✦ 30 day musical challenge ✦

day six

a song that makes you sad

ohhh boy. there are so many options for this one, i don't know how i'm going to choose just one. i guess i'll start with the saddest musicals overall that i like. 'dear evan hansen' is one, obviously. 'hamilton' also makes me super emo. 'in the heights' also makes me sad? it's more bittersweet than anything, but there are some depressing ass songs in that one. 'bonnie & clyde' just has a very heavy/dark vibe. and then there are all the other musicals that i like that have one or two sad songs.

"for forever" might be one of the saddest to me, though. if you listen to it out of context, it doesn't seem sad at all, but knowing that it's just evan's daydream because he's lonely... so sad, man. and ben's voice makes it that much sadder, especially that bridge part... you know the one... "he's come to get me... and everything's okay..." wow, i actually almost cried just writing that.

then "who lives, who dies, who tells your story" from 'hamilton' makes me SO sad, but it's also kind of uplifting??? i have so many mixed emotions about that song, but all i know is that i SOB every time i hear it. literally, i hear the opening notes... that violin... and i'm gone. also "it's quiet uptown"... when eliza sings... it's over for me.

"michael in the bathroom" from 'be more chill' used to make me sad and emo, but i don't really care for it all that much anymore. i probably overplayed it to death, so it kind of lost its meaning. also i don't really like 'be more chill' anymore, so.

"alabanza" from 'in the heights'... damn. there aren't that many lyrics, but when everyone is singing together... it's just so powerful. and the end when usnavi sings alone... fuck.

"who i'd be" from 'shrek' also makes me super sad, specifically the line, "of course i'd be a hero," because it's just the way he says it and how much he wishes things could be different. also his face in the pro-shot during this part is so sad. i feel like shrek is a huge metaphor and i wish people would stop seeing it solely at surface level and stop making fun of it. this is one of the most heartbreaking musical songs in my opinion.

"good kid" from the lightning thief isn't the saddest song, i don't think, but it deserves an honorable mention. when chris's voice cracks in the bridge part... oof.

i didn't really feel this way until recently, but "halfway" from 'amélie' makes me sad now. you can feel amélie's frustration of feeling stuck and not knowing what to do; between feeling safe and comfortable in a routine but seeing all of the chances you're missing out on by doing that.

and then there's "legally blonde" from 'legally blonde'. this song used to make me cry every time i heard it, but i think i overplayed it too much, so it doesn't affect me that much anymore. it's still very, very heartbreaking though, especially her voice crack on the line, "some girls were just meant to smile."

so in conclusion, i have no idea how to pick the one song that makes me the saddest. i think i'm just going to put all of these options into a random generator and let a robot pick for me.

that's exactly what i did. and the winner is "for forever" from 'dear evan hansen', which i feel is very accurate. i can't explain exactly why this song makes me so sad. i tried my best earlier, but i'm terrible at putting my thoughts into words. i mentioned in my ✦ let's talk about musicals ✦ book that this song made me cry so hard when i first watched the b***leg without having ever heard it before. it just really struck me for some reason.

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date: august 8, 2019