The Wicked Witch of the East Lyrics – Wicked

Song Overview

Song Credits

• Featured: Michelle Federer (Nessarose), Idina Menzel (Elphaba), Christopher Fitzgerald (Boq)
• Producer: Stephen Schwartz
• Composer / Lyricist: Stephen Schwartz
• First Performance: October 30 2003 (Broadway preview)
• Recording Note: Omitted from the 2003 cast album; first issued on the 5th-Anniversary Edition bonus disc (2008)
• Genre: Dramatic scene-song, Broadway
• Length (stage): ? 4 min 45 sec
• Language: English — licensed Brazilian Portuguese (“A Bruxa Má do Leste”) adaptation exists
• Poetic meter: Free-verse dialogue intercut with chant-like trochees
• Label (archive release): Decca Broadway
• Mood: Fractured, desperate, tragically transformative
• Copyrights ©: 2003 Wonderland Music Company, Inc. (ASCAP)

Song Meaning and Annotations

Here “Wicked” drops the green-and-pink pageantry and lights a match inside a family argument. Nessarose — princess by birth (the Thropp sisters are Eminent Thropps, Ozian royalty) — unleashes years of resentment: Elphaba rescues every talking Lion and Goat yet never bothers to “rescue” her wheelchair-bound sister. The scene explodes into chant as Elphaba utters pseudo-Latin syllables (“Ambulahn Dare Pahto Pahpoot”), gifting Nessa a miracle: blood-red shoes that grant her the power to walk.

The miracle curdles instantly. Nessa weaponises gratitude, summoning Boq only to lash him into lifelong devotion. Her mispronounced spell shrinks his heart — literal foreshadowing of the Tin Man. Schwartz laces the moment with reprises from “Dancing Through Life,” so Boq’s earlier flirtation melody now becomes a death rattle. Meanwhile Elphaba’s line “finally, something good” is undercut mid-breath when Nessa screeches for Boq, proving Oz’s magic itself isn’t wicked — power twisted by despair is.

Political subtext hums beneath the family drama. Elphaba fights for capital-A Animals — sentient creatures stripped of speech — while Nessa enforces ableist laws in Munchkinland, trading civil rights for Boq’s proximity. The scene shows propaganda’s domestic scale: one sister scapegoats marginalized groups, the other gets scapegoated when spells backfire. The Wizard never appears, yet his divide-and-rule tactics contaminate the sisters’ living room.

The dialogue also seeds Baumian Easter eggs. Nessa’s plea to “kick up my heels” precedes the ruby-slipper reveal; her panic that Boq “lost his heart” quotes the Tin Man’s future lament; Elphaba’s helpless admission that a spell “can’t be reversed” mirrors Dorothy’s irrevocable house-drop destiny. Even Ozian slang pops — horrendible (horrendous + horrible) — reminding us language in Oz is as mutable as flesh and tin.

Director Jon M. Chu has teased the number’s inclusion in Wicked: For Good (Part 2, November 2025) at last giving it an official soundtrack treatment. Early set leaks hint at Marissa Bode’s Nessarose chanting amid a revolving stair-tower while Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba claws through ever-tighter camera circles, amplifying the claustrophobia Broadway could only suggest.

Section Breakdown

Nessarose’s Lament

Musically sparse — low strings, suspended cymbal — to foreground Federer’s belt. Her lyric “Scrounging for scraps of pity” echoes Elphaba’s Act I alienation, but bitterness replaces activism.

Elphaba’s Healing Spell

Chanted over stacked minor thirds and temple blocks. The invented language riffs on Latin ambulare (“to walk”), a neat linguistic wink for word-nerds.

Boq’s Rejection

The “Dancing Through Life” hook returns in half-time, now suffocating under tremolo strings. When Boq exits, French-horn pedals mimic a literal heart clamp.

Nessa’s Desperate Counter-Spell

She mangles the Grimmerie phonetics; percussion scrapes, almost metallic, symbolising Boq’s tin fate. Elphaba’s attempt to stop her layers dissonant tritones above Nessa’s chant — two spells colliding.

Similar Songs

1. “Poor Unfortunate Souls” — The Little Mermaid
   Both pieces hinge on a desperate bargain gone wrong. Ursula’s spell and Nessa’s chant promise bodily transformation but exact a brutal fee, underscored by swirling minor keys and sneering tritones.
2. “Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)” — Spring Awakening
   Teenage anger at parental neglect parallels Nessa’s lifelong frustration with Elphaba. Each reprise cracks open the smoother melodies that preceded it, exposing raw frustration beneath.
3. “Last Midnight” — Into the Woods
   Like the Witch’s fracturing monologue, Nessa’s spell-gone-chaos blurs singing and speech, ending with a self-fulfilled curse that propels fairytale lore forward.

Questions and Answers

Why isn’t the song on the 2003 cast album?

Producers feared the dialogue-heavy scene spoiled major Act II twists and broke the album’s musical flow.

Will it appear in the 2025 film soundtrack?

Director Jon M. Chu hinted strongly it will, answering fans’ twenty-year plea for a studio recording.

What future characters are foreshadowed here?

Nessarose’s spell on Boq shrinks his heart (Tin Man origin), while her ruby shoes and new mobility presage Dorothy’s infamous house drop.

Is Elphaba’s magic inherently dark?

No — her first spell genuinely helps Nessa walk. The tragedy comes when power is twisted by fear and jealousy, not from the magic itself.

Are there official non-English versions?

Yes — Brazil’s 2019 São Paulo revival includes “A Bruxa Má do Leste,” with adapted lyrics that keep Boq’s heart motif intact.

Fan and Media Reactions

“If Part 2 finally records this, I can die happy.” Reddit user u/StageLeftNow

“Nessa’s melt-down makes Boq’s ‘no heart’ line in Oz hit ten times harder.” @TinmanLore on X

“Chu says it’s ‘a great number’ — I’m screaming.” CinemaBlend interview recap

“Still wild that a pivotal song was hidden for two decades.” BroadwayWorld forum

“The Latin-ish spell? Totally a play on ‘ambulare’, wrote Schwartz in Defying Gravity memoir.” Fan blog citation