Their the best ballads to ever grace Broadway. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most beautiful Broadway slow jams in history.
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00:00 "He took my childhood and his stride!"
00:07 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most beautiful Broadway
00:11 slow jams in history.
00:13 "I don't know how to take this.
00:21 I don't see why he moves me."
00:27 Number 10.
00:28 "Somewhere That's Green" - Little Shop of Horrors
00:31 "A matchbox of horror.
00:34 A fence.
00:36 A frilled chain link."
00:40 A melody so beautiful, Alan Menken used it a second time.
00:44 "Somewhere That's Green" sounds an awful lot like another of Menken's collaborations
00:48 with Howard Ashman.
00:49 "Part of that world."
00:50 In fact, it's so similar to the Little Shop of Horrors track that the duo apparently
01:04 nicknamed it "Somewhere That's Wet."
01:06 Either way, we've got to give it up for the original.
01:08 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
01:12 for a regular old happy life.
01:14 "There's plastic on the furniture to keep it neat and clean.
01:22 In the pine-salt-scented air, somewhere that's green."
01:31 The quintessential "I want" song, "Somewhere That's Green" has a stunning melody.
01:35 It's one of the most gorgeous, earnest songs in a show that's full of darkly comedic moments.
01:40 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
01:47 for a regular old happy life.
01:49 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
01:53 for a regular old happy life.
01:54 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
01:55 for a regular old happy life.
01:56 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
01:57 for a regular old happy life.
01:58 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
01:59 for a regular old happy life.
02:00 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
02:01 for a regular old happy life.
02:02 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
02:03 for a regular old happy life.
02:04 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
02:10 for a regular old happy life.
02:11 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
02:12 for a regular old happy life.
02:13 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
02:14 for a regular old happy life.
02:15 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
02:16 for a regular old happy life.
02:17 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
02:18 for a regular old happy life.
02:19 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
02:20 for a regular old happy life.
02:21 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
02:22 for a regular old happy life.
02:23 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
02:45 for a regular old happy life.
02:46 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire for
02:47 a regular old happy life.
02:48 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire for
02:49 a regular old happy life.
02:50 "Somewhere That's Green" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire for
02:51 a regular old happy life.
02:52 "Somehow Somehow Let's Begin" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her
02:53 desire for a regular old happy life.
02:54 "Somehow Somehow Let's Begin" is sung by the character of Audrey as she discusses her desire
02:55 for a regular old happy life.
02:59 With music that's almost overwhelmingly melodic, the original production had a 15-piece orchestra
03:04 that brought to life songs like this stunning duet.
03:15 Number 8.
03:16 "I Know Him So Well" by Chess
03:24 If there's one thing those ABBA boys know how to do, it's write a good ballad that makes
03:28 a crossover hit.
03:30 Chess might not be as popular as their other musical Mamma Mia!, but it does have a number
03:35 of amazing ballads.
03:36 Anthem and Someone Else's Story could have easily made this list.
03:53 But we love a power ballad, and I Know Him So Well might have the most power of any ballad
03:57 we've ever heard.
03:58 "Fantasy and freedom, I know him so well."
04:08 The duet has two women singing about the man they love, but for different reasons.
04:13 The verses have them singing about their own emotions, and then the choruses bring them
04:16 together for a rousing climax.
04:18 "It took time to understand him.
04:22 I know him so well."
04:34 Number 7.
04:35 "Memory" by Katz
04:49 Singing about Andrew Lloyd Webber's cats is a little bit silly, but between all the songs
04:53 that are essentially just cats introducing themselves, there's Memory.
04:57 Say what you will about the content of the musical, but this song is one of the best
05:00 ballads out there, in connection to the theater or otherwise.
05:04 "Someone mutters, and the street lamps sputters, and soon it will be more."
05:16 "Memory, all alone in the moonlight.
05:23 I can smile at the old age.
05:38 I was beautiful then."
05:43 The high, lilting melody eventually transitions into something so deeply, strongly emotional,
05:48 it's impossible not to be moved.
05:50 You may even find yourself humming the tune a few hours later.
05:53 Don't worry, us too.
05:59 "Look, a new day."
06:07 Number 6.
06:08 "Used to be mine, Waitress"
06:20 It's hard to get a relatively new Broadway ballad into the pantheon of the best ballads
06:24 ever, but back in 2016, Sara Bareilles did it.
06:28 The musical Waitress benefits heavily from Bareilles' penchant for melody and shore pen.
06:32 "She is messy, but she's kind.
06:38 She is lonely, oh, still the time."
06:44 All the songs are great, but the best of the bunch has to be "She Used to Be Mine."
06:48 The song comes at a turning point for our main character Jenna, who finds herself pregnant
06:52 and stuck in an abusive marriage.
06:54 "Who was reckless, just enough.
06:57 Who gives her, but who learns how to toughen up."
07:06 There's a complexity to the ballad as Jenna laments her old life and contemplates her
07:10 uncertainty about the baby inside of her.
07:12 Bareilles handles all those nuances with grace, and we ended up with a song that gives us
07:17 goosebumps every time.
07:18 "She is all of us, mixed up and baked in a beautiful pie.
07:27 She is gone, but she used to be."
07:33 Number 5.
07:34 I Dreamed a Dream - Les Miserables "I dreamed a dream in time gone by.
07:41 When hope was high and life worth living."
07:48 Sometimes you've got to go back to the classics.
07:51 Les Miserables is the first musical that a lot of budding theater kids become aware of,
07:55 and many of those kids spend their younger days belting those Les Miserables ballads
07:59 out in their bedrooms.
08:01 Some of us might have a fondness for On My Own, but there's a clear winner here.
08:05 "Without me, his world would go on turning.
08:10 A world that's full of happiness that I have never known."
08:19 Since the very first time Les Miserables took the stage, I Dreamed a Dream has been rising
08:23 to iconic status.
08:27 "With their voices so deep, I know as they tear your dreams apart."
08:40 Despite how specific Fontein's situation is, the song has a very simple melody and outsized
08:45 emotions, making it an easy one for anyone to latch onto.
08:48 "I had a dream my life would be so different from this, how I'm living."
08:58 Number 4.
08:59 I Am Changing - Dream Girls
09:01 "Look at me, I am changing."
09:17 There are plenty of ballads in Dream Girls that tug at our heartstrings, but this one
09:21 makes us smile, too.
09:25 "I am changing, seeing everything so clear."
09:34 Effie, the main character in the musical, has a terribly hard time throughout the first
09:39 act of the show.
09:40 She's pregnant, Curtis has left her behind, and she's been kicked out of the Dreamettes.
09:44 But I Am Changing comes at a moment in the second act when she's able to get her feet
09:48 back under her.
09:49 "All those years of darkness could make a person blind, but now I can see."
09:59 The song's lyrics are filled with such hope for the future while never letting go of the
10:03 pain of the past.
10:05 It's more of an upbeat ballad than most, but that accelerated rhythm matches the joyousness
10:09 of the song.
10:10 "Nothing's gonna stop me now."
10:25 Number 3.
10:26 The Music of the Night - The Phantom of the Opera
10:29 "Silently the senses abandon their defenses."
10:38 Listen, if Michael Crawford sang this to us, we might join him in his underground lair,
10:44 too.
10:45 The Phantom of the Opera is one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's most well-known musicals,
10:48 and The Music of the Night might be its biggest hit.
10:51 "Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light, and listen to the music of the night."
11:07 Webber was at his best when he wrote this one, with its dynamic changes in soaring melody.
11:12 But this really is a singer's song, and those who have tackled it over the years have ranged
11:17 from Ramin Karimloo to Barbara Streisand.
11:20 There's so much life in this song, especially in those upper register moments.
11:23 "Let your soul take you where you long to be."
11:37 It's no wonder we keep coming back to it time and time again.
11:54 2.
11:55 Somewhere - West Side Story "There's a place for us.
12:05 Somewhere, a place for us."
12:11 You know, we might never forgive Steven Spielberg for hitting us with that surprise Rita Moreno
12:15 moment in the new West Side Story.
12:17 No one likes to be caught off guard crying like that.
12:20 There are a couple of beautiful ballads to choose from in West Side Story.
12:24 Sorry to all the Tonight fans out there, but Somewhere has always been an instant classic.
12:29 "Somewhere, we'll find a new way of living.
12:36 We'll find a way of forgiving."
12:43 Leonard Bernstein's melody and Stephen Sondheim's simple lyrics combine to create something truly
12:48 special.
12:49 Somewhere is an anthem of hope and peace, and even though Tony and Maria don't necessarily
12:54 get that peace, it's easy to believe they will listening to the song.
13:09 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
13:12 The I Love You Song, the 25th annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
13:16 A trio we'll never get out of our heads.
13:25 One Song Glory, Rent.
13:27 A rockin' ballad for the ages.
13:40 As Long As He Needs Me, Oliver.
13:43 Every song of love makes us weep every time.
14:01 Joanna - Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
14:04 We feel this ballad in our bones.
14:15 As If We Never Said Goodbye, Sunset Boulevard.
14:18 Norma Desmond Takes
14:41 The World.
15:07 How could it be anything else?
15:09 Stephen Sondheim put his whole self into this one.
15:12 Or did he?
15:13 The funny thing about Send In The Clowns is that it was written during rehearsals for
15:16 A Little Night Music, one of the last to be added to the show.
15:31 And then it became one of the most well-known songs of all time.
15:34 The melancholy beauty of Send In The Clowns evokes the story of two people who have just
15:38 missed each other.
15:51 There's nothing sadder than that.
15:52 But there's a funny kind of irony in it as well.
15:55 That's what makes Send In The Clowns so iconic and long-lasting - its ability to recognize
16:00 the humor in sadness.
16:21 Do you agree with our picks?
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