I'm Not That Girl (Reprise) Lyrics - Wicked

Song Overview

Song Credits

• Featured: Kristin Chenoweth (Glinda)
• Producer: Stephen Schwartz
• Composer / Lyricist: Stephen Schwartz
• Release Date: December 16 2003
• Genre: Show-ballad, reprise in waltz-rubato
• Length: 0 min 57 sec
• Mood: Bitter-sweet, crystalline, dawning self-awareness
• Instruments (principal): solo harp, strings pianissimo, celesta, high woodwinds
• Language: English (German “Ich bin es nicht (Reprise)”, Spanish “No soy yo (Reprise)”, Portuguese “Não é pra mim (Reprise)”)
• Track #: 14 on Wicked (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Copyrights ©: 2003 Wonderland Music Company, Inc.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Glinda’s reprise flips Elphaba’s Act I ballad like a two-sided mirror. Where the original lived in dusky E-minor mezzo warmth, this version vaults up a minor third and lands in Chenoweth’s crystalline soprano — brighter timbre, sharper pain. Elphaba once sang of unattainable blond perfection; now the blonde envies green-skinned authenticity. One line is trimmed: “I wasn’t born for the rose and pearl” — Glinda was born to them, making the omission sting even louder.

The harmonic bed stays spare: harp arpeggios shimmer over string harmonics while a lone flute echoes each phrase, as if Glinda’s own breath answers back. Schwartz lets the original melody breathe, then shortens the form to ten bars, mirroring how quickly her world collapses once Fiyero rides off with Elphaba. Wishing, she realises, “only wounds the heart”; the consonants land like tiny fractures in porcelain.

Annotations point out a second reversal: in Act I Elphaba dreamed of being Glinda — blonde, adored, rosy pearls. Now Glinda aches to borrow Elphaba’s daring. She cannot change skin or soul, so the statement “I’m not that girl” turns from resigned self-pity into raw self-knowledge. Tiny lift in the final interval (a sighing ninth) underscores acceptance without melodrama.

Film watchers will hear Ariana Grande spin the reprise in Wicked: For Good (2025). Early soundtrack leaks place the key in A-major, a half-step higher than Chenoweth’s, threading Grande’s head-voice pianissimo into a new, almost whispered ache

Musical Details

Key & Range

Original reprise sits in G-minor, peaks on a high B-flat — a sweet-but-searing spot for Chenoweth’s lyric soprano.

Lyric Tweaks

Elphaba’s “rose and pearl” line is excised; Glinda’s abbreviated verse mirrors her shrinking certainty.

Orchestration Touches

Violin flautando doubles the vocal line an octave above, creating a ghostly halo — almost the memory of Elphaba’s earlier version.

Similar Songs

1. “On My Own” — Les Misérables
   Eponine’s solitary confession mirrors Glinda’s curtailed waltz: both women admit love is lost, strings tremble beneath restrained belts.
2. “Some Things Are Meant to Be” — Little Women
   Jo and Beth face inevitability over lilting 6?/?8; Glinda likewise surrenders to reality’s current, hopes still flickering like paper boats.
3. “Goodbye Until Tomorrow / I Could Never Rescue You” — The Last Five Years
   Jason Robert Brown’s split duet shows love blooming and dying simultaneously — emotional cross-fade similar to Elphaba’s hope and Glinda’s heartbreak across the two “Girl” iterations.

Questions and Answers

Why is the reprise so short?

It functions as an emotional pivot, not a full song — a forty-second crystal shard that turns the Act I melody on its head.

Does the key change matter?

Yes. Lifting the tune a minor third shifts color from mezzo warmth to clarion soprano, signalling Glinda’s public façade even while she breaks inside.

What musical motif links the two “Girl” versions?

The opening three-note sigh (5-?6-5) appears in both; in the reprise it resolves downward, emphasising finality.

Is the reprise in the 2025 film?

Ariana Grande records it for Wicked: For Good — The Soundtrack, reportedly with added cello countermelody.

Are there official translations?

German, Spanish and Portuguese productions use faithful reprises — “Ich bin es nicht,” “No soy yo,” and “Não é pra mim” — each keeping the truncated form.

Fan and Media Reactions

“That single high B-flat has broken more hearts than any Wicked riff.” BroadwayWorld forum thread

“Grande keeps the key but floats it like a lullaby — unexpected and gorgeous.” Vogue soundtrack review

“The line she cuts — ‘rose and pearl’ — hits harder when you notice the missing words.” u/Sharp7th, Reddit

“Shortest song in the score, biggest punch in the gut.” @OzmopolitanPodcast

“I walked out at intermission humming it?—?true sign of a killer reprise.” Twitter user @GreenIsTheNewBlack