Broadway Songs with twist endings

[daveinlaca]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 9:44am

Wondering if anyone can think of musical theatre songs that have twist endings in their lyrics. Where the meaning of the words change as the song goes on or it becomes clear at the end that the character was singing about something or someone else. A few examples that come to mind are “Someone Else’s Story” from Chess and “If You Could See Her” from Cabaret. Even the ending of the song “I’ll be Here” from Ordinary Days, where the lyrics don’t change but the words “I’ll be here” take on a different context at the end. Thank you!

[n2nbaby]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 11:50am

While it isn’t a “twist,” the first thing that came to mind was Days and Days from Fun Home.

Helen sings, “don’t you come back here” and as an audience member, you think it is because she is disapproving of Allison’s homosexuality. There is a pause and she says “I didn’t raise you to give away your days like me.” What a heartbreaking, gorgeous moment.

[hork]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 12:01pm

What's the twist in "Someone Else's Story"?

[amaklo]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 12:09pm

Who's That Woman? from Follies.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 12:20pm

“Could I Leave You” from Fillies! First time I heard it I thought she was going to say “yes!” but she doesn’t.

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 12:30pm

I think there's a lot more mid-song twists, where the double entendre of a lyric is given away. Like "You and Me... but Mostly Me" from Book of Mormon or "We're Just Friends... With Benefits" from I Love You Because.

[Withonelook2]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 12:52pm

Ms Marmelstein from I Can Get It for You Wholsale

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 12:52pm

"All You Wanna Do" from Six came to mind - the words don't change that much, but the character's outlook about them sure does.  Also, "You Don't Know - Reprise" from Next to Normal ends with the sudden realization about how much Dan and Diana are really sharing with each other.

[GlenCoco]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 1:30pm

Me and the sky from come from away for sure

 

end tugs at your heart strings

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 2:11pm

Would “Popular” from WICKED count? Glinda builds up Elphaba’s confidence through the song but ends with “Just not quite as popular as me.”  

[superiska123]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 4:40pm

PatrickDC said: "Would “Popular” from WICKED count? Glinda builds up Elphaba’s confidence through the song but ends with “Just not quite as popular as me.” "

This is interesting, because I always thought that was just a tongue-in-cheek line intended for the audience. I didn't consider it to have any meaning beyond that. But this is an interesting way to look at it, thanks for mentioning it!

[musikman]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 4:52pm

I feel like “Nothing” from Chorus Line is the prototype for this.

[poisonivy2]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 6:44pm

Brigadoon's "The Love of My Life" is very different from what the title would suggest.

"For Forever" in DEH takes on a different meaning once you find out what really happened with Evan and the tree.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 7:18pm

A recent one that comes to mind is "Why I Love Football" from Scotland, PA.  "Nobody Needs to Know" from Last Five Years has a bit of a twist at the beginning since you assume he's talking to Cathy.  "Simple" from Anyone Can Whistle" is just a bonkers song that has a number of twists and turns.  "Gussie's Opening Number" also has a bit of a twist at the end that reveals the actual setting for that number.

[ajh]

Posted: 4/5/20 at 10:37pm

Technically an Off-Broadway song, but ‘Stars And The Moon’ from Jason Robert Brown’s SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD has a great, heartcatching twist. She sings throughout about all the trappings of an affluent, jet-setting life, only to come to the realisation that “my God, I’ll never have the moon.”

Gets me every time, but especially when it’s Audra. 

[another sloe eyed vamp]

Posted: 4/6/20 at 9:39am

Oklahoma, from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. The twist is not entirely at the end; the whole song goes gradually in an unexpected direction, but the last line really makes it.

To some extent, Great Big Stuff has a twist right after the intro - you think it's going to be a lovely Robert Goulet-type ballad, and then it turns into a pretty vulgar rap.

Given the plot of the show, those make so much sense.

 

 

[PutonyourWarPaint]

Posted: 4/6/20 at 9:45am

You're all really going to skip a 13 minute song where a rough n tumble leading man sings about having a boy...only 11 minutes in does he realize it could be a girl....

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/6/20 at 10:12am

Glenn Close modulating down in “With One Look.”

[goodlead]

Posted: 4/6/20 at 12:08pm

"Chrysanthemum Tea" from "Pacific Overtures."

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 4/6/20 at 6:16pm

Off-broadway but "Starsong" from ONE WAY TICKET TO BROADWAY. A completely earnest song about wishing on a star, with these final lines:

"In this city on the clearest of nights

I search the skies in vain

cause no matter what you do

your wishes won't come true

when you wish upon.. a plane"