Love Thy Neighbor Lyrics – Prom

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

“Love Thy Neighbor” sits in Act II like a friendly lightning bolt. Christopher Sieber (as Trent Oliver) turns a cafeteria sermon into a gospel-pop throwdown, schooling a clutch of Indiana teens who weaponize scripture while ignoring the parts that hit closer to home. The number works because it’s catchy and argumentative at the same time: bright G-major harmony, a choir that punches back, and a lyric that builds a comic case with receipts.

Highlights - crisp call-and-response refrains, a handclap groove that nudges the scene into revival mode, and a final stacked tag that feels like the curtain-call of a thought. The studio cut clocks at 4:19; in the Netflix film, Andrew Rannells’s cover stretches with cinematic air, landing around 4:31.

Creation History

Music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin. The original Broadway cast album was produced by Scott M. Riesett and Matthew Sklar, recorded at Power Station at Berklee, NYC, and released digitally on December 14, 2018 by Masterworks Broadway, with CD following January 11, 2019. Orchestrations by Larry Hochman and music supervision/direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell helped translate the onstage spark to record.

There’s no standalone “music video” for the OBC track, but the number’s most-watched screen version is the 2020 Netflix adaptation, staged as a mall-side revival with Andrew Rannells leading the charge.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Trent clocks the students’ selective moralizing and counters with a singable takedown: if you’re calling Emma’s queerness a “sin,” you’ll need to reconcile your tattoos, divorces, premarital sex, and other frowned-on behaviors too. The catalog of examples isn’t there to shame - it’s there to show how impossible it is to cherry-pick rules without tripping over your own life.

Song Meaning

The point lands in the hook. Love thy neighbor - not as a loophole, but as a governing ethic. The song treats scripture not as a cudgel but as context, arguing that compassion should outrank punitive literalism. It opens playful, turns prosecutorial, and ends as a group affirmation - a shift from “gotcha” to “we” that mirrors Trent’s teacherly arc.

Annotations

The text jabs at selective readings:

You can’t cherry-pick the Bible, choosing which parts you wanna believe.

It cites tattoos as an easy test case:

“You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh... nor tattoo any marks on you.” - Leviticus 19:28

And it mocks fire-and-brimstone shortcuts:

Jews do not believe in hell and Christians... believe that sins can be forgiven by Jesus.

Premarital sex? The lyric waves toward Thessalonians and Corinthians, noting that scripture polices lust and counsels self-control:

“...that you abstain from sexual immorality... better to marry than to burn with passion.”

Hyperbolic punishments get invoked to show the absurdity of literal application:

“Stoning” - a death sentence by thrown stones.

The stunned reactions play like a live ethics class:

The students… haven’t actually thought about the rules in the Bible that deeply and are just using it to support their bigotry.

When the chorus says “there’s one rule that trumps them all,” the show folds Jesus’s summary of the law into pop form:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God... and... Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

There’s also a wink at contemporary politics:

Could also be a subtle reference to “love trumps hate.”

Identity enters the frame:

Exactly, because that’s how God made her.

Divorce and adultery are deliberately overplayed to make the point about inconsistency:

“…anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.” / “The adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.”

The lyric even toys with innuendo in its “cut off your hands” pause - a comic beat on lust:

“…if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off…”

And one tossed-off pop reference keeps the satire buoyant:

“Jesus take the wheel” - a nod to Carrie Underwood.

Style and instrumentation

Gospel-pop chassis, 4/4 with communion between soloist and ensemble. Piano and rhythm section set a friendly clip; brass and backing voices build the “amen” layers you expect in a revival. It’s witty without getting smug - the record lets the choir do the smiling.

Cultural context

The show premiered on Broadway in 2018, then jumped to a 2020 Netflix film. “Love Thy Neighbor” travels cleanly between both - the movie turns it into an exuberant public sermon, shot like a youth rally. Andrew Rannells’s screen version broadened the number’s reach far beyond the theater district.

Key Facts

• Artist: Christopher Sieber, The Prom Ensemble
• Composer: Matthew Sklar
• Lyricist: Chad Beguelin
• Producers (OBC track): Scott M. Riesett, Matthew Sklar
• Recorded at: Power Station at Berklee, New York City
• Release date (digital): December 14, 2018
• Label: Masterworks Broadway (Sony Music)
• Album: The Prom: A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Length (OBC track): 4:19
• Language: English
• Music style: gospel-pop with call-and-response choir
• Film adaptation cover: Andrew Rannells & ensemble - released December 4, 2020
• © Copyrights: 2018 Sony Music Entertainment / The Prom Cast Album Recording LLC

Questions and Answers

Who produced “Love Thy Neighbor” on the original cast album?

Scott M. Riesett and Matthew Sklar.

When was the track released?

December 14, 2018 (digital), with CD on January 11, 2019.

Who wrote it?

Music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin.

Is there a notable cover?

Yes - Andrew Rannells leads the 2020 Netflix film version, also issued on the official soundtrack.

How long is it, and what key does it use?

The OBC recording runs 4:19 in G major. The film version runs about 4:31.

Awards and Chart Positions

While the track itself wasn’t promoted as a standalone single to traditional charts, The Prom drew significant awards attention. On Broadway, the show earned multiple 2019 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical and Best Direction. The film adaptation scored Golden Globe nominations in 2021, and its soundtrack entered the UK Soundtrack Albums Chart.

How to Sing Love Thy Neighbor

Key & range: Original cast recording in G major; practical range around Bb3 to Ab5 for the full choral texture, with Trent’s lead sitting in a comfortable baritenor pocket. Treat the hook like a call-and-response - center the vowel on “neighbor,” keep consonants crisp so the argument stays intelligible.

Breath & phrasing: The verses unspool like comic patter - plan breaths at clause breaks so the jokes land. On the final vamp, let the support widen as the ensemble stacks.

Tone: Friendly, not scolding. The authority comes from ease and swing. Think youth pastor who actually reads footnotes.

Ensemble: Backing parts should feel like a congregation - clean thirds and fifths, light scoops only where written.

Additional Info

On vinyl, Masterworks Broadway pressed the cast album as a limited 2-LP set; the label’s notes tout the seven Tony nominations the production earned. For the screen version, Netflix put the number front-and-center with Andrew Rannells leading a kinetic, crowd-pleasing take that amplified the song’s reach.