I Am Here For You Lyrics — Book of Mormon, The

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. Act I duet: Elder Cunningham tries to steady Elder Price after the shock of Uganda.
2. Written as a lullaby-with-a-grin: tender phrasing, then a sly doctrinal pun as a hook.
3. On the Original Broadway Cast Recording, it follows "Turn It Off" as track 6.
4. The score flips tone fast here: big ensemble drill, then a small, private promise.

The Book of Mormon (2011) - stage musical - diegetic. Act I, in the missionaries' living space in Uganda, Cunningham finds Price spiraling and answers with a soft duet that plays like a bedtime ritual. According to New York Theatre Guide, the scene is rooted in Price's dread that the local mission has produced no converts, and Cunningham tries to reframe the odds as the very thing that could make their success legendary.

What I love about this number is its nerve: it refuses to be a "big song." After the theatrical machinery of "Turn It Off," this piece comes in close, like a friend lowering his voice so the room can exhale. The melody leans on simple steps and easy landing spots, which makes the comedy sharper when it arrives, because the delivery is sincere enough to sell the comfort.

The duet also sketches the partnership as a kind of buddy-movie pact. Cunningham is not offering strategy, he is offering presence. That matters in a show that often uses spectacle to satirize certainty. Here, the satire momentarily steps aside and lets the relationship breathe, then slips the joke back in through a pun that sounds like doctrine and affection at the same time.

Creation History

The song is part of the score by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone, written for the Broadway production that opened in March 2011. On record, it appears on the Ghostlight cast album released May 17, 2011, with Stephen Oremus among the credited producers, and it is performed on the track by Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad. The production's musical supervision, vocal work, and co-orchestration are credited to Oremus, with co-orchestration by Larry Hochman, a detail also highlighted by the Eugene O'Neill Theatre's official box office page.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Act I drops Price and Cunningham into Uganda and immediately confronts them with suffering, danger, and a mission that feels impossible. Price becomes overwhelmed by the lack of progress and the reality around him. Cunningham responds the way he knows how: with unwavering loyalty, a gentle melody, and a promise that tomorrow can still be shaped. The duet plays like a nighttime conversation turned into song, with warmth doing the work that logic cannot.

Song Meaning

At heart, this is a song about companionship as survival. Cunningham is trying to keep Price from collapsing under pressure, but he is also asking to be seen as more than a tagalong. A smart reading, echoed in a Dialogue Journal essay, is that the number becomes a plea for closeness: the sidekick asking the hero to let the bond count as real.

Musically, it functions as a palate cleanser and a character microscope. The score stops performing "Broadway history" for a minute and instead performs friendship. Then the writers reintroduce their satirical lens with a bright little line that ties theology to reassurance, making the comfort feel culturally specific rather than generic.

Annotations

1. I am here for you

   It is a plain sentence on purpose. The show is packed with slogans and spectacle, so this straightforward promise lands like a hand on the shoulder.

2. Tomorrow is a latter day

   According to New York Theatre Guide, the lyric is a wordplay nod to the church's name, turning a doctrinal label into a bedtime reassurance. It is sweet, funny, and a little desperate, which is exactly where the characters are.

3. Goodnight, best friend

   Keep it small. In performance, this line can sound like a joke or a confession, depending on how much the actor lets the vulnerability show.

Style and pacing

The piece moves at a relaxed, lullaby-like tempo, and its tonal restraint is a structural choice. It arrives right after a high-energy ensemble number, so the calm is not accidental - it is a deliberate contrast that lets the audience register Price's panic and Cunningham's caretaking without distraction.

Subtext and character stakes

Cunningham is often the engine of chaos, but here he is a caretaker, and that shift is important. He wants Price to feel safe, but he also wants the partnership to feel mutual. The duet hints that the friendship is not only comic relief - it is a dependency, a hope, and sometimes a bargaining chip.

Technical Information

• Artist: The Book of Mormon (The musical) - Original Broadway Cast
• Featured: Andrew Rannells; Josh Gad
• Composer: Trey Parker; Robert Lopez; Matt Stone
• Producer: Stephen Oremus; Trey Parker; Robert Lopez; Matt Stone (cast recording credits)
• Release Date: May 17, 2011
• Genre: Musical theatre; musical comedy
• Instruments: Broadway pit setup with woodwinds, brass, percussion, keyboards, strings, guitars, basses
• Label: Ghostlight Records
• Mood: Gentle reassurance with comic undertone
• Length: About 2:04
• Track #: 6 (on the Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Language: English
• Album (if any): The Book of Mormon: Original Broadway Cast Recording
• Music style: Lullaby-like duet inside a classic Broadway pastiche score
• Poetic meter: Conversational phrasing shaped into regular, singable couplets

Questions and Answers

Where does the duet sit in the story?

It appears in Act I, after the missionaries realize how difficult the Uganda assignment is, with Cunningham trying to keep Price from shutting down.

Who sings it on the cast recording?

Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad perform the duet on the Original Broadway Cast Recording.

Is this song a comedy number or a sincere moment?

It is both. The tone is soothing, but the writing keeps a sly grin through wordplay and character timing.

What is the dramatic function?

It narrows the lens to the partnership. After big ensemble satire, the show makes the friendship feel personal and necessary.

Why does the lyric about "tomorrow" matter?

According to New York Theatre Guide, it doubles as a pun on the church name while also behaving like a lullaby promise that the future can still be okay.

How does it shape Cunningham as a character?

It shows him as a caregiver, not only a chaos agent. He wants to help Price, but he also wants the bond to be recognized as real.

What is the subtext that critics often point to?

A Dialogue Journal reading frames it as Cunningham asking for emotional intimacy, the sidekick hoping the hero will let him matter beyond utility.

Is there a reprise?

Yes, stage sources describe an "I Am Here For You" reprise that is not included on the cast album.

Does the song have an official single release?

Not as a standard pop single. It is primarily known as a cast-album track within the show recording.

Awards and Chart Positions

The track itself is not treated as a chart single, but its parent cast album became a modern benchmark for Broadway recordings. According to Billboard reporting on cast-album history, the cast recording reached a peak of No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in 2011, a rare height for the category. The album later won the 2012 GRAMMY for Best Musical Theater Album; according to Playbill, the win was announced during the February 12, 2012 ceremony.

Additional Info

Two details sharpen how this number sits inside the show. First, it is followed by a loud history lesson song, which makes the lullaby feel like the last quiet corner before the plot accelerates. Second, multiple guides note that the stage version includes a reprise that did not make the cast album, a reminder that cast recordings sometimes streamline narrative beats even when the stage keeps them.

In the broader score, the duet is a tiny hinge. It lets Price be scared without turning him into a punchline, and it lets Cunningham be loyal without making him purely pathetic. That balance is hard to pull off in a satire, and this is where the writers show their hand: they can joke and still make the bond feel human.

Key Contributors

Sources: New York Theatre Guide song guide, Dialogue Journal essay on the musical, IBDB production page, Eugene O'Neill Theatre official box office page, GRAMMY.com video page, Playbill news, Wikipedia cast recording entry, YouTube topic upload