Released December 16, 2003 Label Decca Broadway | Recorded November 10, 2003 Writer(s) Stephen Schwartz | |
Genre Musical theatre, pop, show tune | ||
"For Good" is a musical number from the hit musical Wicked. It is sung as a duet between Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda, as a farewell to each other. The song's music and lyrics were written by composer Stephen Schwartz.
Contents
Context
The song is performed towards the end of the musical. In it, the two are singing farewell to one another. Just prior to the song, Elphaba gives Glinda the Grimmerie and tells her that it is now up to her to continue Elphaba's cause. After this song, Elphaba leaves and is supposedly melted by Dorothy (it later turns out that this was an elaborate set-up to fool the citizens of Oz into thinking she was dead so they would stop hunting her). In the end, she and Fiyero, turned into "The Scarecrow" by one of Elphaba's spells gone awry, run away together.
It is the climax, and one of the most well-known songs of the show. It is reprised as part of the show's finale.
Lyrics
The song's lyrics concern how both Elphaba and Glinda have been changed by their friendship with each other. Glinda starts out by saying that, while she doesn't know if it is true that people come into each other's lives for a reason, "I know I'm who I am today because I knew you." Similarly, Elphaba tells Glinda that "whatever way our stories end, I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend." Elphaba also asks Glinda to forgive her for anything she might have done wrong, to which Glinda replies that "there's blame to share", but both agree that "none of it seems to matter anymore." Schwartz said after the show premiered that to begin the song, he asked his daughter what she would say if she would never see her best friend again, and her answer became the first verse of "For Good".
The lyrics rely on the play of words, "for good," which are used to signify alternatively "forever" and "as an improvement."