Requiem Lyrics
Requiem
ZOE:Why should I play this game of pretend?
Remembering through a secondhand sorrow?
Such a great son and wonderful friend
Oh don't the tears just pour
I can curl up and hide in my room
There in my bed still sobbing tomorrow
I could give in to all of the gloom
But tell me, tell me what for
Why should I have a heavy heart?
Why should I start to break in pieces?
Why should I go and fall apart for you?
Why should I play the grieving girl and
Lie saying that I miss you
And that my world has gone dark without your light
I will sing no requiem tonight
LARRY: (spoken) I'm going to bed
CYNTHIA: (spoken) Come sit with me
LARRY: Cynthia
CYNTHIA: For five minutes?
LARRY: I'm exhausted
CYNTHIA: You know Larry, at some point you're going to have to start-
LARRY: Not tonight. Please. I'll leave the light on for you.
LARRY: (sung)
I gave you the world, you threw it away,
leaving these broken pieces behind you
Everything wasted, nothing to say
So I can sing no requiem
CYNTHIA:
I hear your voice, feel you near
Within these words I finally find you
And now that I know that you are still here
I will sing no requiem tonight
ZOE & LARRY: Why should I have a heavy heart?
ZOE:
Why should I say I'll keep you with me?
Why should I go and fall apart for you?
Why should I play the grieving girl and lie saying that I miss you
And that my world has gone dark without your light
I will sing no requiem
Tonight
'Cuz when the villains fall, the kingdoms never weep
No one lights a candle to remember
No, no one mourns at all
They lay them to sleep
So don't tell me that I didn't have it right
Don't tell me that it wasn't black and white
After all you've put me through, don't say it wasn't true
That you were not the monster that I knew,
'Cuz I cannot play the grieving girl and lie
Saying that I miss you and that my world has gone dark
LARRY: I will sing no requiem
CYNTHIA: I will sing no requiem
ZOE: I will sing no requiem tonight
Song Overview
Review and Highlights
I hear “Requiem” as the musical’s pressure valve. No halos. No airbrushing. Three members of the Murphy family confront a death and refuse the usual script. Zoe pushes back with cool clarity, Larry vents in tight bursts, Cynthia clings to what she can still feel. Pasek and Paul write it like a pop-adjacent lament - steady pulse, luminous strings, guitars that shimmer instead of wail - and Alex Lacamoire’s chart lets each voice bloom without stepping on the others. The hook isn’t a hook so much as a stance: I will sing no requiem tonight.
Highlights
- Three angles, one truth: the song lets grief disagree with itself. That friction is the point.
- Production as storytelling: strings and acoustic guitar carry the ache; the rhythm section keeps emotions moving rather than wallowing.
- Character writing: Zoe’s lines cut, Larry’s slam, Cynthia’s glow - three different weather systems in one track.
- Canon moment: it’s the show’s clearest argument against automatic sainthood after tragedy.
Creation History
“Requiem” arrived to fans early as a 24-hour pre-release stream in late January 2017, days before the digital cast album dropped. On the Dear Evan Hansen Original Broadway Cast Recording, producers are Alex Lacamoire with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, with Broadway producer Stacey Mindich credited as co-producer; Atlantic Records issued the album. The track later reappeared in the 2021 film adaptation, sung by Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams, and Danny Pino.
Song Meaning and Annotations
Plot
After Evan claims he and Connor were close, the Murphys respond. Zoe won’t pretend her brother was gentle. Larry can’t square privilege with suicide. Cynthia finds comfort in words she thinks he left behind. The song is a braid: Zoe’s refusal, Larry’s fury, Cynthia’s faith that presence lingers.
Song Meaning
This isn’t a memorial. It’s a veto. The refrain “I will sing no requiem” means: I won’t falsify who he was to me. The message lands in layers - personal truth over public ritual; anger as a valid phase of mourning; and the danger of posthumous myth-making when the living still carry bruises. Mood-wise, it starts cool and skeptical, swells into righteous heat, and lands in a bittersweet light where Cynthia “still hears” her son.
Annotations
Songwriters wrote this in the kind of style Zoe would actually keep on her playlist, striking an indie-pop balance in Laura Dreyfuss’ delivery.
“We wanted to write this song in a style of music that Zoe might listen to… a balance of indie and pop.”That design choice lets her skepticism feel modern rather than melodramatic.
Zoe won’t role-play the perfect mourner:
“Before Connor’s suicide… Zoe has built up a resentment… she feels like she has to ‘pretend’ that she and Connor had an ideal sibling relationship.”Her barbs about “secondhand sorrow” jab at performative grief:
“She sarcastically mocks the fake sadness of people who pretend they know Connor.”
Larry voices stunned anger:
“I gave you the world, you threw it away… Everything wasted.”His line reads like an invoice after a storm, while Cynthia’s opens a window:
“I hear your voice, I feel you near… within these words, I finally find you.”That last clause stings once we know the emails are fabricated.
The chorus tagline is a thesis with three footnotes:
“Zoe… because he was abusive. Larry… because he never understands. Cynthia… because she believes he’s still here.”You can hear the orchestration underline that split - Zoe’s section sits darker; Cynthia lifts. One sly twist:
“She changes from ‘will not’ to ‘cannot’… her determination is cracking.”
The villain-candle couplet is Zoe’s hardest edge:
“When the villains fall, the kingdoms never weep… No one lights a candle to remember.”It’s a refusal to let hindsight sand down harm.
Genre & production
Pop-ballad chassis with theater bones: midtempo groove, acoustic guitars and strings forward, crisp drum kit, transparent keys. That clarity lets each family member own a register - Zoe’s indie-adjacent topline, Larry’s clipped baritone phrases, Cynthia’s warming mezzo.
Historical & cultural touchpoints
“No one mourns the wicked” rings a bell for Broadway listeners. The song pushes against that binary. Grief is rarely binary.
Language & imagery
“Light” vs “dark” works double-duty: memory as illumination and spin as glare. The title word itself - requiem - is a ritual she refuses, replacing ceremony with candor.
Key Facts
- Artist: Laura Dreyfuss, Michael Park, Jennifer Laura Thompson
- Composer: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul
- Lyricists: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul
- Producers (cast album track): Alex Lacamoire; Benj Pasek; Justin Paul (co-producer: Stacey Mindich; producer for Atlantic: Pete Ganbarg)
- Release Date: February 3, 2017
- Album: Dear Evan Hansen (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
- Label: Atlantic Records
- Length: 4:19
- Genre: Musical theatre with indie-pop lean
- Track #: 5
- Instruments: strings, acoustic/electric guitars, piano/keys, bass, drums
- Language: English
- Recording studio: Avatar Studios, New York City
- © Copyrights: Autumn Smile Broadway LLC; Atlantic Records; Warner Music Group
Questions and Answers
- Who produced “Requiem” on the cast album?
- Alex Lacamoire with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul; co-producer Stacey Mindich. Atlantic’s Pete Ganbarg is credited as producer for the label.
- When was “Requiem” released?
- As part of the digital cast album on February 3, 2017, after a 24-hour advance stream the prior week.
- Who wrote the song?
- Music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
- Does “Requiem” appear in the 2021 film?
- Yes. It’s performed on-screen by Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams, and Danny Pino.
- Any notable alternate versions?
- A widely shared solo arrangement by Mallory Bechtel (Broadway’s Zoe) and a Brazilian Portuguese “Réquiem” from the 2024 production.
Awards and Chart Positions
- Billboard 200: the cast album debuted at #8 in the week dated February 25, 2017 - the highest original cast debut since 1961.
- Grammy: Best Musical Theater Album winner at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards (2018).
How to Sing “Requiem”
Tempo & key: around 80 BPM, recorded in E major on the OBC. That midtempo glide helps you keep the text crisp while letting phrases breathe.
Vocal placement: Zoe sits in a bright mix that can pivot from cool to cutting. Larry reads baritone - keep the consonants percussive without going shouty. Cynthia warms into a lyric mezzo lane; think legato lines with grounded air.
Breath & phrasing: mark breaths before the two longer Zoe stanzas so you don’t rush the rhetorical questions. On “I will sing no requiem,” resist the urge to over-vibrate; the power is in the plainspoken weight.
Blend (ensemble versions): match vowels on the shared refrains. Let Zoe carry the edge, Cynthia the halo, Larry the spine.
Additional Info
Notable appearances & covers: film version by Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams, Danny Pino; Mallory Bechtel’s solo take with Lacamoire on piano; Brazilian “Réquiem” in the 2024 Rio/São Paulo production.