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No One Mourns the Wicked Lyrics
CITIZENS OF OZ:
Good news! She's dead!
The Witch of the West is dead!
The wickedest witch there ever was
The enemy of all of us here in Oz
Is Dead!
Good news!
Good news!
SOMEONE IN THE CROWD:
(spoken) Look! It's Glinda!
GLINDA
(spoken) Fellow Ozians:
(sung) Let us be glad
Let us be grateful
Let us rejoicify that goodness could subdue
The wicked workings of you-know-who
Isn't it nice to know
That good will conquer evil?
The truth we all believe'll by and by
Outlive a lie
For you and -
SOMEONE IN THE CROWD:
No one mourns the Wicked
ANOTHER PERSON:
No one cries "They won't return!"
ALLNo one lays a lily on their grave
MAN
The good man scorns the Wicked!
WOMEN
Through their lives, our children learn
ALL
What we miss, when we misbehave:
GLINDA
And Goodness knows
The Wicked's lives are lonely
Goodness knows
The Wicked die alone
It just shows when you're Wicked
You're left only
On your own
ALL
Yes, Goodness knows
The Wicked's lives are lonely
Goodness knows
The Wicked cry alone
Nothing grows for the Wicked
They reap only
What they've sown
GLINDA(spoken) Are people born Wicked? Or do they have
Wickedness thrust upon them? After all, she had
a father. She had a mother, as so many do:
FATHER
How I hate to go and leave you lonely
MOTHER
That's alright - it's only just one night
FATHERBut know that you're here in my heart
While I'm out of your sight
GLINDA
(spoken)
And like every family - they had their secrets
LOVER
Have another drink, my dark-eyed beauty
I've got one more night left, here in town
So have another drink of green elixir
And we'll have ourselves a little mixer
Have another swallow, little lady,
And follow me down:
GLINDA
(spoken) And of course, from the moment she was born,
she was - well - different
MIDWIFEIt's coming
FATHERNow?
MIDWIFE
The baby's coming
FATHER
And how!
MIDWIFE AND FATHER
I see a nose
I see a curl
It's a healthy, perfect,
Lovely, little -
FATHER
(spoken) Sweet Oz!
MOTHER
(spoken) What is it? : what's wrong?
MIDWIFEHow can it be?
FATHER
What does it mean?
MIDWIFE
It's atrocious
FATHERIt's obscene!
MIDWIFE AND FATHER
Like a froggy, ferny cabbage
The baby is unnaturally
ALL
Green!
FATHER
(spoken) Take it away: take it away!
GLINDA
(spoken) So you see - it couldn't have been easy!
ALL
No one mourns the Wicked!
Now at last, she's dead and gone!
Now at last, there's joy throughout the land
And Goodness knows
We know what Goodness is
Goodness knows
The Wicked die alone
GLINDA
She died alone:
ALLWoe to those
Who spurn what Goodness
They are shown
No one mourns the Wicked
GLINDA
Good news!
CROWD
No one mourns the Wicked!
GLINDAGood news!
ALL
No one mourns the Wicked!
Wicked!
Wicked!
Good news! She's dead!
The Witch of the West is dead!
The wickedest witch there ever was
The enemy of all of us here in Oz
Is Dead!
Good news!
Good news!
(spoken) Look! It's Glinda!
(spoken) Fellow Ozians:
(sung) Let us be glad
Let us be grateful
Let us rejoicify that goodness could subdue
The wicked workings of you-know-who
Isn't it nice to know
That good will conquer evil?
The truth we all believe'll by and by
Outlive a lie
For you and -
No one mourns the Wicked
No one cries "They won't return!"
The good man scorns the Wicked!
Through their lives, our children learn
What we miss, when we misbehave:
And Goodness knows
The Wicked's lives are lonely
Goodness knows
The Wicked die alone
It just shows when you're Wicked
You're left only
On your own
Yes, Goodness knows
The Wicked's lives are lonely
Goodness knows
The Wicked cry alone
Nothing grows for the Wicked
They reap only
What they've sown
Wickedness thrust upon them? After all, she had
a father. She had a mother, as so many do:
How I hate to go and leave you lonely
That's alright - it's only just one night
While I'm out of your sight
(spoken)
And like every family - they had their secrets
Have another drink, my dark-eyed beauty
I've got one more night left, here in town
So have another drink of green elixir
And we'll have ourselves a little mixer
Have another swallow, little lady,
And follow me down:
(spoken) And of course, from the moment she was born,
she was - well - different
The baby's coming
And how!
I see a nose
I see a curl
It's a healthy, perfect,
Lovely, little -
(spoken) Sweet Oz!
(spoken) What is it? : what's wrong?
What does it mean?
It's atrocious
Like a froggy, ferny cabbage
The baby is unnaturally
Green!
(spoken) Take it away: take it away!
(spoken) So you see - it couldn't have been easy!
ALL
No one mourns the Wicked!
Now at last, she's dead and gone!
Now at last, there's joy throughout the land
And Goodness knows
We know what Goodness is
Goodness knows
The Wicked die alone
She died alone:
Who spurn what Goodness
They are shown
No one mourns the Wicked
Good news!
CROWD
No one mourns the Wicked!
No one mourns the Wicked!
Wicked!
Wicked!
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This is an incredible song. Quite sad in a way. "Goodness knows The Wicked die alone." I think that says a lot.
This is actually one of my favorite songs in the musical. (Although I'm in love with all of them)
I think it shows the rejection Elphaba recieved from her father since birth.
I think the lines "Goodness knows the the Wicked's lives are lonely/Goodness knows the Wicked die alone" likely isn't Glinda trying to create public sympathy, merely just an attempt to put up her public image as all-loving and sympathetic.
I'd disagree. Glinda loved her friend till the end. She is not able to express her true feelings to the public or she'll be chased after by the citizens of Oz as well.
I'd disagree. Glinda loved her friend till the end. She is not able to express her true feelings to the public or she'll be chased after by the citizens of Oz as well.
The song (and the whole musical in general) are about challenging the notions of what really is wicked and what is good, so "the wicked" and "goodness" are the two opposing forces. It's a nice juxtaposition of Elphaba as an innocent baby and her "wicked" counterpart. It just shows that when the Ozians denounce Elphaba as "wicked, they strip her of her humanity. Glinda...
The song (and the whole musical in general) are about challenging the notions of what really is wicked and what is good, so "the wicked" and "goodness" are the two opposing forces. It's a nice juxtaposition of Elphaba as an innocent baby and her "wicked" counterpart. It just shows that when the Ozians denounce Elphaba as "wicked, they strip her of her humanity. Glinda secretly tries to convince them that it wasn't her fault, and that you should still pity someone who has fallen for we are all human after all.
It's so beautiful, really.
Awesome song.... really powerful. The meaning is obvious: they are celebrating because elphaba, the "wicked" witch, is "dead". It describes different aspects of her life... like birth. And glinda is hiding her sorrow about never seeing her best friend again
Glinda also seems to be questioning what wickedness is, and as we get to know her in the musical, who is the wicked one she speaks of in the song?