The Crimson Kiss Lyrics
The Crimson Kiss
GABRIELLEFor so many years, we’ve shared this path together.
Kindred spirits in the path of history.
For you, the quest to heal is all that matters.
But it’s a different road I crave these days for me.
You dwell so on a cure for your creation.
And seek a ghost from our mythology.
For now, the wonders that the world can offer
Mean more to me than ancient family trees.
To hear the waves pound the timbers of a schooner.
Fighting off the coastline of Cape Horn.
To travel in the shadow of the longboats.
To where the giants of the Arctic Ice were born.
The dangers in the the deep, dark Congo River.
Where the crocodile hunts and the python strikes.
To watch another predator in action
Could rejuvenate some meaning in your life.
The thrill to hunt in such exotic places.
I can almost taste those beauties in Siam.
The brown-skinned boys of Mykonos and Rangoon.
The shy Chinese behind their painted fans.
My need to go is hard to fight.
I want to gaze upon this world
Just like the Northern Lights.
And of all the things about you
That I’m going to miss.
It's the bond we formed together
Through this Crimson Kiss.
My son so dear, the world’s out there.
Mystery calls and I can’t resist.
But you and I have memories
Bound together by the Crimson Kiss.
Lestat
Please stay with me.
Gabrielle
I cannot.
Lestat
I did not give you the Dark Gift so you could turn and walk away from me.
Gabrielle
I gave you the gift of life knowing that someday you would walk away from me!
GABRIELLE
The wellspring of my strength unrestricted.
There’s so little I could fail to endure.
I could face a trek across the Himalayas.
Survive the freezing mists of Scottish moors.
My need to go is hard to fight.
I want to gaze upon this world
Just like the Northern Lights.
And of all the things about you
That I’m going to miss.
It's the bond we’ve formed together
Through this Crimson Kiss.
My son so dear, the world’s out there.
Mystery calls and I can’t resist.
But you and I have memories
Bound together by the Crimson Kiss.
My son so dear, the world’s out there.
Mystery calls and I can’t resist.
But you and I have memories
Bound together by the Crimson Kiss!
Song Overview
A mother claims her freedom and a son hears it like thunder. In this Act 1 turn from Lestat, Gabrielle sings of the world calling her name while Lestat clings to blood-bond duty. Elton John shapes it as a traveling aria with windswept lift; Bernie Taupin’s text threads wanderlust, family ache, and vampire lore into a single, steady vow.
Review and Highlights
Quick summary
- Character number for Gabrielle - Lestat’s mother - placed late in Act 1; a reprise returns near the finale.
- Music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin; book by Linda Woolverton; Broadway 2006 after a 2005 San Francisco tryout.
- Performed on Broadway by Carolee Carmello, with Hugh Panaro as Lestat; studio cast-session recordings exist but the album was never released.
- Style blends theatrical ballad writing with folk-travel imagery and a barcarolle-like sway.
- Function: a separation scene - love intact, paths divided.
Creation History
The show’s path ran from a December 2005 tryout in San Francisco to an April 2006 Broadway opening. Taupin’s lyric gives Gabrielle agency uncommon for the genre: she refuses undead domesticity in favor of exploration. John’s melody favors long midrange lines with cresting phrases that feel like horizons arriving. According to Playbill reporting at the time, a full Broadway cast album was recorded in late May 2006, then shelved - a rare case where the music lived on through demos, press reels, and fan-circulated audio rather than a commercial release.
Song Meaning and Annotations
Plot
After Lestat saves Gabrielle by turning her, the two travel together. But the partnership cannot hold. In “The Crimson Kiss,” she tells him plainly: the world is calling and she will answer. He protests - the bond is sacred - yet she’s adamant. By song’s end, mother and son have different maps.
Song Meaning
The title phrase is the story’s hinge - a crimson rite that binds and, paradoxically, frees. The lyric catalogs the globe in quick strokes - Cape Horn, Congo, Himalayas - not as postcards but as proof of oxygen. The message lands without melodrama: love can be permanent while proximity is not. The mood is brave, unsentimental, and a little wild.
Annotations
“My need to go is hard to fight”
Simple line, big engine. The tug-of-war is internal - duty versus appetite for experience.
“To hear the waves pound the timbers of a ship”
Travel as percussion. The image turns geography into rhythm - you can almost hear the downbeat.
“And of all the things about you that I’m going to miss is the bond we formed together through this crimson kiss”
The contract is acknowledged. The bond is real and lifelong, but it does not dictate the route.
Genre and feel
Broadway ballad with folk-travel color - rolling 4-figure accompaniment, strings for lift, and woodwinds shading the horizon lines.
Emotional arc
Opening - confession; middle - inventory of places and risks; close - farewell without fracture. It stays steady, like a compass needle refusing to waver.
Touchpoints
The show adapts Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. Reviews at the time were icy on the production, but even the skeptics singled out performers - Carmello in particular - as bright spots, as noted in contemporaneous New York press.
Key Facts
- Artist: Elton John with cast - led by Carolee Carmello (Gabrielle) and Hugh Panaro (Lestat)
- Featured: Broadway principals in character
- Composer: Elton John
- Lyricist: Bernie Taupin
- Producer: Guy Babylon, Matt Still - Broadway cast-session recording
- Release Date: December 17, 2005 - San Francisco premiere; Broadway opened April 25, 2006
- Genre: Musical theater ballad
- Instruments: Pit orchestra - strings, winds, brass, rhythm; vocal spotlight on mezzo line
- Label: Mercury Records - cast album recorded but unreleased
- Mood: Resolute, tender, far-sighted
- Length: ~4:30 on circulating session/demo audio
- Track #: 12 in common running orders
- Language: English
- Album: Lestat - Broadway cast-session (unreleased)
- Music style: Steady 4-feel with lyrical expansions; travel-images over modal turns
- Poetic meter: Mixed - primarily anapestic phrases with conversational pickups
Canonical Entities & Relations
Elton John - composed - score of Lestat. Bernie Taupin - wrote - lyrics of Lestat. Linda Woolverton - wrote - book of Lestat. Carolee Carmello - portrayed - Gabrielle on Broadway. Hugh Panaro - portrayed - Lestat on Broadway. Mercury Records - recorded - Original Broadway Cast session. Guy Babylon - produced - cast-session recording. Matt Still - produced - cast-session recording. Anne Rice - authored - The Vampire Chronicles. Curran Theatre - premiered - San Francisco tryout. Palace Theatre - hosted - Broadway run.
Questions and Answers
- Where does the number sit in the story?
- Late in Act 1, just before fissures widen among the vampires - it is Gabrielle’s declaration of independence, with a reprise near the end.
- Why call it “The Crimson Kiss”?
- It names the vampire initiation - an oath sealed in blood - and flips it from servitude to permission. The bond is honored but not obeyed blindly.
- How does the music carry the character?
- Midrange phrases and long vowels create the feeling of steady travel. Phrases crest like waves, then settle.
- Is this a love song?
- Yes - maternal love, reframed as a boundary. The affection is solid; the choice to leave is the proof of self.
- What changed between San Francisco and Broadway?
- The show was reworked widely; on Broadway the song anchors Gabrielle’s exit and returns in the finale, reinforcing its theme.
- Does an official single or soundtrack exist?
- No single. A full Broadway cast album was tracked but never released; session cuts and demos circulate online.
- Any notable covers?
- Mostly concert renditions - Carolee Carmello has revisited it in solo sets. Studio covers have not entered the mainstream catalogs.
- Why did critics pan the show but praise the singing?
- Production issues aside, the cast’s work - especially Carmello’s - consistently drew notice for clarity and command, as summarized in period coverage by major outlets.
- What makes the lyric feel lived-in?
- Specific geographies - Cape Horn, Congo, Himalayas - paired with unshowy verbs. It reads like someone who has packed a bag.
Awards and Chart Positions
| Work | Year | Recognition | Notes |
| Lestat - Broadway production | 2006 | Tony Award nominations - Featured Actress (Carolee Carmello), Costume Design (Susan Hilferty) | Two nominations; no wins. |
| Lestat - Broadway production | 2006 | Drama Desk nomination - Outstanding Featured Actress (Carolee Carmello) | Performance recognition despite the show’s brief run. |
| Lestat - Broadway production | 2006 | Outer Critics Circle nomination - Outstanding Actor (Hugh Panaro) | Additional principal cited. |
How to Sing The Crimson Kiss
Metrics: Common-time ballad feel around the low-to-mid 70s BPM in circulating audio; typical mezzo-soprano tessitura sits in the middle voice with climactic lines rising into the upper mix. Licensed keys vary by production; adjust to the singer, not the other way around.
- Tempo - unhurried travel: Keep the pulse steady. This is a compass song - no rushing between phrases.
- Diction - paint the map: Land place-names cleanly without punching them. Let consonants sketch, not stab.
- Breath - long horizons: Mark silent breaths before cresting phrases; aim for lines that feel like one exhale.
- Flow and rhythm: Think oar-stroke - a gentle push on each bar, then glide.
- Accents - resolve over rage: Lean into verbs of motion. Crescendi should feel like setting sail, not a blow-up.
- Ensemble moments: If staged opposite Lestat, keep eye-line and dynamic low enough that the argument feels intimate, not operatic.
- Mic craft: If amplified, favor proximity on confessional lines; back off on the geographic lists so the band can breathe.
- Pitfalls: Oversinging the goodbye. The power sits in steadiness and choice.
Additional Info
The Broadway run was brief, but its footprint persists in demos and session cuts. A full cast album was tracked in New York and later shelved; that decision is part of the show’s lore. Fans still trade the track - and Carmello has been known to bring the song to concert stages. As reported by Playbill at the closing notice, the production earned two Tony nominations even as it bowed out. The New York Times’ review was severe on the show itself, yet it helped cement the narrative that the performers rose above the material.
Sources: Playbill, BroadwayWorld, Wikipedia, Internet Broadway Database, YouTube, New York Times, Washington Post.