A Strange Loop Lyrics - Strange Loop

Song Overview

Song Credits

• Featured: Larry Owens (Usher), L Morgan Lee, John-Michael Lyles, John-Andrew Morrison, Jason Veasey, Antwayn Hopper, James Jackson Jr.
• Producers: Michael Croiter, Michael R. Jackson
• Composer & Lyricist: Michael R. Jackson
• Release Date: September 27, 2019
• Genre: Pop – Theatrical, Off-Broadway, Musicals
• Label: Yellow Sound Label
• Distributor: TuneCore
• Language: English
• Album: A Strange Loop (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording)
• Track #: 17
• Copyright © 2019 Yellow Sound Label • ? 2019 Michael R. Jackson & Yellow Sound Label

Song Meaning and Annotations

How do you write yourself out of the very corner of your mind? A Strange Loop steps up to that mirror and lets it talk back. The number swings between gospel-bright belts and spoken confession, a brisk pop-theatre hybrid that never quite lets the listener relax. Larry Owens’s Usher—a Black, queer, would-be composer trapped in his own self-critique—counts every syllable like rent money while six Thoughts harmonise, heckle, and hug him in real time. The song’s groove borrows the tight hand-clap bounce of late-’90s R&B and bolts it to rapid-fire Broadway patter; it’s equal parts sermon, drag-ball call-out, and confessional booth.

Emotionally, the arc is dizzying: it begins with low-key resignation (“I wake up every morning / I tell myself to try”), spikes into comic fury at Tyler Perry and “white, gay, male tyranny,” then glides into zen-like self-acceptance—only to undercut itself with another existential jab. The result feels like staring into a Möbius strip where progress and stasis are one twist apart—hence the title borrowed from cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter.

The Wizard of Oz allusions (“unleash my hungry lion / ’cause Dorothy’s had enough”) are no cozy homage. They remind us that Usher’s ruby slippers have been on his feet the whole show; the real trick is daring to click them.

I am the story’s writer / I’m barely scraping by

An opening gambit that shreds the fourth wall: the character admits authorship while admitting failure. Self-referential theatre on steroids.

Someone whose only problem / Is with the pronoun “I”

The loop in miniature—how do you rewrite “I” when “I” is the authoring tool itself?

Verse 1

Usher inventories insecurities: speech, looks, queerness, Blackness. Each line hovers between diary entry and roast, the Thoughts egging him on like a Greek chorus in Jordans.

Chorus

The mantra “just an illusion” repeats until it melts into near-silence—ghostly, almost Buddhist, but also a comic shrug. If everything is illusion, even that claim is slippery. The music slides down a half-step on the word loop, landing back on tonic—a sonic version of a snake biting its tail.

Bridge

Lightning-round pop-culture shade (Tyler Perry, “inner white girl”) functions as both catharsis and critique. Jackson’s pen mocks commercial Black art that polices queerness, then swivels to mock the white-centric queer scene that fetishises Black pain.

Outro

Layered voices fragment the word “strange” until only a single syllable survives. It’s the sonic equivalent of breaking a mirror—seven shards, each reflecting a slightly different Usher, before the glass finally settles.

Similar Songs

1. “Ring of Keys” – Fun Home Original Broadway Cast
   Both pieces spotlight queer self-recognition onstage. Where “Ring of Keys” uses a folk-tinged melody to awaken young Alison’s identity, A Strange Loop leans into pop-gospel dissonance. Each song frames revelation as mundane (someone merely walking by, someone merely looking in a mirror) yet life-altering. They share a confessional lyric style, hand-off harmonies among ensemble voices, and a sly wink at the audience that says, Yes, we know you’re watching us watch ourselves.
2. “Origin of Love” – Hedwig and the Angry Inch
   John Cameron Mitchell’s mythic rock-ballad and Jackson’s post-modern show-tune both deconstruct the self through grand metaphors—one via Plato, the other via Hofstadter. Each track fuses theatrical storytelling with pop hooks, explodes binary thinking (gender in Hedwig, Black/gay respectability in Loop), and crescendos into a bittersweet chant that questions whether wholeness is ever possible.
3. “My Shot” – Hamilton Original Broadway Cast
   Lin-Manuel Miranda’s call-to-arms and Jackson’s loop might seem stylistic opposites—hip-hop vs. R&B theatre—but both are restless mission statements sung by writers fighting obscurity. Melodically they wield rapid patter lines, spoken-sung riffs, and ensemble echoes that morph the soloist’s doubt into collective urgency. Both tracks end with the protagonist no closer to a finished masterpiece, yet more galvanised to keep writing.

Questions and Answers

Why is the song called “A Strange Loop”?

It nods to Hofstadter’s idea of a system that circles back on itself. Usher writes a musical about an usher writing a musical—an infinite feedback loop rendered in melody.

How does the music blend genres?

Jackson pairs show-choir harmonies with neo-soul chords, sprinkles hip-hop hi-hats, then snaps back into traditional Broadway button endings. The clash mirrors Usher’s identity mash-up.

What do the Wizard of Oz references signify?

They underline self-possession: Dorothy’s ruby slippers = Usher’s creative agency. The lion imagery also signals buried courage finally roaring out.

Does the song resolve Usher’s conflict?

Paradoxically, yes and no. He recognises the loop and, by naming it, steps outside it—yet also re-enters it every time he sings “I.” The resolution is acceptance of perpetual rewrite.

Where does this number appear in the show?

Late in Act II, just before the curtain. It functions as a thesis reprise, echoing the opening “Intermission Song” while tilting the emotional lens toward hard-won self-love.

Awards and Chart Positions

• 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama awarded to A Strange Loop—the first musical by a Black writer ever to win.
• 75th Tony Awards 2022: Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical.
• Original Broadway Cast Recording debuted in the top ten of Billboard’s Cast Album chart (June 2022).

Fan and Media Reactions

The internet chorus is as loud as the onstage Thoughts. Critics hail the piece as “cutting, uproarious and crushing,” while theatre-goers post tear-streaked selfies outside the Lyceum. Below, a sampler:

“It floored me—like watching someone crack open their diary and turn it into fireworks onstage.” @StageDoorDreamer, Reddit

“I laughed, I cried, I wanted to hug every stranger in my row.” @BroadwayBabe21, Instagram

“Black, queer, meta, and it SLAPS. Jackson just broke the mirror and handed us the shards.” Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker

“Cutting, uproarious and crushing all at once.” Alexis Soloski, The Guardian

“A triumph in every way—the acting, the score, the brutal honesty.” @OrchestraRowOdie, Reddit

Even Tyler Perry’s eyebrow-raising comments about the show became free publicity, sparking packed houses eager to decide for themselves.