Showtunes invaded these songs. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for pop songs that include music and lyrics from Broadway musicals.
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00:00Welcome to MsMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for pop songs that include music and lyrics from Broadway musicals.
00:15We're sidestepping that appeared in musicals later, but weren't showtunes to begin with.
00:2010. I Got Money – Young Jeezy
00:37Full of creepy synthesizers and hard-thumping beat, this boastful 2006 track from Young
00:43Jeezy and featured artist T.I. has a hook that should be familiar to any musical fan.
00:55Andrew Lloyd Webber's title song from The Phantom of the Opera is a creepy and unexpected
01:00choice for any song on the charts.
01:10This repeating motif, usually played on the organ, is identified with the show's main
01:15antagonist, the mysterious and homicidal Phantom.
01:19As used in this song, the sample gives I Got Money a strange sense of doom.
01:24It gives all the flexing about money, drugs and swayed seats a dangerous edge.
01:329. So Much Better – Childish Gambino
01:39Back in 2009, Donald Glover was still writing for 30 Rock, and his music career was still
01:44in its early days. Childish Gambino was only on his second mixtape, and hits like This
01:49Is America were still a few years away.
01:52So Much Better shares its name with the song from the Legally Blonde musical.
02:06That show's lead performer, Laura Bell Bundy's fierce belt, can be heard throughout most
02:11of the song.
02:17Once you know what it's from, it's kind of hilarious.
02:20Her singing has been almost frozen in time, stretched to impossible lengths like a sustained
02:25horn for Gambino to rap over.
02:308. Anything – Jay-Z
02:36At first glance, rap and musical theatre probably seem like polar opposites, but Jay-Z found
02:41the common denominator.
02:42Oliver is a musicalised version of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, a story about impoverished
02:48orphans in 19th century London.
03:01The song turns up the bass and adds lyrics about community and love in the face of poverty
03:06and struggle, tapping into the musical's themes and reflecting them in his own experience.
03:17It wasn't the first time the rapper would look to musicals for inspiration, but more
03:21on that later.
03:22The song charted modestly, with its highest ranking at number two on the UK's Hip Hop
03:27R&B Charts.
03:337. Build God, Then We'll Talk – Panic! At The Disco
03:39While the Rodgers and Hammerstein songbook might be a little too cheery for some, it
03:43was a source of inspiration for baroque pop band Panic! At The Disco.
03:52Fronted by Brendan Urie, the band always veered towards the theatrical.
03:57For this song, they took inspiration from the sound of music.
04:12Build God, Then We'll Talk is both a take-off and a twisted parody of My Favourite Things.
04:18Featured on their first album, its gloomy lyrics of seedy black rooms and illicit goings
04:23on soon give way to some truly diabolical rewrites of the song that inspired it.
04:326. Mama Said – Lucas Graham
04:37The Danish band, who had a major hit with the 2015 song Seven Years, also had traction
04:42with this single from the same album.
04:44Mama Said is a bittersweet song with the narrator remembering a working-class childhood.
04:55Children sing along on the choruses.
04:57The beat and inclusion of the children's voices is what makes its inspiration obvious.
05:02The song samples It's the Hard Knock Life from Annie.
05:16While the inhabitants of Miss Hannigan's orphanage sing of their woeful existence,
05:20Lucas Graham uses the tune to reflect on a rough early life and celebrate how far they've
05:26come.
05:275. Popular Song – Mika featuring Ariana Grande
05:38Set in the universe of Wizard of Oz, Wicked tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the
05:43West and Glinda the Good Witch of the North in their younger days.
05:48Here is Glinda's self-celebratory anthem.
06:03Grace Kelly singer Mika would later interpolate the song into the endlessly catchy Popular
06:08Song.
06:16While the original's influence is most obvious in the chorus, it's a bizarre case of real-life
06:21foreshadowing.
06:22Mika enlisted a pre-pop stardom Ariana Grande to spice up the radio cut of the song.
06:35Grande would later play the character Glinda in the 2024 film adaptation of Wicked.
06:444. Wind It Up – Gwen Stefani If you were alive in 2006, you might remember
06:51every word of this one.
07:00Gwen Stefani's 2006 single didn't exactly win over the critics, but it received considerable
07:06airplay and did well on the charts.
07:09Featuring an infectious beat and some top-notch yodeling, not only did the track take inspiration
07:14from The Sound of Music, but the music video made the influence even clearer.
07:27The video features Stefani and dancers in nun habits and dresses suggested by the Austrian
07:32setting of the movie.
07:34The imagery continues from there, with very clear recreations of its most famous numbers.
07:423.
07:46Seven Rings – Ariana Grande The love for The Sound of Music continues
07:51with Ariana Grande's chart-topping, record-breaking 2019 hit.
07:55Yet another take on My Favorite Things, this one is a lot more straightforward in its inspiration.
08:10Seven Rings is a celebration of the finer things in life.
08:14Those favorite things Grande lists are less raindrops on roses and more bottles of champagne
08:19and wearable diamonds, but each to their own.
08:29It's probably fair to say that Rodgers and Hammerstein never predicted their song would
08:33get a trap-pop cover.
08:35They'd probably just ask what trap-pop was.
08:38Seven Rings debuted at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and was also nominated for two Grammy
08:43Awards.
08:442.
08:45Rich Girl – Gwen Stefani Featuring Eve In the musical Fiddler on the Roof, the main
08:57character Tevye is a milkman concerned with upholding tradition in a modernized world.
09:09Gwen Stefani took his signature song, If I Were a Rich Man, and its iconic chanting
09:20and spun the whole thing on its head.
09:22With the help of producer Dr. Dre, Stefani uses Tevye's number and a 1993 reggae song
09:28of the same name as a jumping-off point.
09:38Rich Girl is a fusion of all these sounds, while some Killjoy critics pointed out the
09:42absurdity of Gwen Stefani, who had massive success fronting the band No Doubt, singing
09:48about what she'd do if she were rich.
09:50The song was a hit.
10:141.
10:15Hard Knock Life – Ghetto Anthem – Jay-Z Critics were skeptical when they learned
10:20the rapper behind Dead Presidents was sampling a song from Annie, but they changed their
10:25tune when they heard it.
10:32Hard Knock Life would earn Jay-Z his first Grammy nomination, and the album it's featured
10:37on gave him his first Grammy win.
10:39The single was also his first real taste of international success, a testament to how
10:44innovative it was.
10:46Show tunes being used as samples wasn't necessarily in vogue then.
10:51The number about Annie and her fellow orphans' mistreatment provides the backing for Jay-Z's
10:55story of strife, hard times, and crime.
11:08The childish voices of the show's ensemble, mixed with that thumping bass and the evocative
11:12lyrics proved to be a winning combination.
11:22Which show tune sample was your favorite?
11:24Tell us in the comments.
11:33Do you agree with our picks?
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