Invisible (Reprise) / On The Roof Lyrics – Beetlejuice

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. Track 9 on Beetlejuice (Original Broadway Cast Recording), a tight bridge between the Maitlands’ exit and the show’s first Beetlejuice-Lydia handshake moment.
2. Music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect; led by Alex Brightman with Sophia Anne Caruso; released June 7, 2019 on Sh-K-Boom Records.
3. Compact lament-into-contact scene: Beetlejuice sulks, Lydia arrives with a note, visibility becomes the hook.
4. Motivic mirror of the opening “Prologue: Invisible,” now voiced by the demon who literally cannot be seen by the living.
5. Clocked around 1:48; mid-tempo pulse with theatrical rubato at the entrance of Lydia’s dialogue.

Creation History

Written for the 2019 Broadway production directed by Alex Timbers, this reprise threads character work into album pacing - a miniature that lands a plot turn without breaking the flow. The label pushed a digital-first rollout, with platform uploads and a tidy “Provided to YouTube” audio confirming the track credits and placement. Trade and awards coverage framed the score as part of the show’s eight Tony nominations, with Brightman’s turn singled out during the season.

Highlights

Brightman’s patter-ache mix sells the joke and the sting. The verse opens like a shrug and ends as a plea. Then the hinge: Lydia answers, and the orchestration steps back so the dialogue can spark. One beat later he finally gets what he wants - a witness - and you can hear the grin hit the mic on the stretched “Friend!”

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Beetlejuice, freshly rebuffed by the Maitlands, mopes on the roof and riffs on being unseen. Lydia arrives, leaving a goodbye note. He spots it, hears her, and realizes she can see him. The loneliness gag turns into a strategy: if she can see him, she can say the name. The scene ends with a single word - “Friend!” - that is both needy and calculating.

Song Meaning

It’s a duet with solitude, then a contact spark. The reprise reframes the show’s visibility obsession: Lydia feels unseen by grief; Beetlejuice is unseen by design. The number sets their uneasy alliance in motion - empathy and opportunism on the same roof. Mood: sardonic self-pity flipping into giddy schemer.

Annotations

“You’re invisible when you’re me”

Direct echo of the prologue’s thesis, now owned by the demon. It doubles as a mirror to Lydia’s social invisibility. (Annotation #1)

“There’s no one to see my truth - ‘Hey, somebody’s on the roof!’”

He swerves from faux-depth to sight gag, undercutting sentiment with a billboard punchline. (Annotation #2)

“Mortifying”

Deadpan vocab joke - mort- means death - folded into his self-own. (Annotation #3)

“I vanished like a cloud of dirty hipster vape”

Contemporary pop-culture jab that dates the voice in a good way - this demon watches the timeline scroll. (Annotation #4)

[Choked crying]

The staging leans into parody and ache at once - the clown mask slips for a beat, then he snaps it back on. (Annotation #5)

“Nobody said life’s fair”

Business as bit: an extra arm hands him a tissue, an effects gag that keeps the tone comic. (Annotation #6)

“By the time you read this I, Lydia Deetz, will be gone.”

Lydia hits bottom after family news - the note becomes the fuse for the pairing. (Annotation #8)

“That makes two of us”

Shared hunger to be seen, opposite solutions. He wants life; she’s flirting with death. (Annotation #9)

“Can you see me?!” / “Yeah”

The first true hope in his voice since the earlier patter routines; she roasts him, he lights up anyway. (Annotations #10-11)

“I’m gonna have a new best… Friend!”

Held note with guitar lift; the punch lands needy and triumphant. A cartoon heart with teeth. (Annotations #12-13)

Style, motifs, instrumentation

Mid-tempo theatrical pop with winked rubato. Light rhythm section under a vocal-forward mix; dialogue lands dry, then the band buttons the scene. The reprise keeps the hook economy tight - no extra chorus, just mood, motion, and the hook word that resets Act I’s path.

Key Facts

• Artist: Alex Brightman, Sophia Anne Caruso, Kurt Deutsch, Eddie Perfect
• Composer & Lyricist: Eddie Perfect
• Producers: Kurt Deutsch; Eddie Perfect; Alex Timbers; Matt Stine
• Release Date: June 7, 2019
• Genre: Musical theatre, pop-leaning patter ballad
• Instruments: Pit band with rhythm section, guitars, brass touches, reeds
• Label: Sh-K-Boom Records
• Mood: Wry, lonely, suddenly elated
• Length: ~1:48
• Track #: 9 on the cast album
• Language: English
• Album: Beetlejuice (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Music style: Mid-tempo theatrical pop with dialogue intercut
• Poetic meter: Conversational free meter into held-button payoff

Canonical Entities & Relations

Questions and Answers

Where does the cue fall in the show?

Late in Act I’s first half, right before Beetlejuice pivots his plan toward Lydia.

How does it connect to “Prologue: Invisible”?

It flips the invisibility idea from Lydia’s social grief to Beetlejuice’s literal condition.

Why keep the track short?

It’s a plot hinge. The songwriting favors speed and clarity over a full reprise chorus.

What’s the primary vocal color?

Speak-sung sarcasm that softens at the discovery of being seen.

Is there an official upload?

Yes - a label “Provided to YouTube” audio exists alongside major streaming listings.

Any notable interpolations or quotes?

No overt classical quote here; the cue leans on text rhythm and a guitar-lift button.

Does the track chart on its own?

No - attention clustered around the full album and the show’s awards presence.

Awards and Chart Positions

Production recognition: The Broadway production received eight Tony Award nominations in 2019, including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Book, and Best Actor for Alex Brightman. Design teams earned additional industry nods and wins across that season’s award circuit.

How to Sing Invisible (Reprise)/On the Roof

Vocal range (Beetlejuice on album): roughly C4 to G4 with a sustained belt on “Friend.” Tempo: ~114 BPM, steady 4/4 with rubato during spoken exchanges. Likely key center: F major. Length: ~1:48. Style: sardonic patter turning earnest.

1. Tempo & feel: Lock in near 114 BPM, but let phrases breathe around the dialogue beats.
2. Diction: Chew the consonants in the comedy lines; keep vowels clean on the final sustained word.
3. Breath plan: Micro-breath before “Banished! Disavowed!” and a deeper prep for “Friend.”
4. Rhythm placement: Sit a hair behind the beat in the mope, then center the pulse when Lydia arrives.
5. Acting beat: Play the flip from self-pity to wonder honestly - the discovery reads louder than volume.
6. Ensemble cueing: If staged with underscored dialogue, coordinate pick-ups so the button lands clean.
7. Mic craft: Stay close for the mutters; pull back slightly on the final button to avoid splash.
8. Pitfalls: Over-belting the button, flattening the joke timing, and rushing the verse.
9. Practice kit: Metronome at 114; speak-then-sing reps; two takes with recorded underscore to nail the entrance overlap.

Additional Info

The show’s visibility fixation keeps looping back - grief hides Lydia; rules hide Beetlejuice. This tiny rooftop turns that concept into plot fuel. According to the Tony Awards’ materials, the score carried a nomination alongside a cluster of design nods - a useful reminder that the record you hear was engineered for a stage machine built to pivot on moments like this. Streaming metadata pegs the cue’s key and tempo with uncanny agreement across databases, helpful for rehearsal prep.

Sources: Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, Wikipedia, Tony Awards, Tunebat, Musicstax, London Theatre