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Defying Gravity (song)
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Defying Gravity (song)
"Defying Gravity" is a song from the musical Wicked, composed by Stephen Schwartz. It was originally recorded on November 10, 2003, by American actresses Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who portrayed Elphaba and Glinda in the musical respectively. The song was released as part of the accompanying cast recording on December 16, 2003. It is mostly a solo sung by the main character of the show, Elphaba, with two small duets at the beginning and the middle of the song between Elphaba and her friend Glinda, and a chorus part at the end in which the citizens of Oz sing.
The song serves as the climax of the musical's first act, in which Elphaba realizes the truth about the Wizard of Oz and vows to fight him, beginning her evolution into the "Wicked Witch of the West". It has been covered and reinterpreted numerous times, including by the cast of Glee and for the 2024 film adaptation of the musical starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
In Wicked, the song is the finale for the show's first act, when Elphaba discovers that The Wizard of Oz is not the heroic figure she had originally believed him to be. Realizing this, and despite Glinda's attempts to dissuade her, Elphaba vows to do everything in her power to fight the Wizard and his sinister plans against the Animals of Oz. She sings of how she wants to live without limits, going against the rules that others have set for her. During the song, Elphaba enchants a broomstick to levitate and, pursued by the Wizard's guards, rises above the angered citizens of Oz, who try in vain to "bring her down." The song is heavily cinematic and comes to a climax for the final verse.
The climax of the song features Elphaba flying high above the stage. The staging of the song's in the original production relied heavily on special effects. The actress playing Elphaba was lifted up into the air by a hydraulic launch system, standing on a small platform with a safety restraint around her waist. Both the platform and restraints were concealed by a long false dress made of the same material as the actress's costume, which gave the illusion that she was not standing on anything. Black curtains (designed to look like Elphaba's cape billowing in the wind) and carefully designed lighting concealed the hydraulic arm lifting the platform. The sequence relied heavily on around 60 moving lights, smoke, and wind effects to give the illusion Elphaba was flying.
The Act One finale is "calibrated to get everyone to stick around for Act Two".
The core of the song is that "Elphaba finds power through her own outsider status", which has universal appeal due to audiences rooting for outsiders. The piece begins with Elphaba and Glinda talking. They then slip into song, bickering in short sharp phrases that are reminiscent of how people argue in real life. At this point, the key signature is constantly shifting, creating a sense of unease. The song is in cut common time, but the duo rarely stick to the bar lines, often jumping in halfway in a syncopated style. In the passage "I’m through with playing by the rules...", an interval of an 11th is used, in "the rules".
The song builds on leitmotifs established earlier in the show and "raises the stakes" by lifting Elphaba's voice an octave and physically lifting her on a cherry picker, embodying the first time the audience sees her as the Wicked Witch of the West. The dramatic conclusion of the song features a "loud, screamy" climax of "bring me down" followed by a vocal riff that, according to Jackson McHenry writing for Vulture, has the potential to hurt the performer's vocal cords. Due to the song's difficulty, it is achievable for a few and impossible for most, thereby making those who succeed outsiders.
A ranking in Vulture listed the number as the best song from Wicked, deeming it the "crown jewel of the score", though noted it is an easy song to mock due to it being "ripe for acrid belting and silly embellishment". Another article in Vulture described it as the "big, belt-y centerpiece of the show", and felt it had since established an "ambivalent legacy" as the "silliest, most inspiring, most enduring song in recent Broadway history".
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Defying Gravity (song)
"Defying Gravity" is a song from the musical Wicked, composed by Stephen Schwartz. It was originally recorded on November 10, 2003, by American actresses Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, who portrayed Elphaba and Glinda in the musical respectively. The song was released as part of the accompanying cast recording on December 16, 2003. It is mostly a solo sung by the main character of the show, Elphaba, with two small duets at the beginning and the middle of the song between Elphaba and her friend Glinda, and a chorus part at the end in which the citizens of Oz sing.
The song serves as the climax of the musical's first act, in which Elphaba realizes the truth about the Wizard of Oz and vows to fight him, beginning her evolution into the "Wicked Witch of the West". It has been covered and reinterpreted numerous times, including by the cast of Glee and for the 2024 film adaptation of the musical starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
In Wicked, the song is the finale for the show's first act, when Elphaba discovers that The Wizard of Oz is not the heroic figure she had originally believed him to be. Realizing this, and despite Glinda's attempts to dissuade her, Elphaba vows to do everything in her power to fight the Wizard and his sinister plans against the Animals of Oz. She sings of how she wants to live without limits, going against the rules that others have set for her. During the song, Elphaba enchants a broomstick to levitate and, pursued by the Wizard's guards, rises above the angered citizens of Oz, who try in vain to "bring her down." The song is heavily cinematic and comes to a climax for the final verse.
The climax of the song features Elphaba flying high above the stage. The staging of the song's in the original production relied heavily on special effects. The actress playing Elphaba was lifted up into the air by a hydraulic launch system, standing on a small platform with a safety restraint around her waist. Both the platform and restraints were concealed by a long false dress made of the same material as the actress's costume, which gave the illusion that she was not standing on anything. Black curtains (designed to look like Elphaba's cape billowing in the wind) and carefully designed lighting concealed the hydraulic arm lifting the platform. The sequence relied heavily on around 60 moving lights, smoke, and wind effects to give the illusion Elphaba was flying.
The Act One finale is "calibrated to get everyone to stick around for Act Two".
The core of the song is that "Elphaba finds power through her own outsider status", which has universal appeal due to audiences rooting for outsiders. The piece begins with Elphaba and Glinda talking. They then slip into song, bickering in short sharp phrases that are reminiscent of how people argue in real life. At this point, the key signature is constantly shifting, creating a sense of unease. The song is in cut common time, but the duo rarely stick to the bar lines, often jumping in halfway in a syncopated style. In the passage "I’m through with playing by the rules...", an interval of an 11th is used, in "the rules".
The song builds on leitmotifs established earlier in the show and "raises the stakes" by lifting Elphaba's voice an octave and physically lifting her on a cherry picker, embodying the first time the audience sees her as the Wicked Witch of the West. The dramatic conclusion of the song features a "loud, screamy" climax of "bring me down" followed by a vocal riff that, according to Jackson McHenry writing for Vulture, has the potential to hurt the performer's vocal cords. Due to the song's difficulty, it is achievable for a few and impossible for most, thereby making those who succeed outsiders.
A ranking in Vulture listed the number as the best song from Wicked, deeming it the "crown jewel of the score", though noted it is an easy song to mock due to it being "ripe for acrid belting and silly embellishment". Another article in Vulture described it as the "big, belt-y centerpiece of the show", and felt it had since established an "ambivalent legacy" as the "silliest, most inspiring, most enduring song in recent Broadway history".