I love watching shows on Broadway and listening to Broadway songs. I especially love when I am listening to a song and realize that I can relate to it. Here are a few Broadway songs that I find to be pretty relatable!
Of all the Broadway songs I like, I have always been extremely fond of the song Nobody's Side from the musical Chess. This song is about love that has turned sour. The singer sings about how you can never fully trust anyone. "Never take a stranger's advice, never let a friend fool you twice. Never be the first to believe, never be the last to deceive." She is a skeptic and has learned that to not be hurt, you must guard your heart. But in addition to guarding your heart, she says that you also shouldn't waste opportunities to live -- "Never leave a moment too soon, never waste a hot afternoon." I love the balance this song shows about how you should live life by both taking risks at times, but protecting your heart at others.
I love this song from Fiddler on the Roof. The young girl is singing about how she doesn't want to leave home when she marries, but in the end she realizes that her new home is with her the man she loves. "Who could imagine I'd be wandering so far from the home I love? Yet, there with my love, I'm home." Definitely relatable for some of us!
If you've ever seen the Broadway performance of Wicked, you will recall Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) feels ugly and unfit compared to Glinda (the Good Witch). Elphaba thus sings a song about a boy she wants to be with (who seems to like Glinda) and how he could be the perfect guy for her, but unfortunately, she doesn't think she is the perfect girl for him -- "He could be that boy. I'm not that girl."
The song A Change in Me from Beauty and the Beast is about how Belle realizes that her hopes and dreams change as she matures. "And I never thought I'd leave behind my childhood dreams, but I don't mind. For now I love the world I see. No change of heart; a change in me." This is relatable as we all change as we grow older.
This song from Bye Bye Birdie is so light and cute! It is about a girl growing older and changing from a girl to a woman. "When you're a skinny child of fourteen, wide with braces from ear to ear, you doubt that you will ever be appealing. Then Hallelujah! You are fifteen, and the braces disappear and your skin is smooth and clear and you have that happy grown-up female feeling." I love this song, because it's so relatable for so many of us!
This song from Grease is very relatable, as the girl singing it is talking about how even though she makes mistakes, there are always worse things she could do. "There are worse things I could do, than go with a boy or two." We all make mistakes, but there are almost always worse things we can be doing with our lives. Somewhat controversial, but very relatable!
Most everyone feels invisible at times. The song Mr. Cellophane from Chicago is sung by a man who feels like everyone gets noticed except for him. "And even without clucking like a hen, everyone gets noticed, now and then, unless of course, that personage should be invisible, inconsequential me." I know I can relate to this song at times!
Have you ever heard any of these songs and been able to relate to them? What other Broadway songs can you relate to?