The Best Unconventional Broadway Love Songs

People who don't know anything about musicals tend to think that all they are is people dancing around, bursting into song and feeling good all the time. Well...while I resent that, people belting out a great emotional number that tugs my cynical heartstrings is something that gives me a lot of joy. So I've compiled here a little list of favorites that I have- the songs that make me, a representative of skeptics everywhere, believe in the brighter side of life.

From Stephen Sondheim's Company (perhaps you've read my hub on the subject?), this song is the realistic view of what relationships are and how we need them. This is not a song sung to anyone, and it is not sung with a particular person in mind. That's what makes this one unique among the others on my list. This song is a plea, a crying out for someone to make life more meaningful and relevant and...well, to make him alive. As always, Sondheim's deceptively simplistic lyrics deliver an emotional punch to the gut by saying exactly what the deep truth of the matter is- we need, want, and crave someone else to make us feel alive.

"Somebody crowd me with love

Somebody force me to care

Somebody let me come through

I'll always be there, as frightened as you

To help us survive being alive"

From The Secret Garden, "Lily's Eyes" is a song about two men's love for the same woman- a woman who has been dead for some time, but neither man can let go of her. A bit morbid? Not at all. The main character of The Secret Garden, Mary, reminds the men of Lily, and therefore stirs up the old feelings and the remaining feelings of loss. Archibald's love for Lily really drives the story, so this song is crucial to the emotional building of the show. But, standing alone, this song is a wonderful tribute to what was once a great love and a great woman. In a day and age where people and relationships are practically disposable, it is refreshing and moving to hear men sing of a woman so wonderful and so lovable that she still monopolizes their affections. Besides, it is a beautiful song, and a rare male duet.

From Stephen Sondheim's Assassins (yes, I love Sondheim, the man knows his stuff), this song is a sweet and touching moment that really stands out in what is, in my opinion, not one of his better shows. I just love the lyrics so much of this song- both parties affirm that they are nothing and the other is everything. It's an old-fashioned declaration that a person would do anything for their lover; again, not something that you hear much of in this day and age. It declares how much each person values the other, such as his declaration that she "would be queen to me, not wife," and how she "would crawl belly-deep through hell." A bit dramatic, certainly over-the-top, but completely beautiful and very moving. So very Sondheim. (Also, this song is currently my ringtone. Hearing John Barrowman say that he is nothing and I am wind and water and sky just makes me happy everytime the phone rings.)

From one of my favorite shows Chess, "I Know Him So Well" is a female duet sung by two women who are in love with the same man- a man who is torn between love and duty, and the women are both trying to let him go. You may notice a trend here, but I love duets and I love sad songs. This is a regretful song, but not totally- they both say it was good and he was good. They are both sad that things cannot continue the way they were, no matter which woman he chooses in the end (or if he chooses himself in the end...yeah). It deals with a good thing coming to an end, and how you can't help but be regretful and hurt even when you know the end is coming from the beginning.

From Aida, which is some of Elton John's best songwriting if I may say so, "Elaborate Lives" is a song about a love that is forbidden, and the stupid complexities of life that forbid it. I really relate to this song, as they sing that they're tired of going through all the crap; they just want to be together. It talks about how unreasonably hard life is and all the things that tear apart people who would otherwise be happy together. Besides being written by one of my favorite composers (Elton John) with words by my favorite lyricist (Tim Rice) and sung by two of my favorite actors (Adam Pascal and Heather Headley) and its overall message of simplicity, this song has great sentimental value for me as well (I sang this with one of my best friends last semester), so this is certainly one of my favorites. Of course, later in the show they reprise the song before the tragic ending, making it all the more heart-wrenching and emotionally fulfilling (and Aida has a beautifully tragic ending, if you're unfamiliar with the story).

From Wicked, which I love, sung by Norbert Leo Butz and Idina Menzel, who I love, this song gives me warm fuzzies every time I hear it. It's sung by an unlikely couple who had to go through a lot of drama to get where they are, and they know that they have limited time together. It's a very carpe diem sort of song. It was the first song I heard from Wicked actually, and I was immediately in love. It's wonderful because it doesn't make promises it can't keep and wild declarations. It tells it like it is- we may not have tomorrow, but I'll make it count as long as we're together. The driving baseline underneath the recurring theme of the music accents the urgency and the passion of the song, and the listener cannot help but be drawn in- just for this moment.