God Sees Everything Lyrics – Great Gatsby, The

Song Overview

“God Sees Everything” is the tense, short fuse of The Great Gatsby - A New Musical: George Wilson stares up at a looming optometrist billboard and reads it like scripture. Sung by Paul Whitty as Wilson, the piece arrives after Myrtle’s death and sets the man on his fatal course. The cast album dropped on June 28, 2024 on Masterworks Broadway, with music by Jason Howland and lyrics by Nathan Tysen. The track clocks in at about a minute, but it lands like a verdict.

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

1. Character song for George Wilson after Myrtle’s hit-and-run; he fixates on a billboard he reads as divine judgment.
2. Appears late in Act 2, right before Wilson decides on retribution that changes the ending.
3. Pop-orchestral pulse with a stern march feel in triple meter; compact 1-minute form that functions like a dramatic trigger.
4. Cast album released June 28, 2024 by Masterworks Broadway; performed by Paul Whitty with the company.
5. Ties directly to Fitzgerald’s recurring symbol of the all-seeing eyes over the Valley of Ashes.

Creation History

The show’s score is by Jason Howland with lyrics by Nathan Tysen, and the original Broadway cast album was issued by Masterworks Broadway, part of Sony Music. A performance clip of the number with Paul Whitty circulated alongside other album tracks. The writing here leans on a steady 3-beat pattern and a focused melodic range that suits a weary, working-class baritone - more spit and grit than shine.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

George Wilson has just lost Myrtle. The police are circling, the city keeps humming, and George is left beneath a pair of painted eyes that seem to judge everything below. He treats the eyes like a confessor and a command post. He wants answers. He wants a target. He chooses one. The song ends with momentum, not comfort, sending him toward Gatsby.

Song Meaning

This is guilt and providence argued on a street corner. Wilson feels small yet chosen, convinced that if “God sees everything,” then somebody must act on that knowledge. The track frames faith as both solace and spark - a belief that turns into agency. Musically, the waltz-like meter tightens the vise while the orchestration hints at menace. The brevity makes it hit like a flare: quick light, long shadow.

Annotations

“You’ve got the eyes of God, Doc”

The line names the billboard as an authority. In the source novel, that ad is routinely read as a proxy for judgment, an image people project their conscience onto. Here, Wilson literalizes it - the ad becomes a witness and a judge.

“They want me to come in”

He’s being pulled into official channels while still sitting on secrets from the criminal undercurrent he knew about. He’s not a suspect, but he isn’t clean either. That tension feeds his urgency.

“We know who drove away”

He believes he does. He recognizes the car from earlier in the day. Certainty is the fuel; accuracy is another matter.

“God sees everything - but he’s slow on his commands”

Wilson decides that if the heavens won’t move, he will. The lyric draws a stark split between an all-seeing, passive watcher and a flawed human who acts. That split is the tragedy: knowledge without motion, motion without knowledge.

Meter, key, and tempo

Built in triple time with a stern swing, the song sits around 132 bpm in A-flat major, and runs roughly a minute. Short form, high stakes.

Style and instrumentation

Orchestra-first pop writing: low strings and percussion keep the tread, brass flashes underline resolve, and the vocal is set in a narrow, speech-forward line. You hear a baritone telling himself a story until it hardens into a mission.

Context touchpoints

Fitzgerald’s billboard - the famous eyes over the Valley of Ashes - becomes the moral mirror. The number lines up with the book’s idea that symbols don’t save anyone; people choose what to see. As stated in the 2024 Tony Awards coverage, the Broadway production sat inside a larger season that mixed period spectacle with modern pop sheen - this track is the show’s moral chill.

Key Facts

• Artist: Original Broadway Cast of The Great Gatsby - A New Musical; lead vocal by Paul Whitty
• Featured: Company voices as crowd and conscience
• Composer: Jason Howland
• Producer: Album released by Masterworks Broadway
• Release Date: June 28, 2024
• Genre: Musical theatre - pop orchestral
• Instruments: Orchestra with rhythm section, brass, strings, percussion
• Label: Masterworks Broadway
• Mood: grim, resolute, accusatory
• Length: about 1:02
• Track #: 19 on the cast album
• Language: English
• Album: The Great Gatsby - A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Music style: minor-tinged A-flat palette with martial triple meter
• Poetic meter: mostly accented prose with clipped, imperative phrasing

Canonical Entities & Relations

• Jason Howland - composed the score.
• Nathan Tysen - wrote the lyrics.
• Kait Kerrigan - wrote the book.
• Paul Whitty - portrays George Wilson and performs the song on the album.
• Masterworks Broadway - released the cast recording.
• Chunsoo Chin - lead producer of the Broadway production.
• Linda Cho - designed the production’s Tony-winning costumes.
• The Broadway Theatre, New York - Broadway venue for the production.
• F. Scott Fitzgerald - authored the novel that inspired the musical.
• Dr. T. J. Eckleburg billboard - symbolic motif tied to the lyric’s premise.

Questions and Answers

Where does this number fall in the show’s story?

Late in Act 2, after Myrtle’s death, right before Wilson sets out to confront Gatsby.

Who sings it on the cast album?

Paul Whitty, in character as George Wilson.

What famous image from the novel does the lyric lean on?

The all-seeing eyes on an optometrist billboard over the Valley of Ashes.

How would you describe the groove?

A taut waltz feel - triple meter with a march-like tread that keeps pushing forward.

Is there a full music video?

An official audio upload exists along with performance clips shared around the album’s release window.

What musical forces carry the tension?

Low strings and percussion set the pulse; brass stabs underline hard lines; the vocal sits close to speech.

What makes the song important despite the short runtime?

It flips Wilson from bystander to actor. The piece functions as the fuse for the climax.

What’s the key and tempo used for practice planning?

A-flat major at roughly 132 bpm, in triple meter.

Does the track appear on the commercial album?

Yes - it is track 19 on the original Broadway cast recording released June 28, 2024.

Awards and Chart Positions

The Broadway production that originated this recording won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musical for Linda Cho. That trophy marked the show’s most prominent award during its debut season. Trade outlets also noted the album’s splashy rollout in late June 2024.

How to Sing God Sees Everything

Key: A-flat major. Tempo: about 132 bpm. Meter: triple time. Style: speech-forward theatre baritone with sustained grit. Tessitura: sits in baritone comfort, closer to conversational mid-range than heroic top notes.

1. Set the tempo: Count a firm 1-2-3 before every entrance. Keep the pulse steady, like boots on wet pavement.
2. Diction first: Consonants drive the threat. Land final consonants cleanly without chopping the line.
3. Breathing: Plan quick, quiet inhales at punctuation. The phrases are short - avoid overfilling.
4. Flow and rhythm: Lean into the natural stress of the words on beat 1. Let beats 2 and 3 carry the thought forward.
5. Accents: Save the heaviest emphasis for “God” and “hands.” Too many big hits will blur the aim.
6. Ensemble and doubles: If company vocals shadow you, keep your vowel shape consistent so the blend doesn’t smear the lyric.
7. Mic craft: Stay close for whispers; pull back slightly on shouted lines to avoid distortion.
8. Common pitfalls: Rushing the waltz, over-singing the top of phrases, and losing clarity on the word “everything.”
9. Practice materials: Run with a metronome at 128-136 bpm. Drone the tonic to lock pitch center in A-flat. Speak the text in time before singing.

Additional Info

Album coverage framed the score as a pop-forward take on Fitzgerald’s world, while keeping the story’s darker undercurrent intact. According to Playbill and Masterworks’ own notes, the recording followed a brisk timeline from spring previews to a summer drop, mirroring the show’s fast rise on Broadway. NME magazine’s seasonal roundups put theatre tracks shoulder to shoulder with chart pop, a reminder that cast albums live in the same headphones now.

Sources

Masterworks Broadway; Playbill; Apple Music; Billboard Cast Albums index; Tony Awards site; People magazine; Musicstax.