To Break In A Glove Lyrics – Dear Evan Hansen
To Break In A Glove Lyrics
No one will tell you how to really do it right
That's a secret method only known to very few
So if you need some pointers, just in case you might
Well, then, maybe I could show you what to do
LARRY: (spoken) Shaving cream
EVAN: (spoken) Shaving cream?
LARRY:
You rub that in for about five minutes
And then you tie it all up in rubber bands
Put it under your mattress, and sleep on it
And then the next day, you repeat
And you gotta do it for at least a week, every day, consistently
LARRY: (sung)
And though this method isn't easy
Every second that you spend is gonna pay off
It'll pay off in the end
It just takes a little patience
Takes a little time
A little perseverance
A little uphill climb
You might not think it's worth it
You might begin to doubt
But you can't take any shortcuts
You gotta stick it out
And it's the hard way, but it's the right way
The right way to break in a glove
LARRY: (spoken)
But nowadays, with your generation
I hate to say it, but it's all about instant gratification
Who wants to read a book when you can read the Facebook instead?
EVAN: (spoken) Totally
LARRY: (spoken)
Speaking of instant gratification, I figured we might need it
I mean, only if you want to
EVAN: (spoken) Definitely
LARRY: (sung)
Some people say just use a microwave
Or try that "run it through hot water" technique
Well, they can gloat about the time they saved
'til they gotta buy another glove next week
It just takes a little patience
Takes a little time
A little perseverance
And a little uphill climb
And it's the hard way, but it's the right way
The right way...
There's a right way in everything you do
Keep that grit
Follow through
Even when everyone around you thinks you're crazy
Even when everyone around you lets things go
And if you're prepping for some test
Or if you're miles from some goal
Or you're just trying to do what's best
For a kid who's lost control
You do the hard thing
And that's the right thing
Yeah, that's the right way
Song Overview
Review and Highlights
I’ve always heard this number as the show’s stealth duet about maintenance - of leather, sure, but mostly of people. Larry Murphy explains the slow craft of softening a stiff mitt while Evan listens like a kid who’s been waiting years for someone to explain how to be held. The music stays grounded: fingerpicked guitar, brushed kit, a patient rise. No fireworks, just steady heat. That restraint lets the subtext breathe - a father rehearsing the care he didn’t manage to give his son, a son-shaped space that Evan briefly fills.
Highlights:
- Metaphor that lands - every tip about shaving cream and rubber bands doubles as advice for messy lives: patience, consistency, follow through.
- Character pivot - Larry drops the bark and reveals the rulebook he lives by; Evan echoes lines back until they sing together, a borrowed closeness that feels good and wrong at once.
- Craft choices - Alex Lacamoire’s orchestration keeps texture lean so the lyric can do the parenting.
Creation History
Music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, with orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire. The track appears on the Atlantic Records cast album, sung by Michael Park and Ben Platt. On stage, it arrives after “You Will Be Found,” turning the act’s spotlight outward into a garage full of baseball gear and unsaid things. In the 2021 film adaptation the number was cut, which sharpened how crucial its father-son subtext is to the stage arc.
Song Meaning and Annotations
Plot
In the Murphys’ garage, Larry finds an unopened glove he once bought for Connor. He offers it to Evan and then - almost reflexively - teaches him how to break it in. While Larry gives step-by-step technique, he slips into confession: how doing things the slow way felt right, how sticking it out matters, how hard things are usually the right things. Evan mirrors him, repeating lines until their voices align. It’s tender, and it’s borrowed. The gift doesn’t belong to Evan, and that’s the sting.
Song Meaning
The glove is a proxy for relationships that won’t soften overnight. The lesson: small, repeated acts build shape. The scene also frames Larry’s grief - discipline as love - and Evan’s ache for a father script. Stylistically, it leans pop-folk with Broadway clarity; rhythm sits in an easy mid-tempo lilt so the lyric can land. The mood moves from tentative to warm. The message isn’t inspirational dazzle; it’s habit.
Annotations
“The song opens with a guitar riff, albeit a muffled one... the use of such a riff indicates the same kind of relationship is forming between Evan and the Murphys, though the muffling showcases the fact that it is more of a forced relationship on shaky footing.”
Right - the guitar arrives as family shorthand, only blurred, because this family fit is provisional.
“Yes, this is a real method of breaking in a baseball glove... shaving cream is not an uncommon way to soften up a baseball glove.”
The realism matters. A practical trick makes the metaphor feel lived-in, not poetic window dressing.
“It just takes a little patience / It takes a little time... You gotta stick it out.”
Here the genre blend - conversational Broadway pop over folk picking - lets a maxim sound like a dad trying, not a poster on a wall.
“Connor was really lucky to have a dad that uh...”
That half-line does more than a speech. Evan reaches for what he wanted to say - was around - and can’t. The silence fills itself.
Production & instrumentation
Light acoustic guitar sets the pocket; piano tucks under for warmth; drums stay restrained. The arrangement avoids swell until the pair sing in tandem, where the blend is the point. No belt-off fireworks - just two baritonal colors sitting close enough to pass a lesson between them.
Cultural touchpoints
For a show steeped in social media, this is the analog chapter: leather, shaving cream, rubber bands. The old-school ritual gives weight to Larry’s worldview and reveals why Zoe and Cynthia often clash with it.
Key Facts
- Artist: Michael Park & Ben Platt
- Composer: Justin Paul & Benj Pasek
- Lyricists: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
- Producer: Stacey Mindich (cast album produced by Alex Lacamoire, Pasek & Paul as well)
- Release date: January 27, 2017 - digital album
- Album: Dear Evan Hansen - Original Broadway Cast Recording
- Label: Atlantic Records
- Genre: Broadway pop - folk inflections
- Length: ~3:50
- Track #: 9
- Language: English
- Instruments: acoustic guitar, piano, bass, light drums, strings
- Mood: reflective, fatherly, steadied
- Music style: mid-tempo duple feel, conversational phrasing with anapestic lifts in refrains
- © Copyrights: 2017 Autumn Smile Broadway LLC; Atlantic Records; Warner Music Group - phonographic rights holders credited on release
Questions and Answers
- Who produced “To Break in a Glove” on the cast album?
- Stacey Mindich is credited; the overall album production team also includes Alex Lacamoire plus Pasek & Paul.
- When was it released?
- It arrived with the digital cast album on January 27, 2017, with physical formats following.
- Who wrote it?
- Music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
- Is it in the 2021 film adaptation?
- No - the movie omits the number, reshaping Larry’s arc on screen.
- Are there non-English versions?
- International stage productions translate the song; the Brazilian company mounted a Portuguese version during its 2024 run.
Awards and Chart Positions
The cast album that features this track won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Commercially, the album reached the Billboard 200 top ten and returned to the chart multiple times as the show’s profile grew.
How to Sing To Break in a Glove
Range & placement - sits comfortably for baritone or bari-tenor. Larry’s lines stay speech-like in the low-mid register; Evan’s echoes float a notch higher. Aim for forward, conversational placement rather than vibrato-heavy croon.
Breath & pacing - phrases are compact. Think “talk on pitch,” release ends clean, and keep airflow moving through the longer “right way” sustains.
Color - let timbre warm as the two voices align. The song grows by trust, not volume.
Tempo - moderate, steady. Resist rushing the instructions. The patience in the lyric should hear itself in the time you take.
Additional Info
- Stage context: In many productions the glove is still tagged - a simple prop that lands like a gut punch.
- Film note: Cutting the song on screen sparked fan debate, because the number is the show’s clearest window into Larry’s code - hard way as right way.
- Translations: The 2024 Brazilian production mounted by T4F/Opus used Portuguese lyrics across the score, including this duet.