Tomorrow Lyrics – Annie

Song Overview

Song Credits

• Featured: Marissa O’Donnell
• Composer: Charles Strouse
• Lyricist: Martin Charnin
• Producer (album): Original Broadway creative team & Masterworks Broadway engineers
• Release Date (cast recording): June 3 2008
• Genre: Show-tune, Broadway theatre
• Label: Masterworks Broadway / Sony Music
• Length: 2 min 58 sec (album version)
• Album: Annie: The Broadway Musical 30th Anniversary Cast Recording, Disc 1
• Mood: Upbeat optimism
• Instruments: Strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion, piano, children’s chorus
• Language: English
• Copyright © 1977 Charles Strouse & Martin Charnin; ? 2008 Sony Music Entertainment

Song Meaning and Annotations

Back in 1972, composer Charles Strouse teamed up with writer Thomas Meehan to spin the decades-old “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip into a stage musical. One of Strouse’s early ideas was a tune called “Replay,” which he reshaped into the song we now know as “Tomorrow.” The journey from concept to curtain took a while—Annie did not reach Broadway until 1976—so Strouse kept tinkering. During that stretch, he even tested a fresh version of “Replay” for an adaptation of Daniel Keyes’s novel Flowers for Algernon (the project eventually opened as Charlie and Algernon), yet the melody never found a home there.

Once Annie finally bowed on Broadway in 1977, “Tomorrow” settled in as the show’s beating heart. It pops up in several guises throughout the production, and, in the original staging, the song capped the entire evening. Thomas Meehan’s 1980 novelization kept the tradition alive, turning the lyric into Annie’s personal mantra. A few years later, the 1982 film went all in: you hear “Tomorrow” over the opening credits, you listen to it again in the finale, and you even get an a cappella rendition when Aileen Quinn’s Annie serenades President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House scene.

The message never wavers: stay hopeful, even when the present looks downright gloomy. Lines like “hang on until tomorrow” and “when I’m stuck with a day that’s gray and lonely, I just stick out my chin and grin” sketch out Annie’s worldview in one neat package. That cheery resilience echoes elsewhere in the score, especially in “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile,” a lighter tune that still insists optimism is more than skin-deep.

“Tomorrow” has seeped into pop culture, too. On September 27, 2012, a twelve-year-old contestant named Jordyn Foley belted the song on The X Factor, proving it still lands with audiences who were not around for the show’s premiere—let alone the comic strip’s first run.

“Tomorrow” might be Broadway’s purest three minutes of “head-high, shoulders-back” grit. A jaunty two-step beat, a splash of woodwinds, and—boom—the orphan Annie barges in, shooing away gloom as if she’s got a feather duster in her pocket. It rides a lilting major-key melody that keeps vaulting upward, mirroring her own plan to vault out of the orphanage.

The hook works because it feels hand-stitched for the Great Depression setting: no money? no problem—just bet your bottom dollar on better skies. That line marries street-hustle slang (“bet your bottom dollar”) with Rodgers-and-Hammerstein sunniness. The result: a tune equally at home in a tap-dance sequence or on a picket line.

The Spark That Lit the Stage

Composer Charles Strouse reportedly drafted the melody in a taxi, singing it over and over to make sure he wouldn’t forget it before reaching his piano. Lyricist Martin Charnin then threaded in everyday idioms—“stick up my chin and grin”—to keep Annie sounding like a plucky New York kid, not a greeting-card poet.

Verse 1

The sun'll come out / Tomorrow / Bet your bottom dollar / That tomorrow / There'll be sun!

Note how “sun” punches the final beat of each short line, as if the word itself is clearing clouds. Every rhyme is a one-syllable slam-dunk—sun, none, fun—helping young performers land the rhythms without tripping.

Middle Dialogue

The spoken police-officer interlude breaks musical momentum, reminding the audience that optimism must negotiate with reality: rules, leashes, licenses. Annie insists Sandy isn’t a stray; subconsciously, she’s also insisting she isn’t one either.

Reprise & Key Change

On the album, the second go-round modulates a whole-step higher—classic Broadway goose-bump trick. The orchestra swells, and Annie’s exclamation “Oh!” becomes a tiny brass fanfare. It’s the sound of a kid rewriting her own forecast in real time.

Hidden Symbolism

The name “Tomorrow” operates on two levels: literal sunrise and metaphorical hope deferred. The lyric “You’re always a day away” folds in a wink of irony—tomorrow never lands, yet Annie keeps running after it, which mirrors the American practice of chasing an ever-moving dream.

Similar Songs

1. “Over the Rainbow” – Judy Garland
   Both songs hand a young protagonist a Technicolor dream to sing through grey reality. Garland’s chromatic leap on “some-where” echoes Annie’s climb on “to-mor-row,” and each became shorthand for mid-20th-century optimism. Yet Garland’s ballad leans wistful while Annie’s cut believes the dream is practically on layaway.
2. “I Whistle a Happy Tune” – The King and I Cast
   Where Annie sticks up her chin, Anna whistles. The tactic is identical: manufacture confidence until it feels real. Both tunes swing in compound time signatures that let listeners sway like metronomes of self-assurance.
3. “Don’t Stop” – Fleetwood Mac
   Surprisingly close cousin: upbeat tempo, major-key guitar (or in Annie’s case, strings) and a hook—“Don’t stop, thinkin’ about tomorrow”—that could fit right into Warbucks’s mansion. Fleetwood Mac frames optimism inside rock swagger, but the DNA is unmistakable.

Questions and Answers

Why does “Tomorrow” resonate beyond the musical theatre crowd?

Its plain-spoken optimism sidesteps theatrical in-jokes. Anyone who’s stared down a tough day can adopt “The sun’ll come out” as a pocket-sized mantra.

Was “Tomorrow” always in the show?

Almost not. Early workshops placed it later in Act I, but producers pushed Strouse and Charnin to front-load a breakout tune. Good call—audiences left humming it.

Is there a real-life model for Annie’s dog Sandy?

Yes—Charnin adopted a stray terrier during pre-production, inspiring the stage dog’s look and loyalty motif.

How many recorded versions exist?

Over 200, from Barbra Streisand to Usher at the 2014 NBA All-Star Game. Yet the 2008 thirty-year cast keeps the original orchestration spry.

Does the key signature matter?

Tremendously. C-major places the melody in a kid-friendly range; bumping the reprise to D-major heightens urgency without straining young voices.

Awards and Chart Positions

While the 2008 anniversary cast recording itself did not snag specific trophies, the signature song “Tomorrow” helped the original 1977 production of Annie win seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The original cast album also earned the 1978 Grammy for Best Cast Show Album, with “Tomorrow” singled out in press reviews as the track that sealed the win.

Fan and Media Reactions

“Every time that chorus hits, my five-year-old belts along like she owns Broadway.” —YouTube user @StageMom35

“Who else is watching in 2025 and still getting goosebumps on the key change?” —@RetroTheatreFan

“Strouse wrote the melody of the century. No contest.” —@JazzPianistMike

“This cast recording keeps the swing feel alive without sounding museum-stuffy.” —@CriticAtLarge

“Hard day? I queue this and suddenly the washing-up feels like a chorus line.” —@KitchenTapDancer