My Own Best Friend Lyrics - Chicago

Song Overview

I first heard Bebe Neuwirth and Ann Reinking tear into “My Own Best Friend” and thought: that’s the whole Chicago engine in one duet - sharp syncopation, vaudeville gleam, and a wink that cuts. The track sits on the New Broadway Cast Recording, produced by Jay David Saks with the revival band snapping like a pit full of razors. The hook lands clean, the brass bites, and the lyrics roll with a gambler’s grin.

Review & Highlights

This cut from Chicago the Musical hits like a pact signed in lipstick. The lyrics sell self-preservation with a grin, while the band struts a jazz-tinged two-step that makes defiance feel like good manners. My take: the performance crackles because Bebe Neuwirth and Ann Reinking trade swagger, not sympathy. They keep the stakes playful and deadly at the same time.

Snapshot: Two women realize the surest partner is the face in the mirror - and they sing it like a prizefight in heels.

Verse 1

The verses open spare and sly, patter sitting right on the beat. You hear the room tighten. Consonants pop, and the rhythm section answers like a smirk.

Chorus

The title phrase locks in over brass stabs - bright, clipped, and just a little dangerous. It’s the thesis statement as battle cry.

Exchange/Bridge

They volley lines, mirror each other, then fuse into one voice. That’s the trick: rivalry flipping into alliance without softening an inch.

Final Build

The arrangement widens, drums strut, and they plant the tag with showgirl precision. Curtain-worthy even on record.

Song Meaning and Annotations

At heart, the song is a credo. It frames survival not as cruelty but clarity in a town where applause is currency. The groove - part vaudeville, part nightclub shuffle - keeps the message light on its feet.

“Self-reliance here isn’t isolation - it’s strategy.”

The emotional arc starts coy and ends steel-eyed. Each repeated vow tightens the knot. You can dance to it, which is the point.

“The duet turns rivalry into harmony without resolving the rivalry.”

Historically, Chicago’s revival leaned into celebrity culture and tabloid heat of the 90s. This lyric lands even harder in that glare - fame as armor, headlines as oxygen.

“Every promise in the text doubles as a contract with the audience.”

Production-wise, the pit band is lean: brass forward, reeds darting, rhythm crisp. Banjo and tuba color the period without nostalgia, while piano drives the patter.

“Listen for the brass punctuation - jokes told with trumpets.”

Language-wise, the title phrase is the hinge. It’s simple, chantable, and flips sentiment into swagger. No metaphoric fog, just a neon sign.

“Short lines, quick rhymes, little room to hide - that’s why it sells.”

Symbolically, three little words sketch a city ethic: you are your own bank, lawyer, and press agent. Hard truth, humming in a major key.

Message

Choose yourself out loud. In this world, love is a headline; loyalty is an inside job.

Emotional tone

Playful at first, then firm, finally triumphant. Smiles sharpen into a stance.

Historical context

Born in a 1975 score and reborn in the 1996 revival that minted a long-running juggernaut, the number mirrors the era’s media appetite. The revival’s success - Tonys, Grammy, endless marquee names - keeps the lyric current.

Production & instrumentation

Producer Jay David Saks captures the pit with theater clarity: close vocals, forward brass, tight drums, piano as ringmaster. Orchestration by Ralph Burns threads old-school showband with modern snap.

Key phrases & idioms

The hook “my own best friend” reads like advice and alibi. Phrases about making rules and passing tests turn life into gameshow grammar - easy to chant, hard to forget.

Creation history

Kander and Ebb wrote the piece as a first-act declaration for Roxie and Velma. In the 2002 film adaptation, the number was cut - a choice that tightened the movie’s concept but left this duet a stage loyalist’s treasure.

Key Facts

• Featured: Ann Reinking & Rob Fisher
• Producer: Jay David Saks
• Composer: John Kander; Lyricist: Fred Ebb
• Release Date: January 28, 1997
• Genre: Broadway, Jazz-influenced show tune, Vaudeville flair
• Instruments: brass section, reeds/woodwinds, banjo, tuba, trombone, trumpet, drums, piano, bass, accordion, violin
• Label: RCA Victor / BMG Classics
• Mood: witty, flinty, self-possessed
• Length: approximately 2:39
• Track #: 12
• Language: English
• Album: Chicago The Musical (New Broadway Cast Recording (1997))
• Music style: pit-band jazz with Fosse-era bite
• Poetic meter: predominantly iambic pulses riding a two-step groove
• © Copyrights: 1997 BMG Music; composition © Kander & Ebb

Questions and Answers

Who produced “My Own Best Friend” on the 1997 New Broadway Cast Recording?

Jay David Saks.

When was this recording released?

January 28, 1997, on RCA Victor.

Who wrote the music and lyrics?

John Kander composed the music; Fred Ebb wrote the lyrics.

Is the song in the 2002 Chicago film?

No - the movie cut it, keeping the number as a stage signature.

What’s the musical style?

Broadway show tune with a tight jazz pit-band feel and vaudeville snap.

Awards and Chart Positions

The revival that birthed this track swept the 1997 Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Musical, with Bebe Neuwirth and James Naughton winning in leading categories and Ann Reinking and Walter Bobbie honored for choreography and direction. The cast album later won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album.

How to Sing My Own Best Friend?

Treat it like a pact. Keep diction crisp, sit the phrases right on the beat, and let the consonants carry attitude. Think duet as mirror - trade lines first, blend later.

• Vocal approach: Mezzo-friendly duet that rewards chest-dominant mix, quick flips to head on the tag lines.
• Tempo & feel: Mid-tempo two-step with jazz punctuation. Lock to piano and ride the brass hits.
• Breath plan: Map breaths before the title refrains; save air for the final stacked vowels.
• Range & keys: Published materials circulate in several theatre-friendly keys (Ab through Db common), so pick the transposition that keeps the hook sitting easy.
• Blend & banter: Keep your timbres distinct in the verses, then match vowels on the choruses to land the alliance.