Children We Didn't Have Lyrics – Beetlejuice

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. Cut Barbara feature that lived in the show’s development era, replaced later by plot-forward material in Act 2.
2. Heard officially on Eddie Perfect’s demo anthology, where it appears as “The Children We Didn’t Have (Barbara) - 2018 Cut Song.”
3. Studio demo circulates alongside a short creator commentary that explains the narrative tradeoffs.
4. Musically understated - conversational verse that blooms into a vow, written for Kerry Butler’s warm, clear mix.
5. Tone piece that reframes Lydia as the surrogate child Barbara can still fight for.

Creation History

Across out-of-town drafts and pre-Broadway work, Perfect wrote multiple alternates for the Maitlands’ turning point. This song gave Barbara a direct grief statement and a bridge toward embracing Lydia. In the end, the team leaned into tighter momentum elsewhere, and this number moved to the archive. The official demo release later set the record straight on placement and purpose, and a brief video commentary walked through why the beat shifted. According to Playbill and label notes at the time of the demo rollout, the collection packaged cut numbers, early lyrics, and workshop sketches from 2015 to 2019.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Barbara rejects stalling. She catalogues the milestones she and Adam never reached, then pivots: if they cannot parent the children they imagined, they can show up for the teenager in their attic. The lyric points straight to Lydia - “a daughter we didn’t have, moved in.” The scene would have nudged the couple from wistful to active guardians.

Song Meaning

It is a letter to the life that did not happen. Visually plain images - pencil marks, bikes, scraped knees - do the work. The point is not loss alone but responsibility. The number re-threads Barbara’s purpose from fear into care, trading hobby-filler for hard presence.

Annotations

“Children we didn’t have don’t call - Their heights aren’t marked in pencil on the wall”

Everyday domestic markers double as absence markers. The couple’s old perfectionism shows up in what is missing, not what remains.

“Remind me that we couldn’t just begin”

A self-indictment. Earlier in the story they chased crafts and fixes; here Barbara names the paralysis.

“Or maybe fifteen - I think you know who I mean”

The turn. Lydia’s age snaps the abstract into focus, making the bridge from regret to action.

“Daughter we didn’t have, I’m here”

A pledge, not a fantasy. The lyric shifts the spotlight from the Maitlands’ stalled plans to Lydia’s immediate need.

Style and arrangement

Piano-led pop theatre with a light rhythm section. The melody sits in a comfortable mid-range, letting text carry the scene. Small swells at the end of phrases underline the shift from memory to commitment.

Key Facts

• Artist: Original Broadway Cast of Beetlejuice; workshop-era feature for Kerry Butler with Rob McClure in dialogue.
• Composer & Lyricist: Eddie Perfect.
• Release context: Appears on the official demo compilation as a 2018 cut song.
• Genre: Pop theatre.
• Instruments: Piano, light rhythm section.
• Label context: Demo anthology issued by the show’s recording partners.
• Mood: Tender, candid, forward-looking.
• Language: English.
• Music style: Intimate ballad, verse-forward.
• Approx. Key & Tempo: C major at roughly 100 BPM.

Canonical Entities & Relations

Questions and Answers

Where did the song sit in the show’s timeline?

Late in Act 2 development drafts, around the moment the Maitlands reframe their role in Lydia’s life.

Why was it cut?

The final structure favored tighter propulsion and gave Barbara’s pivot to other scenes, while Lydia’s Act 2 focus moved to different material.

Is there an official recording?

Yes - the demo is on the composer’s anthology and on major streaming platforms.

Any creator commentary?

A short video commentary by Eddie Perfect discusses why this cue stayed in the vault and what it accomplished dramatically.

Does it connect to “Ready Set, Not Yet” and “Barbara 2.0”?

Yes - it completes the arc from hobby distraction to protective action, with “2.0” taking the baton in the produced version.

How does the lyric treat Lydia?

As the living claim the Maitlands can still make - the daughter they did not have, who needs guardians now.

Has it been performed live?

Fans circulate DC-era audio featuring Butler and McClure; official studio audio anchors the version most people reference today.

How to Sing Children We Didn't Have

At a glance: C major, about 100 BPM. Treat it like a letter that grows into an oath. Keep the sound centered and speech-driven, then let the line widen when Lydia enters the frame.

1. Tempo & feel: Set a steady two-feel around 100. Resist pushing the back half - intensity comes from text, not speed.
2. Text first: Land consonants on the domestic images (pencil marks, bikes, swings). Let vowels bloom on “daughter we didn’t have.”
3. Arc: Verse 1 = inventory of absence. Verse 2 = guilt to resolve. Final section = present-tense pledge to Lydia.
4. Breath map: Top up before “Think about all the children we didn’t have” and before “A daughter we didn’t have, moved in.”
5. Color choices: Keep vibrato narrow until the promise lines. Avoid sobbing effects - let the specificity do the work.
6. Mic craft: Close for the first verse, back off a touch for the last A section so the promise lifts without yelling.
7. Common pitfalls: Over-belting the refrain, blurring imagery lists, and letting tempo creep on the final page.

Additional Info

Perfect’s demo set functioned like an open notebook - a look at forks in the road that shaped the final show. According to NME magazine’s survey of cast recordings that built large online followings, this production’s community embraced those alternates with unusual enthusiasm. Playbill recaps from the demo rollout period note how commentary clips contextualized each cut, giving fans the reasons without killing the romance of the might-have-been.

Sources: Ghostlight Records; Apple Music; Spotify; BroadwayWorld; Beetlejuice The Musical YouTube; Tunebat; Playbill; NME magazine.