Goodbye Emily Deetz Lyrics - Beetlejuice

Song Overview

Lydia’s cut soliloquy “Goodbye Emily Deetz” sits in the Beetlejuice workshop lineage as a grief-into-growth letter that ultimately yielded to the Broadway ballad “Home.” The song was recorded in demo form and later issued on Eddie Perfect’s 24-track archival set “Beetlejuice: The Demos The Demos The Demos” on October 30, 2020 - a legit vault release that clarified where this moment once lived in the story’s spine. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. A reflective Lydia solo - once slotted late - where she addresses her mother and claims a future. The final show pivoted to “Home” to make the beat about choosing life rather than farewell. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
2. First heard widely via Eddie Perfect’s official demo anthology in 2020; streaming listings flag it as a 2016 cut song. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
3. Clean pop-theatre build, conversational verse, vow-like refrain; no comic asides, just straight-ahead resolve.
4. Outside the vault, fans know it from cast concerts - notably Dana Steingold’s performances at Beetle Ball-era events. :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}
5. Tone note - several creatives and outlets have contrasted this track’s “goodbye” energy with “Home,” which keeps Lydia on the brink but facing forward. According to Playbill’s synopsis summary, the staged arc ends with Lydia unable to find her mother and reconciling with the living, underscoring why the farewell song was retired. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}

Creation History

Eddie Perfect wrote numerous alternates for Lydia’s Act 2 turn. “Goodbye Emily Deetz” captured a direct farewell after a brush with the Netherworld, but as the book sharpened, the team favored a choice-not-closure moment - “Home.” When Ghostlight’s partner Sh-K-Boom issued the demos in late 2020, “Goodbye Emily Deetz (Lydia) - 2016 Cut Song” appeared with track-by-track context, and the show’s official YouTube channel posted companion commentary. According to BroadwayWorld’s release note, the compilation pairs demos with Perfect’s annotations about the cut material. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

The lyric reads like a graveside do-over: Lydia owns the chaos she stirred, admits the pull of the abyss, and decides to live. Where the staged show resolves that choice among the living, this version frames it as a letter to Emily that lets Lydia step out from shadow. :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}

Song Meaning

It’s a goodbye that really says hello - to selfhood. The key images are motion, agency, and inheritance: carry the light, face the mess, walk into uncertainty with a name you claim yourself. It favors sincerity over snark, which is why it sings best as a private confession rather than a showstopper.

Annotations

“Hey Mom”

A familiar address in the show’s universe - Lydia often opens her confessions this way, signaling intimacy before argument.

“Your funeral was a bit of a blur”

Grief fog as character note: she skipped the ritual’s meaning, so the song functions as a late eulogy.

“I love you like a fish loves the water”

Not just affection - dependence. The simile frames Lydia’s fear of life beyond that bond.

“Even took a road trip to hell”

Nods to Netherworld detours while underlining that she returned - “afraid but ok.”

“I was the invisible girl”

A callback to the prologue’s thesis. Here she flips it: “now I see myself in the world” - the arc in one line. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}

“No demon can hold this girl down”

Beetlejuice as obstacle, not savior - a clean value statement after the Act 1 chaos.

“A mama sized hole sits in this chest”

The line that reveals why the song was ultimately set aside: the Broadway version resisted tidy closure, letting grief remain while Lydia chooses to keep going. That tension is what “Home” preserves. :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}

Style and production

The demo release presents a studio-clean vocal with piano-led pop pacing and a steady backbeat. Listings peg it around G major at about 140 BPM, which tracks with the forward-step feel rather than a torch tempo. :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}

Key Facts

• Artist: Original Broadway Cast of Beetlejuice; archival release curated by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures on stage - demo album led by Eddie Perfect
• Composer & Lyricist: Eddie Perfect
• Producer of demo set: Sh-K-Boom Records/Ghostlight release management for Eddie Perfect’s archive (2020)
• Release Date (demo album): October 30, 2020
• Genre: Pop theatre
• Instruments: Piano, rhythm section, studio vocal
• Label context: Sh-K-Boom Records for the demo anthology; not issued as a standalone single
• Mood: Resolute, candid, tender
• Length: about 3:14 on the demo release :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10}
• Track placement (demo set): Included among cut songs in “Beetlejuice: The Demos The Demos The Demos” :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11}
• Language: English
• Music style: Pop ballad with conversational verses
• Key & Tempo (approx.): G major, ~140 BPM :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12}
• Album note: The fan-circulated “Beetlejuice Apocrypha” comps exist, but the officially distributed source is the 2020 demo anthology. :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13}

Canonical Entities & Relations

Questions and Answers

Where would “Goodbye Emily Deetz” have landed in the show?

Late Act 2, after Lydia’s Netherworld detour - the place where the final version now uses “Home.” :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14}

Is there an official commercial release?

Yes - Eddie Perfect’s “Beetlejuice: The Demos The Demos The Demos” on Apple Music and Spotify includes the track labeled “2016 Cut Song.” :contentReference[oaicite:15]{index=15}

Any video or commentary?

The show’s channel posted an “Eddie Perfect Commentary” clip tied to this song around the demo rollout. :contentReference[oaicite:16]{index=16}

Why was it cut?

The goodbye framing closed the door a bit too neatly. The final book keeps Lydia’s grief present while she chooses life, which “Home” articulates. :contentReference[oaicite:17]{index=17}

Did any cast members perform it publicly?

Yes - Dana Steingold delivered it in concert settings like the Beetle Ball events. :contentReference[oaicite:18]{index=18}

Is “Beetlejuice Apocrypha” an official album?

No - it is a fan shorthand for cut material. The sanctioned source is the 2020 demo set. :contentReference[oaicite:19]{index=19}

What does the music feel like?

Pop-forward, steady pulse, speechy verse leading to a lifting refrain - closer to a diary entry than a Broadway blowout.

Awards and Chart Positions

No chart placements or awards are tied to this specific track. It functions as archival context inside the 2020 demos release. :contentReference[oaicite:20]{index=20}

How to Sing Goodbye Emily Deetz

At a glance: Approx. G major, ~140 BPM. Keep it intimate. The power lives in plain speech that blossoms into line.

1. Tempo & feel: Set a calm click around 140 and resist pushing - it wants a steady walk, not a sprint. :contentReference[oaicite:21]{index=21}
2. Diction: Treat the verse like a letter. Consonants carry sense; avoid over-vibrato until the title phrase.
3. Breath map: Top up before “So this is goodbye, Emily Deetz” and before “I was the invisible girl.”
4. Arc shaping: Start muted and conversational; let the vowels bloom only as Lydia claims “I finally see who I am.”
5. Mic craft: Close mic the verses; step back a touch for the refrain so the dynamic stays honest.
6. Common pitfalls: Over-belting the refrain, rushing the confessional text, and losing the letter’s specificity.
7. Practice materials: The 2020 demo track and commentary clip are useful for phrasing references. :contentReference[oaicite:22]{index=22}

Additional Info

The demos drop arrived as a pandemic-era olive branch to fans - part process document, part alternate-universe program note. American Songwriter highlighted Perfect’s track-by-track context and the way these sketches illuminate choices the Broadway team made en route to opening, including the move from “farewell” to “choose to live.” According to NME magazine’s broader coverage of cast albums that found second lives online, Beetlejuice’s audience has been particularly fervent with deep cuts and alternates. :contentReference[oaicite:23]{index=23}

Sources: Apple Music; Spotify; BroadwayWorld; Beetlejuice The Musical YouTube; American Songwriter; Playbill/Wikipedia summary.