Ghost the Musical Lyrics – All Songs from the Musical

“Ghost the Musical” – The Musical Guide & Song Meanings

Information current as of January 24, 2026.

Review: the lyric’s real job in a effects-first musical

“Ghost the Musical” has a built-in challenge that is almost unfair. The audience already knows the pottery wheel, the gunshot, the subway, the door that should not open. So the lyrics cannot rely on surprise. They have to do something harder. They must make inevitability feel personal.

Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard write in a pop-theatre hybrid that often behaves like radio drama under stagecraft. The language is plain. Sometimes blunt. That choice is strategic. When the production is moving walls, flying bodies, and turning Manhattan into a collage of projections, the lyric has to be an anchor, not another layer of decoration. The best moments aim for emotional clarity rather than cleverness, because the show’s visual world is already “loud.”

The score’s strongest theme is grief as repetition. You hear it in the way phrases return, in how choruses circle rather than progress, in the insistence that love does not stop simply because the plot requires a corpse. That repetition can feel heavy in a recording, but onstage it matches the story’s physics. Sam cannot touch Molly. So the lyric keeps touching the same thought again and again, until it hurts and then, occasionally, heals.

Viewer tip if you see it live: sit where you can catch the hands. This show communicates through touch that almost happens. The lyric lands differently when you can see fingertips miss by a fraction.

How it was made

Bruce Joel Rubin adapted his Oscar-winning screenplay for the stage, which is why the storytelling tends to hew closely to film structure: quick cuts, location jumps, and a constant sense of threat. Director Matthew Warchus leans into that “cinematic” rhythm, then lets illusion and video do the editing in real time. Critics noticed this immediately, often arguing that the visuals were the primary star of the evening.

One origin detail that matters for lyric history is the pre-premiere “Live & Unchained” sessions at Abbey Road. The project released early performance footage online, inviting fans to hear original songs before the show had settled into its final shape. That kind of rollout is now common. In 2010–2011, it still felt like a band-style strategy applied to a new musical.

The other behind-the-scenes fact is pragmatic: the show has continued life not only through full productions, but through licensing formats designed for smaller stages. When a musical is engineered around large-scale effects, a small-cast edition is an artistic translation problem. It forces the text and music to carry more of the storytelling weight, especially in the “between worlds” sequences where the original staging did so much.

Key tracks & scenes

“Here Right Now” (Sam, Molly, Carl)

The Scene:

Early intimacy in a modern New York apartment. The lighting is domestic and warm, the kind that makes the audience relax. Carl’s presence skews the picture, a third angle in what should be a duet, foreshadowing how the outside world will invade the relationship.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric is a contract the show is about to break. It insists on the present tense, then turns “now” into a memory. It also frames Sam as emotionally cautious, which makes his later urgency feel earned.

“More” (Carl, Ensemble)

The Scene:

A corporate rush with movement that can read like choreography inside an office. Bright, cool light. Clean lines. The ensemble becomes machinery, and Carl is the man who thinks he can drive it.

Lyrical Meaning:

Greed is given a catchy shape. The lyric is not subtle, and that is the point. Carl does not see himself as a villain. He sees himself as reasonable, and the song is his self-portrait.

“You Gotta Let Go Now” (Ensemble)

The Scene:

The afterlife has rules. The space goes colder, the lighting turns institutional, and bodies move like commuters who never reach a platform. This is the musical’s first true tutorial in death.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric defines the central conflict: grief versus release. It sounds like advice. It plays like a threat. It also underlines the show’s irony: the dead can see the truth, and the living cannot.

“Are You a Believer?” (Oda Mae and friends)

The Scene:

Oda Mae’s storefront world, performed as hustle and ritual at the same time. Light can be warmer and more theatrical here, with a touch of carnival energy. The comedy has a pulse, because it is also survival.

Lyrical Meaning:

This is skepticism turned into sales pitch. The lyric makes belief a commodity, which prepares the audience for the twist that follows: Oda Mae’s “act” becomes the one channel to real truth.

“With You” (Molly)

The Scene:

Grief in a room that suddenly feels too large. The lighting often isolates Molly, leaving the apartment’s corners in shadow like unsaid sentences. This is the show asking the audience to stop watching effects and start listening.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric is direct, almost conversational, which makes it harder to fake. It is not romance language. It is absence language. The song explains why the supernatural plot matters at all: the love story is unfinished.

“Rain / Hold On” (Molly, Sam, Ensemble)

The Scene:

Danger closes in. The stage can feel like a city at night, wet with threat. Lighting shifts quickly, cutting faces out of darkness. Sam’s presence is near, but useless in the way that hurts most.

Lyrical Meaning:

The lyric’s urgency is physical. It treats emotion as weather. “Hold on” becomes command and prayer, the closest the score gets to a chase scene in pure musical terms.

“I’m Outta Here” (Oda Mae, Ensemble)

The Scene:

Momentum and release. After tension, the show lets Oda Mae explode into motion. Lighting goes bold and forward, with the ensemble functioning as comic percussion around her.

Lyrical Meaning:

This is the score’s pressure valve. The lyric also gives Oda Mae an arc beyond being “the funny one.” Fear turns into action, and action turns into agency.

“Nothing Stops Another Day” (Molly)

The Scene:

The quiet aftermath, staged as endurance. The city continues. The room remains. The light suggests morning without promising comfort.

Lyrical Meaning:

The title is the cruel truth of grief. The lyric does not pretend time heals. It admits time moves, whether you are ready or not, and that admission is Molly’s first real step toward survival.

Live updates (2025–2026)

In the most recent major commercial cycle, a U.K. tour ran across 2024 into 2025, with bookings publicized through May 2025 and cast announcements led by Rebekah Lowings (Molly), Josh St. Clair (Sam), and Jacqui Dubois (Oda Mae). As of January 24, 2026, that tour window has passed, and there is no single new headline 2026 tour publicly positioned at the same scale in the sources referenced here.

Where the show is clearly active in 2025–2026 is licensing. Theatrical Rights Worldwide lists “Ghost” for stock and amateur performance, and it also promotes a “Small Cast Edition,” which signals ongoing demand from schools and community theatres that want the title but cannot reproduce the original technical footprint. This is the real modern life of “Ghost” right now: a recognizable brand moving through flexible production models.

If you are tracking it for the next year, follow licensor announcements and regional seasons rather than Broadway rumor. That is where “Ghost” reliably reappears.

Notes & trivia

• The Broadway production opened April 23, 2012 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and closed August 18, 2012, after 39 previews and 136 regular performances.
• The Broadway musical numbers differ by production line. For Broadway, “You Gotta Let Go” appears where other versions used different transitional material, reflecting the show’s ongoing revisions.
• “Ghost” received three Tony nominations in 2012, including Featured Actress in a Musical (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) plus scenic design and lighting design.
• The original cast recording is widely listed as a 2011 release (19 tracks), tied to the London production and released under “Ghost London Limited” on major streaming platforms.
• Early fan access mattered: “Live & Unchained” Abbey Road sessions footage circulated online before the West End opening, previewing original songs and selling the show as a “studio project” as much as a stage event.
• Theatrical Rights Worldwide announced it would represent stock and amateur rights in 2014, and the company now also offers a Small Cast Edition option.
• Many reviews fixated on visual design, describing a stage language closer to film editing, with projections and illusion doing a significant share of the storytelling.

Reception

The critical story of “Ghost” is blunt: reviewers often praised the technical ambition while questioning whether the score and book created enough theatrical “spark” on their own. That critique is useful, because it clarifies what the musical is attempting. This is a romance that wants the audience’s tears, but it also wants the audience’s astonishment. When those goals compete, the lyrics are the part that can get squeezed.

Still, the show has a real audience legacy. Pop-theatre writing ages differently than traditional musical comedy writing. It can sound dated fast, then swing back into relevance when a new production leans into sincerity and strips away some of the clutter. “Ghost” is unusually well-positioned for that kind of reevaluation because its core song, “With You,” remains a sturdy grief monologue even outside the show.

“Full of moving scenery… but devoid of actual magic.”

“The most impressively overproduced entity on Broadway.”

“The eyes emphatically have it.”

Quick facts

• Title: Ghost the Musical
• Broadway year: 2012
• Type: Musical adapted from the Paramount film
• Book and lyrics: Bruce Joel Rubin
• Music and lyrics: Dave Stewart; Glen Ballard
• Includes: “Unchained Melody” (featured as a classic hit inside the show’s score world)
• Broadway run: March 15, 2012 (first preview) to August 18, 2012 (closing)
• Broadway venue: Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
• Selected notable placements: “Here Right Now” (early apartment intimacy); “With You” (Molly’s grief aria); “I’m Outta Here” (Oda Mae’s comic break); “Nothing Stops Another Day” (late-show endurance)
• Album status: “Ghost the Musical (Original Cast Recording)” widely listed as 2011, 19 tracks, released under Ghost London Limited on major platforms
• Licensing: Stock and amateur rights represented by Theatrical Rights Worldwide, including a Small Cast Edition format
• Awards snapshot: 2012 Tony nominations include featured actress, scenic design, and lighting design

Frequently asked questions

Who wrote the lyrics for “Ghost the Musical”?

Bruce Joel Rubin is credited for book and lyrics, with Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard credited for music and lyrics.

Was there a Broadway cast album in 2012?

The widely distributed “Original Cast Recording” is tied to the London production and is commonly listed as a 2011 release on major streaming platforms.

Where does “With You” happen in the story?

It arrives after Sam’s death, when Molly is alone and raw. The staging usually strips the scene down so the lyric can carry the grief without distraction.

Is “Unchained Melody” original to the musical?

No. It is a pre-existing classic that the musical incorporates because the film made it part of the couple’s mythology.

Is the show still being performed in 2025–2026?

Yes, primarily through licensing. A major U.K. tour ran into 2025, and the title continues through licensor-supported productions, including a Small Cast Edition option.

What did “Ghost” get nominated for at the Tony Awards?

In 2012 it earned nominations including Featured Actress in a Musical (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), plus scenic design and lighting design.

Key contributors

Sources: IBDB; Playbill; Variety; The Guardian; Vulture; Ovrtur; Ghost the Musical official website; Apple Music; Spotify; Theatrical Rights Worldwide; Bill Kenwright Ltd; Playbill (UK tour casting).