Who Will Love Me As I Am? Lyrics – Side Show

Song Overview

Song Credits

• Featuring: Emily Skinner; Alice Ripley
• Producer: Harold Wheeler; Michael Berniker; Henry Krieger
• Composer: Henry Krieger; Bill Russell
• Release Date: December 9, 1997
• Genre: Pop; Musical Theater
• Language: English
• Track #: 13
• Album: Side Show (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Label: Masterworks Broadway

Song Meaning and Annotations

“Who Will Love Me as I Am?” captures the private longing of Violet and Daisy Hilton—conjoined twins stigmatised as curiosities—seeking someone who sees past their surface. Their intertwined melodies float over a piano-accompanied waltz, each line laden with both vulnerability and quiet defiance. The song functions as both a plaintive question and a soaring duet, weaving their separate voices into a shared cry for acceptance.

In its theatrical context, this number usually precedes intermission, pausing the spectacle to reveal a tender core beneath the carnival façade. The orchestra swells on sweeping strings, underscoring the twins’ emotional tide—sometimes they fight the current, sometimes they drift together, always united in their plea: who will love them exactly as they are?

“Like a fish plucked from the ocean / Tossed into a foreign stream”

Violet’s opening image conveys dislocation and otherness, suggesting both helplessness and resilience as she navigates a world that sees her as spectacle.

“Could we bend the laws of nature? / Could a lion love a lamb?”

This poignant question crystallises the song’s theme: can love transcend boundaries—physical, societal, even biological?

Violet’s Opening Verse

Violet’s melody drifts in minor key, her lines soft yet searching. The ocean-to-stream metaphor evokes her internal struggle: forced adaptation and an enduring sense of being out of place.

Daisy’s Solo

Daisy’s response shifts the imagery to a zoo, where she’s an exotic exhibit. Children’s curiosity becomes a sharp echo of public scrutiny, deepening the twins’ isolation.

Duet Refrain

When their voices join—“Who will ever call to say ‘I love you’?”—the simple harmonic convergence transforms two solitudes into a collective ache.

Clown and Reflection Verses

The later verses cast them as circus performers—Daisy’s tears inciting laughter, Violet’s loneliness amid smiling faces—highlighting the tragic irony of public entertainment versus personal pain.

Similar Songs

1. "I Know Him So Well" by Elaine Paige & Barbara Dickson
   This 1984 duet from Chess channels a similar conversational sadness: two women reflecting on love’s uncertainties. Both songs use intertwining melodies to convey shared experiences—one betrayal, one exclusion—while the emotional weight builds from individual lines into a resonant chorus. Paige and Dickson’s voices blend as they question trust; likewise, Skinner and Ripley’s harmonies ask who might truly accept them. Each harmony carries a quiet hope that love can bridge divides, whether political tensions in Chess or physical constraints in Side Show.
2. "Still Hurting" from The Last Five Years
   Cathy’s soliloquy in Jason Robert Brown’s musical delves into heartbreak and longing, much like Violet and Daisy’s plea. Both tracks foreground vulnerable vocals over sparse accompaniment—piano in “Hurting,” waltz rhythm in “Who Will Love Me as I Am?”—to spotlight introspection. The lyricism paints intimate portraits: Cathy mourns lost connection; the twins yearn for basic human love. Though separated by context—romantic fallout versus societal othering—the songs share a confessional spirit, inviting listeners into the protagonists’ inner worlds.
3. "Somewhere" from West Side Story
   Bernstein and Sondheim’s anthem of hopeful belonging echoes the twins’ search for acceptance. In both cases, the setting—urban strife in West Side Story, freak show stages in Side Show—cast characters as outside forces yearning for sanctuary. “Somewhere” soars with orchestral swells; “Who Will Love Me as I Am?” glides on a more intimate waltz, yet both use melodic uplift to suggest that love can overcome barriers. The underlying promise—that a kinder world awaits—binds these show-stopping numbers across decades of musical theater.

Questions and Answers

What is the narrative context of the song within Side Show?

It appears just before intermission, pausing the spectacle to reveal the twins’ secret longing for genuine love.

Who originally performed “Who Will Love Me as I Am?”

Emily Skinner (Daisy) and Alice Ripley (Violet) introduced the number on Broadway in 1997.

What themes does the song explore?

Identity, otherness and the universal desire to be loved without reservation—even when society views you as a spectacle.

Who wrote and composed the song?

Music by Henry Krieger with lyrics by Bill Russell.

Was the song or show recognized by any awards?

The musical received four Tony Award nominations in 1998, including Best Score and Best Actress in a Musical.

Awards and Chart Positions

• 1998 Tony Award nominations: Best Musical; Best Actress in a Musical (Emily Skinner & Alice Ripley); Best Original Score; Best Book of a Musical.