Someday Lyrics - The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Song Overview

Song Credits

• Featured Performers: Ciara Renée & Andrew Samonsky
• Primary Composer: Alan Menken
• Lyricist: Stephen Schwartz
• Producers: Alan Menken, Kurt Deutsch, Michael Kosarin, Stephen Schwartz, Chris Montan
• Orchestration: Michael Starobin
• Release Date: January 22, 2016
• Album: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Studio Cast Recording)
• Genre: Musical Theatre / Disney Pop
• Length: 3 min 44 sec
• Label: Walt Disney Records
• Instruments: Full pit orchestra – strings, brass, woodwinds, timpani – plus cathedral-style choir and handbells
• Language: English
• Copyright © 2015 & ? 2015 Walt Disney Records

Song Meaning and Annotations

Every stage musical needs a moment when the house seems to hold its breath. “Someday” is that hush for The Hunchback of Notre Dame: a slow-waltzing prayer set in stained-glass harmony. The arrangement mixes gentle 6/8 sway with a gospel-tinged choral bloom, hinting at ancient hymn and mid-90s radio pop all at once. At first Esmeralda alone sketches the dream of a fairer Paris; Phoebus soon threads his tenor around her alto, and together they plant a fragile utopia somewhere just beyond reach.

The arc is simple yet weighty: defiance turning to faith. These two outcasts stand in literal mortal danger—torches already lit in the courtyard—yet their voices refuse to harden. Instead of rallying cries or final good-byes, they whisper a lullaby to the future. It’s as if Menken and Schwartz lift the cathedral bell tower and set it down inside a lullaby, letting each brass swell feel like sunlight across old stone.

Verse 1

I used to believe
In the days I was naive
That I'd live to see
A day of justice dawn

Esmeralda begins by confessing lost innocence. The rhyme of “naive” and “believe” rings like a resigned sigh, underscoring how the promise of justice still sits on a distant horizon. Notice how the melody rises on “live to see”—a wistful reach that instantly falls back on the next line, mirroring her fading expectation.

Bridge & Chorus

Someday
When we are wiser…
I pray
Someday we may yet live
To live and let live

The phrase “live and let live” borrows from Voltairian tolerance while keeping the cadence of a simple bedtime wish. Harmonies thicken here: a low brass pedal anchors the plea, suggesting the weight of history, while upper woodwinds flutter like small hopes refusing to die.

Middle Section (Call-and-Response)

Need will be rarer
Greed will not pay
Godspeed … this bright millennium

Phoebus echoes each clause in steady counterpoint—an operatic handshake that frames their dream as communal. The term “bright millennium” nods to medieval Christian eschatology, planting the song firmly in Gothic stone even as it longs for modern equity.

Final Refrain

Someday…
Soon

The last word hangs on a soft suspended chord, unresolved, letting the audience finish the prayer in their own hearts. It’s a clever songwriting choice: hope is passed from stage to seats like a candle.

Similar Songs

1. “God Help the Outcasts” – Alan Menken
   Both numbers stem from the same score, but while “God Help the Outcasts” frames prayer as personal humility, “Someday” expands that whisper into a duet about collective change. The melodies share cathedral-like chord progressions and modal inflections, yet “Outcasts” leans toward folk-hymn simplicity whereas “Someday” adopts a fuller waltz. Listening back-to-back highlights Menken’s knack for recycling thematic cells: a rising third here, a minor-to-major shift there, always in service of compassion for the marginalized.
2. “Somewhere (There’s a Place for Us)” – Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim
   Both songs float impossible dreams over romantic peril. “Somewhere” cloaks its vision in lush string pads and a heartbeat snare; “Someday” opts for choir and brass, but the DNA—an aching leap followed by a descending sigh—feels analogous. Each chorus becomes a time-capsule promise that the present cannot honor, thereby deepening the lovers’ tragedy. Historically, both pieces emerged during cultural flashpoints (1950s racial tension, 1990s debates on immigration), letting theater audiences imagine justice through melody.
3. “You’ll Be Found” – Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
   Move forward two decades and you’ll find this Dear Evan Hansen anthem echoing “Someday’s” structure: quiet intro, climactic choral swell, communal reassurance. Where Menken’s orchestration borrows from Gregorian overtones, Pasek & Paul modernize the build with synth pads and hand-claps. Both songs, however, operate on the same engine: hopeful repetition. Listeners leave with a mantra that lingers long after the curtain.

Questions and Answers

Why was “Someday” added back into the stage score after being cut from the 1996 film?

The creative team felt the story still needed a parting message of hope; the stage version’s darker tone demanded a closing lullaby that balanced despair with forward-looking faith.

Is “Someday” a reprise of any earlier motif in the musical?

Yes, subtle fragments of its chorus echo in the underscore after “God Help the Outcasts,” foreshadowing Esmeralda’s enduring optimism.

What vocal ranges do Ciara Renée and Andrew Samonsky cover in this duet?

Renée soars from mezzo-soprano A3 up to sustained D5, while Samonsky grounds the harmony with a tenor span of B2 to G4.

Does the song contain direct religious symbolism?

Though it references “millennium” and invokes Godspeed, the wording stays broad, inviting secular listeners to substitute their own ideals while still nodding to Notre Dame’s Gothic setting.

How has the song been used outside the musical?

Choirs often program it for humanitarian concerts; Disney once featured it in a 2020 video montage honoring first responders, underscoring its adaptability as a universal anthem.

Fan and Media Reactions

The YouTube comment section reads like a candle-lit vigil. Long-time Disney devotees thank Menken for “a hymn that still feels relevant,” while theatre kids trade memories of auditioning with those high B-flats. Critics applauded the track upon release, calling it a graceful counterpoint to the show’s otherwise heavy finale.

“That final suspended chord always gives me goosebumps. Hope wrapped in harmony.” —@MusicalCorner

“I played Phoebus last year; this duet was the moment every rehearsal went silent.” —@StageLeft94

“Proof that a 1990s Disney ballad can double as a modern protest anthem.” —@CinephileJess

“The choral modulation at 2:30 is pure cathedral magic.” —@ScoreNerd

“Can we please get this in every language? The message belongs everywhere.” —@GlobalChoirFan

Even Alan Menken himself, in a 2016 interview, remarked that the piece “feels less like something I wrote and more like something that’s always been waiting in Notre Dame’s stones.” That sentiment mirrors the audience: a shared belief that the melody predates us, guiding us toward fairer days.