Embrace It Lyrics — Lestat

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

• A heated duet between Louis and Lestat that lands in Act II, right after the move to New Orleans reframes their bond.
• Music by Elton John with lyrics by Bernie Taupin; book by Linda Woolverton; the staging debuted in late 2005 with a Broadway run in 2006.
• This track functions as a moral standoff: Lestat argues for appetite and acceptance, Louis clings to conscience and fear.
• No commercial single or official cast album release surfaced, though a cast recording session was completed and Elton John demos exist in the wild.
• The vocal writing sets a baritone-leaning charisma against a lyric tenor’s ache, creating a push-pull contour over a rock-theatre groove.

Creation History

By the mid 2000s, Elton John and Bernie Taupin were deep enough into theatre that a vampire saga felt less like a gamble and more like a challenge. With Linda Woolverton adapting Anne Rice, the team shaped a score that toggled between gothic hush and arena-size lift. "Embrace It" crystallizes that approach. The hook is terse and imperative - a two-word mantra that Lestat throws like a switchblade. The verses give Louis space to fold into doubt and spiritual fatigue. That polarity is the song’s engine. It is less an aria than a duel set to backbeat.

Onstage, the number sits after Louis has become what he feared he might be. The orchestration leans modern pop-rock with theatrical brass and string accents, built to let two voices trade blows. When the chorus lands, the harmonic language tightens, and the rhythm section holds a steady pulse so the actors can punch the consonants. The musical closed quickly, but "Embrace It" lingered with fans for the way it captures the work’s core conflict in four taut minutes.

The existence of two notable documented forms - an Elton John studio demo and live stage captures with Hugh Panaro and Jim Stanek - helps explain the song’s dual identity. The demo rides closer to pop phrasing and piano-forward voicing. The stage version shifts weight toward theatrical bite and actorly stress, with belt punctuations designed to read across a large house. The difference is not cosmetic. It tells you what the song is for: to force a choice, loudly, in public.

Key takeaways

1. Function over flourish - the number’s job is to lock Louis and Lestat into opposing philosophies and make the audience pick a side.
2. A chorus built on repetition for argument’s sake: the imperative "embrace it" becomes an ethic, not a slogan.
3. Vocal contrast is the point - prowling confidence against trembling restraint.
4. Rock theatre skeleton in a gothic coat, calibrated for narrative clarity.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

We are in New Orleans, Act II, after Louis has accepted the dark gift but cannot accept himself. Lestat, pragmatic and hungry, is done with apologies. He frames vampirism as liberation. Louis replies with nausea and a fog of guilt. Across the verses, they litigate the aftertaste of immortality: is it a chance to live outside human shame, or a perpetual indictment with no jury to persuade. The chorus arrives not as celebration but as an argument ender. "Embrace it" is Lestat’s answer to everything - the killing, the pleasure, the numbness that follows. At the bridge, Louis throws a flare of awe and terror, admitting that Lestat moves through hell as if it were a runway. By the final exchange, the two have not reconciled. They have only named the distance.

Song Meaning

The song is a manifesto disguised as a pep talk. Lestat uses acceptance language to sanctify appetite. In his telling, shame is the lie and appetite the truth. Louis flips that math. He understands the thrill and hates that he understands it. The number speaks to any life change that whiplashes identity - coming into power, reckoning with desire, surviving something that altered your reflection. It is not simply dark-versus-light; it is clarity versus comfort. Lestat claims clarity. Louis refuses comfort. The music follows suit: verses sag under the weight of conscience, the chorus snaps upright with clean, pressurized phrases. The mood lands between adrenaline and dread.

Annotations

"Where is the glory in this new me? Where is the feeling of achievement in the shadows of the evening?"

Louis opens with a spiritual audit. He is measuring purpose against appetite. Note the bureaucratic diction - "achievement" and "shadows" - as if a promotion arrived with a stain on the certificate. The phrase positions vampirism as career advancement gone wrong.

"The gift that I gave is exempt from shame"

Lestat reframes the entire ethic in one clause. He calls vampirism a gift, then strips it of moral consequence. That rhetorical move mirrors classical seduction tropes in theatre, where an authority recasts taboo as blessing. The percussion under this line usually tightens, emphasizing the snap of the word "gift."

"This pleasure you deny"

There is the thesis. The song is not only about killing; it is about pleasure that follows, the afterglow you pretend was not there. Lestat’s accusation is that denial is the only remaining sin. This flips the moral lens and demands that Louis accept affect as evidence.

"Two of Lucifer’s angels are on the loose"

An aside with bite. The lyric rebrands the pair as rebels whose fall is freedom. It calls up the cultural touchpoint of Miltonic antiheroes, the long line of characters who would rather reign in a private hell than serve in a public heaven. The duet borrows that swagger without losing the ache.

"A glorious ghost on infinity’s views"

Louis gives Lestat an image that is almost a compliment. A "glorious ghost" suggests charisma and absence. "Infinity’s views" feels like a balcony seat in eternity. It is corrosive awe. Musically, the phrase tends to ride the upper part of the tessitura, which performs the awe in the body.

Style and instrumentation

Call it a pop-rock theatre hybrid. The backbone is a steady drum pattern that keeps the debate moving, piano figures that outline harmony without getting florid, and guitar accents to edge the chorus. Strings thicken the air on Louis’s sections. When Lestat takes over, rhythmic emphasis and shorter vowel shapes give his lines a predatory cut. The harmonic motion is not adventurous on purpose. The interest lives in the rhetoric and the timbre of two different men building incompatible truths.

Emotional arc

Start: fatigue and shame. Middle: persuasion and offense. End: posture without resolution. The final repetitions of the title phrase feel less like victory than a dare. Lestat is not proving he is right. He is proving he will not stop.

Historical and cultural touchpoints

Beyond Anne Rice, the lyric reaches for the tradition of seduction as argument - think Don Juan in drama, or the carnival barkers in classic musical theatre who sell a future that requires surrender. The modernity here is how plainly the language names pleasure and denial, a pop sensibility stitched into gothic cloth. The effect is contemporary confession in a candlelit room.

Key Facts

• Artist: Elton John, Hugh Panaro, Jim Stanek
• Featured: Duet for Louis and Lestat in the stage production
• Composer: Elton John
• Producer: Guy Babylon, Matt Still (for the unreleased Broadway cast album session)
• Release Date: March 25, 2006 - Broadway opening; studio demo circulated unofficially
• Genre: Pop rock theatre
• Instruments: Piano, guitars, bass, drum kit, orchestral strings, brass accents
• Label: Mercury Records recorded the Broadway cast album session; not commercially issued
• Mood: Defiant, seductive, morally torn
• Length: Approximately 4 minutes in circulating captures
• Track #: Often listed as track 16 in circulating running orders from the stage score
• Language: English
• Album: Lestat the Musical - Original Broadway Cast Recording (recorded, not released)
• Music style: Rock-inflected musical theatre with gothic tone
• Poetic meter: Mixed - conversational iambs with clipped imperatives in the chorus

Canonical Entities & Relations

• Elton John - composed music for Lestat.
• Bernie Taupin - wrote lyrics for Lestat.
• Linda Woolverton - wrote the book for the musical.
• Hugh Panaro - portrayed Lestat on Broadway; lead voice on the stage duet.
• Jim Stanek - portrayed Louis on Broadway; duet partner in the number.
• Carolee Carmello - originated Gabrielle on Broadway; received major award nominations for the production.
• Susan Hilferty - costume designer for the production; received a Tony nomination.
• Robert Jess Roth - director of the Broadway staging.
• Palace Theatre, New York - housed the 2006 Broadway run.
• Curran Theatre, San Francisco - venue for the 2005 pre-Broadway tryout.
• Mercury Records - recorded the Broadway cast album session on May 22, 2006.

Questions and Answers

Where does the song sit in the show’s timeline?

Act II, after the move to New Orleans. Louis has already been turned. The duet is a high-stakes argument about what to do with the truth of that choice.

Who sings which role and why does it matter?

Louis carries the guilt-driven lines with longer vowels and more lyrical phrasing. Lestat fires off clipped phrases and that commanding refrain, asserting an ethic of acceptance that sounds like swagger.

Is there an official studio version to buy or stream?

No official single or album has been issued. A Broadway cast album was recorded but shelved; Elton John demos and live captures circulate among fans.

What dramatic work does the chorus perform?

It weaponizes repetition. The command "embrace it" turns into a philosophy that erases shame, pulling Louis toward complicity by insisting consent is the only honest stance.

What musical devices underline the conflict?

Verses sink into minor shades and legato lines for Louis. Lestat’s sections tighten rhythmically. The chorus uses straight, driving figures to sound decisive and final.

How does the number connect to Anne Rice’s themes?

It reframes immortality as a spiritual argument. Rice often centers beauty and appetite as dangerous gifts. The lyric echoes that lineage by making desire itself the doctrine.

Does the musical acknowledge consequences after this song?

Yes. The story pushes forward into Claudia’s arc and the fallout of Lestat’s choices. Louis’s revulsion does not vanish; "Embrace It" only hardens their positions.

Are there key differences between the demo and stage renditions?

The demo leans pop with piano and smooth phrasing. Stage versions add theatrical bite, sharper consonants, and orchestral color that makes the debate play to the back row.

Why did the show’s awards attention not translate into longevity?

Mixed to negative critical reception collided with the scale of expectations. Some performances and design elements earned nominations, but box office and reviews did not align for a long run.

What does the phrase "glorious ghost" suggest about Lestat?

Charisma without conscience. Louis cannot stop seeing him as beautiful and empty, which is part of Lestat’s power over him and over the audience.

Is there a clean, authorized audio to recommend?

There is no authorized retail release. Fans rely on demo leaks and performance audio posted by collectors. If an official issue ever arrives, it would likely come from the 2006 sessions.

Awards and Chart Positions

No commercial chart activity is attached to this track. The show that introduced it did receive major award attention. Carolee Carmello was nominated for a Tony for Featured Actress in a Musical, and Susan Hilferty received a Tony nomination for Costume Design. The production also earned nominations at the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.

Additional Info

A cast recording session for the Broadway company took place in late May 2006, produced by Guy Babylon and Matt Still for Mercury Records. After the show closed, word surfaced that there were no plans for commercial release. Collectors and fans have since relied on studio demos from Elton John and audience recordings to keep the score alive. That has turned "Embrace It" into a strange artifact: a showstopper known without an official edition.

As a vocal scene, the number rewards smart acting choices. The seducer cuts language sharply. The skeptic leans into legato and confessional stress. When two performers trust that contrast, the song plays like a courtroom cross-examination with power chords. It is no surprise that the track remains a favorite in the corners of theatre fandom where underloved shows find second lives.

Press and trade sources at the time noted both the ambitions of the creative team and the swiftness of the closing. According to Playbill and the Tony Awards records, the show gathered nominations even as it struggled in previews and early weeks. That reputation - flawed and fascinating - is part of why the score lingers. "Embrace It" is the thesis song that still works without lights or sets. Put two voices in a room. Tell them to stand their ground. The rest takes care of itself.

Sources: Playbill; Tony Awards; IBDB; Wikipedia; Variety; Ovrtur database; BroadwayWorld.