[cincopa A8GAt467SGIl]
For Good
Words and music Stephen Schwartz from the musical, Wicked, 2003
Performed by Kristin Chenowith with the Boston Pops Orchestra
Youtube video uploaded by marianaraay.
((Glinda):
I’ve heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don’t know if I believe that’s true
But I know I’m who I am today
Because I knew you…
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good
(Elphaba):
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You’ll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend…
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
(Glinda):
Because I knew you
(Both):
I have been changed for good
(Elphaba):
And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I’ve done you blame me for
(Glinda):
But then, I guess we know
There’s blame to share
(Both):
And none of it seems to matter anymore
(Glinda):
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
(Elphaba):
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood
(Both):
Who can say if I’ve been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better
(Glinda):
And because I knew you…
(Elphaba):
Because I knew you…
(Both):
Because I knew you…
I have been changed for good…
How has someone you know changed your life or you for good?
Has anyone left their handprint on your heart?
How does God leave His Handprint on our hearts?
The song is performed towards the end of the musical. In it, the two are singing farewell to one another. 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 others 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.” The lyrics rely on the play of words, “for good,” which are used to signify alternatively “forever” and “as an improvement.”
Stephen Schwartz considers “For Good” from Wicked one of the best songs he’s written. Here’s what Schwartz says about “For Good”: “The song ‘For Good’ was, of course, written for the show to try to express the leading characters’ feelings as they are seeing each other for the last time. The title came out of a brainstorming conversation I had with Winnie Holzman (the book writer) — basically at one point she said it should be about how the two of them had changed each other ‘for good’, at which point, hearing the amazing possibilities in that phrase, I knew I had found the title for the song.” To get some of the content, I had a long conversation with my daughter, in which I asked her what she would say to her best friend (someone she has known pretty much all her life), if she knew she was never going to see her again. A lot of what Jessie said got transformed into the first verse of the song. Other than that, it was simply trying to put myself into the hearts and minds of the characters and see what they said.”