Twenty of My Favourite Musical Songs

So, guys, I mentioned in my last post that I was going to go on a two week hiatus…Well, the time has come, this is going to be my last post until the 21st. I’m going to have a lovely holiday and hopefully finish off my rewrite of Rose Mask and get some more outlining in before Camp NaNo (*distant screams*).

However, today I’m going to talk to you about twenty of my favourite musical songs. I literally have so many more favourites than I’ve listed here, but…we could be here forever if it was a post just about my favourite songs, so I’ve narrowed the list down to twenty. They aren’t in any particular order, this is just me writing them down as they’ve come to me…

So enjoy!

• Lothlorien (The Lord of the Rings). My current musical obsession is The Lord of the Rings, which is, simply put, awesome (go listen to it right now). Lothlorien is one of the prettiest tracks in the whole thing, and it features Legolas and Galadriel singing about Lothlorien. Legolas has a beautiful voice too. Go listen to it.

 

• Now and For Always (The Lord of the Rings). This song…*breaks into sobs* This is Frodo and Sam’s song, and it’s basically the sweetest song to ever grace the musical industry. It’s so simple and heartfelt and it’s exactly what Frodo and Sam would say to each other.

• All I Ask of You (The Phantom of the Opera). I’m not really a “romantic”, so romance songs tend to grate on my nerves, but I really like this one. I love the simplicity of their requests “love me, that’s all I ask of you”, and it really helps to show the sacrificial love Raoul and Christine feel for each other. It doesn’t come across as forced or sappy, like most love songs (in my opinion) do. Also, Raoul and Christine have known each other for years, and they didn’t just met randomly on the street and pledge never dying love to each other (*cough* Marius *cough* Cosette).

 

• Wishing you Were Somehow Here Again (The Phantom of the Opera). This is a love song of a different kind. It’s Christine singing of her love for her father and trying to reconcile herself with his death. It’s heartfelt and tear jerking and makes me just want to cry with Christine forever.

 

• I Can’t Recall (A Tale of Two Cities). I like this song because it is the first time Sydney Carton realises that he doesn’t have to be the way he is. In his first solo, Reflection, he resigns himself to be a cynical, dissatisfied drunk for the rest of his life, but in I Can’t Recall, Lucie’s care and concern for him has dragged him out of that hole, and he realises that “tomorrow’s at my feet” to do with as his pleases, to change or stay the same. It’s the turning point in his arc, he doesn’t immediately get better, but in this song he takes the first steps.

 

• In A Crowd of Thousands (Anastasia). I’m not quite sure whether this counts as a love song or not, but it’s still really cute. Dmitry comforts Anya after a nightmare by telling her about a parade he saw once as a ten year old boy, where he met the Grand Duchess Anastasia, as he tells her this story, she gradually begins to remember the same event. The last words are “Your Highness”, and Dmitry kneels down in front of Anya and my little heart does a big flip…yep. I like this song. 
• If Dreams Came True (A Tale of Two Cities). Another super cool song from A Tale of Two Cities, in this one Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton sing together, contrasting their lives, Charles thanking God for the blessings of his wife and his daughter, and Sydney reflecting that his dreams have never come true, but that maybe one day they will.

 

• Finale/I Can’t Recall Reprise (A Tale of Two Cities). And this one directly ties into the first two. This is the world’s most heartbreaking finale, in which Sydney can’t recall anything ever being so beautiful, and in which his dreams finally come true. *more distant sobbing*

 

• In My Dreams (Anastasia). I just love the music in this one, and Anya’s irrepressible enthusiasm and hope in life!

• The Neva Flows (Anastasia). This one is intense. That’s really all there is to say about it. And it has beautiful, haunting  music and Ramin Karimloo’s voice is amazing too.

 

• The Neva Flows/ Still Reprise (Anastasia). This is the reprise to The Neva Flows and it’s even more intense because Gleb and Anya yell at each other and then cry. And I get all wound up and then cry too.

 

• Learn to Do It (Anastasia). The Anastasia music is out in full force. I like this one just because it’s super fun and kinda silly. It takes place when Dmitry and Vlad attempt to teach Anya how to be a princess, and then they get shouted at. That’s an accurate summary of all 4:08 minutes of it.

 

• Donnez, Donnez (Les Miserables). This is from the Original French Concept album version of Les Mis and it’s awesome. It’s similar to Look Down, having the same music and general lay out, but it’s much longer, has an awesome Gavroche who sings a whole lot more in the French than in the English version.

• Les Amis de l’abc (Les Miserables). Again, this is from the French version and it’s also awesome. Has cooler music, and a cool Enjolras too.

 

• Look Down (Les Miserables). Probably one of my favourite songs in Les Mis. There’s so much emotion in this song, so much anger and there’s Gavroche and cool music. It’s a complete win.

 

• On My Own (Les Miserables). Sweet, heartbreaking and makes me so, so sad for Eponine. I also love the music and it’s a song that I can sing really well (it’s perfect for my range and voice style) so that’s awesome too. Next to Look Down, and A Little Fall of Rain this is my favourite Les Mis song.

• Le Mort De Gavroche (Les Miserables). There’s something awesome about the French Les Mis which the English version never managed to capture. This title translates as “The Death of Gavroche” and the song is every bit as traumatic the title suggests. It’s so, so sad, especially the phrase that says (paraphrased) “Give, give, my cap to my friends/ It’s all I have and I don’t need it now”. Well, I didn’t need a heart either.

 

• Wonder (The Lord of the Rings). Another Lord of the Rings song. This one is situated more towards the end of the musical and it’s Galadriel’s lament for the inevitable fall of Lothlorien. It’s sad and haunting, but hopeful.

 

• Santa Fe (Newsies). Who hasn’t ever felt the need to get away? To become someone new and different and to escape? Probably we all have at one time or another, and Santa Fe captures those feelings in 3:12 minutes. I love the raw emotion you can hear in Jack’s voice as he sings this, no matter which version you listen to, and the desperation and sadness.

• Finale (Les Miserables). This list would not be complete without this song, which is the second saddest Finale in the history of musicaldom. But it’s also ultimately hopeful and beautiful, even though the world’s fallen apart and everyone’s dead, hope still exists and there’s a new life for all those who have died.

 

Also, in other exciting news, I asked you guys about doing a blog serial story and some of you were super enthusiastic, so I am now (semi-)officially announces that the first chapter of Kameradschaft will be premiering sometime around the 26th July! I know it’s a long time to wait, but I have to do a few more line edits and polish it up a bit before then.

What are some of your favourite musical songs? Are any of my favourites yours too? What’s one underrated musical you think should get more attention?