimes I’d like to hide away somewhere and lock the door
A single battle lost but not the war (’cause)

Tomorrow’s another day
And I’m thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain

It’s almost like the hard times circle ’round
A couple drops and they all start coming down
Yeah, I might feel defeated,
I might hang my head
I might be barely breathing - but I’m not dead

Tomorrow’s another day
And I’m thirsty anyway
So bring on the rain

I’m not gonna let it get me down
I’m not gonna cry
And I'm not gonna loose any sleep tonight