I admit I'm partial to Disney's "I Want" songs, and my favorite is "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella. What's both odd and brilliant about it is that Cinderella never directly tells you what she wants. People always assume she wanted a prince or at least to go to the ball, and while the latter is true, she sings this song before the ball's even announced. Your introduction to her via the number only tells you that she had a dream so wonderful, she won't dare share it because she believes it'll manifest itself somehow, and it's up to the audience to figure out from there what was it. I've seen people argue everything from marriage to merely escaping her hellhole of a life. The fact that we get a choral reprise of that song in the finale where all those things end up taking place at once indicates that technically everyone's right.
I think "Gimmie Gimmie" is my favorite "I Want" song and it defiantly breaks the mold of the classic "I Want" songs because it's the second to last number in "Millie" but that's when she finally realizes what she wants! And that is love!!!
Not For the Life of Me is her initial I want and then she has like 2 other ones when she keeps changing her mind like Jimmy or Forget About the Boy. Gimme Gimme is the 11 o'clock number when she finally makes up her mind
Oddly enough I would also argue she is a better protagonist too. In music man both Marian and Harold have I want songs that mirror each other’s but Marian has the better I want song(s) My white knight, goodnight my someone
Little Shop of Horrors is like this too. Seymour doesn’t really have an I Want song (maybe some parts of Skid Row count?) while Somewhere That’s Green is the I Want-iest song out there
Part of Your World is the one that does it for me. That song has changed my life and my career for the better in so many ways; I just have a really deep personal connection to that song. No, I'm not a mermaid, but I am a dreamer! Here's what the late, great Howard Ashman had to say about the song, as well as "I Want" Songs in general: _"In almost every musical ever written, there's a place that's usually about the third song of the evening - sometimes it's the second, sometimes it's the fourth, but it's quite early - and the leading lady usually sits down on something; sometimes it's a tree stump in Brigadoon, sometimes it's under the pillars of Covent Garden in My Fair Lady, or it's a trash can in Little Shop of Horrors... but the leading lady sits down on something and sings about what she wants in life. And the audience falls in love with her and then roots for her to get it for the rest of the night."_
My favorite I Want song is probably Santa Fe from Newsies, because it does not come at the beginning of the show, only right before intermission, (of course, there is the prologue where Jack sings with Crutchie) It's a gorgeous song and has such raw emotion to it and I really love it
I think it's interesting that in Jeanine Tesori's Fun Home there is no "I Want" song, it's been replaced with "He Wants," and considering the show is about a woman's struggle in understanding her dead father I think that's brilliant.
Both are amazing but I'd have to choose Room where it happens since it slowly builds up to what Burr wants and shows his realization of what he needs to do. My Shot is great but it's mostly a hype song since Hamilton already knows what he wants.
Fanny in Funny Girl gets two "I want" songs. One for her career aspirations ,"I'm the Greatest Star," and one for her romantic dreams, "Don't Rain on My Parade." Of course you need a huge talent to sell both numbers...oh yeah, I forgot for a moment.
"Tomorrow" is a hopeful song, not an "I Want" song. Annie's "I Want" song is "Maybe" because maybe now this prayer will be the last one of its kind... she wants parents who'll call her "baby"... maybe... "Tomorrow" is just an "Don't Worry, it'll be okay" song.
I love "Much More" from The Fantasticks, mainly because it's what the character *thinks* she wants at the beginning of the show, and the rest of the show is spent letting her discover that everything she sang about in the beginning is superficial.
I'm partial to The Music Man having had my own run as Harold Hill! Still one of my favorites 😁 Marian's "I want" songs are great: Goodnight My Someone, My White Knight, Will I Ever Tell You, and Till There Was You ❤️
This video is so great, keep it up! I'm loving your channel... I don't know if it's my favorite, but I absolutely love "Just Around the Riverband" from "Pocahontas".
Love your channel and videos! I feel like it's the only one that really caters to my obsession about musical theatre. I have a couple of I want songs....Opening Doors from Merrily We Roll Along, Out There from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Maybe from Annie, Part of Your World, This is the Moment from J&H, I'm the Greatest Star from Funny Girl, the Movie in My Mind from Miss Saigon, If I Were a Rich Man, Wouldn't It Be Loverly, the Impossible Dream, and more!
"Do we really have to follow the dramatic rules of dead men in togas?" My first thought: They weren't fucking togas!! (They were chitons, most likely.) Point, however, made.
I had that same thought. That said, we also don't usually have our actors masked, have more than three non-chorus members on stage at once (largely because there were usually only three non-chorus actors and they switched masks to play different characters), and otherwise break all kinds of their rules of drama. Theater has changed significantly since then. So... no, a post-modern ensemble cast musical is not likely to follow all the Ancient Greek rules.
Hi. I'm a New York scientist who happens to love theater. I've recently stumbled across your channel and I love your work. Last night I saw the Bronx Tale on Broadway and I found myself thinking, "He's the protagonist." Moments later..."this is his 'I want song.'" I saw the show in a whole new way. THANK YOU!!
"I'm gonna learn to read and write, I'm gonna see what there is to see....so if ya go from nowhere on the road to somewhere, and ya meet anyone ya know it's ME! I'm gonna move from place to place, and find a house with a golden stair...." I've always considered this the most obvious "I Want" song.
One of my favorite I want songs is “Dangerous to Dream”, from Frozen, because it’s described by the writers as an “I want” song for a character who’s not allowed to want anything,
I have kind of a top 3 for different reasons but not in an actual order 1. What You Want from Legally Blonde, its so energized and ambitious, but also it was the first show I was in a cast for so 2. Waving through a Window from DEH because it resonates so well with me especially with my anxiety and wondering if I matter 3. The I Love You Song from Putnam. While this might not seem like the obvious I want song. Olive seems to me like the protagonist, she has a clear main goal aside from winning the bee unlike the other contestants. And this somg demomstrates her wish to be a part of a happy family. It also just gets me really emo
So many good'uns... for some reason, the one that comes to mind at this moment is "Little Lamb" from Gypsy. Also I think "Now/Later/Soon" from A Little Night Music is pretty fantastic, but then, hey, it's Sondheim.
It can be argued that both 'Some People' and 'Everything's Coming up Rose's' are both Rose's 'I want' songs. Or it could even be argued that Rose's Turn could be her Want song. Rose's songs are about her and her dreams.
In Guys and Dolls, Sarah and Sky sing their "I Want" songs directly to each other as a duet-"I'll Know". Frank Loesser found the perfect medium to tell a love story.
You are more than a video on the internet. You mash musical theatre with great insight. You punctuate with humour the territory that leads to great success or the opposite. I marvel at your remarks. Your love of American Musical Theatre- - your thorough knowledge gives support to your lively opinions. Your Harold Hill was marvellous. I could droll for you.
So today we were talking about what genre a certain song was, and I said it was just a "showtune" and none of us could agree on a genre. So I looked up showtunes on wikipedia, the first link in the page was to an "I Want" Song. I said "what the fuck is that?", googled it, found this video, and learned a whole bunch! Thank you!
i think my favorite I Want Song is "I Wonder What The King Is Doing Tonight" from "Camelot". Also, I get the feeling "The Music Man" is one of your favorite musicals...it's one of mine too! Harold Hill and King Arthur are dream roles of mine!
Hey, you put it first thing in your video mon ami, Part of Your World. Yes if you really get down to it it's about an entitled human-fangirl mermaid princess who hoards human stuff, but... it's just so PWETTY :P Ariel's got another one in the Boradway version and I like that one too. Also, I kinda figured 'First Time in Forever' was the 'I Want' song for Anna, but I see where you're coming from. DYWBaS is all about Anna just wants her Sister to complay with her, but FTiF is about how she wants to get out, and then there's Let it Go... This might be a hard one to place as well. et's see what happens when the Broadway version comes about. I'm partial to I Want songs anyway, they're usually great for belting in the car. Non-Disney though can't go wrong with Wizard and I, and Who I'd Be from Shrek.
Oh my gosh I was JUST teaching this concept a few months ago - why did I not see these videos?! These are FABULOUS! (favorite "I Want" song ~ "Somewhere That's Green" :D)
I think my favourite "I Want" song would be "It Won't Be Long Now" from In The Heights. There are several theories as to who the true protagonist of In The Heights is, but I think it's Vanessa. In her "I Want" song, she doesn't actually say the words "I Want" but she makes it clear that what she wants most is to move out of the barrio. She talks about the elevated train, how she's grown used to the sounds it makes, but one day she'll be riding that train out of Washington Heights. She talks about the cat callers, and about the salon and how she doesn't like her pay. There are, arguably, other songs that express a character's wishes, but none quite as clearly as Vanessa's "It Won't Be Long Now". And if you've never listened to In The Heights, this comment seems like nonsense. Whoops.
Billy Bigelow's "Soliloquy" in "Carousel"--which doesn't come until the very end of Act I, because that's how long it take him to understand who he really wants to be. The way that we define the protagonist in non-musical theater is usually as the character who changes the most--or, if you don't believe that people really change, as the character whose opinions about the world change the most. That's why Juliet is the protagonist of "R&J," and Maria is the protagonist of "West Side Story."
I disagree with your analysis of Harold Hill. "Ya Got Trouble" and "76 Trombones" are "I want" songs with a very interesting twist. They're active "I want" songs rather than contemplative. Harold Hill is telling the audience what he wants (to swindle the people of River City) and doing it at the same time. That has a lot to do with the character's aggressive nature. He doesn't just dream about what he wants. He does it. My favorite "I want " song? "Some People" from "Gypsy".
Just as a fair warning, I'm going to be spoiling a bit of the musical Falsettos so, if you want to listen to the soundtrack and/or watch the recording, scroll past this comment My favourite 'I want' song is 'I Want A Tight-Knit Family' from Falsettos. My reasons for loving it comes down to it being an 'I want' song for our protagonist, Marvin, who doesn't actually deserve what he wants for reasons explained in this song and later songs in the show. Marvin reveals in this song that he wants a close family consisting of himself, his ex-wife who he divorced, his son who he left and his lover who he 1) left his wife and son for and 2) who he's wedging into a family that breaking apart anyways, effectively cracking it even more. The best part is that he doesn't actually ever get the tight-knit family due to his actions and selfishness (his wife marries his psychiatrist, his son lives with his mother and he broke up with his lover...over said lover winning a game of chess may I add). Admittedly, though, Marvin gets his lesson by the end of Act I and he gets a lot better in Act II...but life still shits on him anyways because 1980s was a pretty shitty time for gay men
I think For The First Time In Forever is the more traditional “I want” song from Frozen, though Do You Wanna Build a Snowman also shows Anna’s desire to connect with Elsa
In Drowsy Chaperone Janet Van De Graaff's "want song" is a "don't want" song: Show Off (I don't wanna "show off" no more) and it IS the third song in. She expresses her "want" by singing about what she doesn't want! lol
Hi! Thanks for an informative and insightful video! I don't agree that the "I Want" song always sung by the protagonist. The contagonist or even the antagonist can have it. For example, Fiddler on the Roof begin with "Tradition", an "I Am" song, as Tevye and the villagers reveal who they are, individually and collectively. The next song is "Matchmaker", where Tevye's daughters, Tzeitel, Hodel, and Chava, reveal that they want good husbands whom they love. In the next song, "If I Were a Rich Man", Teyve expresses his desire to be rich; you could call it an "I Want" or "I Wish" song. But does Teyve really WANT to be rich? No: it would be nice, but Teyve really wants good marriages for his daughters and a peaceful existence for his hometown. The trouble is, Teyve and his daughters have different ideas of what would make a good marriage, as illustrated by "Tradition" and "Matchmaker". I would say that Tevye is the protagonist and his three eldest daughters, each in turn, are the antagonists and/or the contagonists. (Then again, you could argue that each daughter is the protagonist of her own story and that Tevye is the antagonist, trying to hold to tradition.) In My Fair Lady, I believe Henry HIggins is the protagonist, Eliza is the antagonist, and Alfred, Eliza's father, is the contagonist. Henry sings "Why Can't the English?", an "I Am" song--Henry is a grammarian--but also an "I Want" song--Henry wants his countrymen to speak proper English. Then Eliza sings "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?"; she wants comfortable, decent living, and she wants love. Henry and Eliza have compatible goals, but not compatible styles or values, which leads to their clashing. Now an antagonist is not necessarily a villain, but s/he is someone who gives the protagonist the most grief, who stands in the protagonist's way the most. For example, in Camelot, Mordred is clearly the bad guy, but I would say Guinevere is the true antagonist who gives Arthur the most grief. Then again, you could argue that the main character is not necessarily the protagonist: we see mainly through the main character's POV, but the protagonist is the one who is fighting for a goal. As for The Music Man, you could argue that "76 Trombones" is Harold Hill's "I Want" song. Oh, yes, he's running a scam, but deep down, he really wants to form that boy's band.
BTW, a contagonist is the character who has the subplot or another storyline or thread, who could be for, against, or neutral toward the protagonist. A contagonist could also be sharing the protagonist's goal but having a different intent, interest, or point of view. Contagonists could offer conflict toward the protagonist but not the main conflict. (Different websites offer different definitions.) Contagonists could include Will in Oklahoma!, Carrie in Carousel, Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Tuptim in The King and I, Oliver Warbucks in Annie, Fagin or Nancy in Oliver!, Elsa Schraeder in The Sound of Music, and Tateh in Ragtime.
"Somewhere That's Green" is almost... well, no, it IS a cheesy parody of "I want" songs. But it works all the same, because Ellen Greene sings it with such absolute sincerity that even though her only aspiration is to achieve middle-class banality, by the end of the song you really want it *for* her.
It's probably a less obvious "I want Song," but I would say "Sit Down, John" by John Adams and cast in 1776. On a side note, my favorite "I want Song" from a deuteragonist (thanks for the word by the way) would be "Good Night My Someone" by Marian in 1776.
