Once Lyrics – All Songs from the Musical

Review

What happens when a cast album sounds less like a polished souvenir and more like someone left the studio door open during a late-night session? The answer sits inside Once: A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording), where you can almost hear the scuffed floorboards of a Dublin bar under every guitar strum.

The album tracks the same story as the 2007 indie film: Guy, an Irish busker who is done with love and music, and Girl, a Czech immigrant who refuses to let him give up. Over a handful of days they share songs, raise a ragtag band, cut a demo and fall into a love that is deep, awkward and not especially tidy. The recording preserves that fragile mood — folk tunes that swell into rock bursts, fiddles that chatter like friends in the corner, and silences that say more than the dialogue.

Stylistically the score walks a tightrope. Modern folk and indie rock give the album its grainy heart; that grit signals emotional honesty, not “Broadway gloss”. The Irish traditional colors suggest community and old ghosts, while the more classical, chamber-like textures hint at the discipline and control both characters are trying to regain. When the music pushes into rock-band territory, it usually means someone finally decides to risk something big.

How It Was Made

The Broadway musical Once grows directly out of John Carney’s 2007 film, keeping the songs by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová and wrapping them in a new book by Enda Walsh. The stage version premiered off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in late 2011, then moved to the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in March 2012 with Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti leading an actor-musician ensemble. The cast album was recorded in New York’s Avatar Studios on 17 January 2012, just before the Broadway transfer, with Steven Epstein and orchestrator Martin Lowe producing — the same team that shaped the show’s intricate, folk-chamber orchestrations.

Rather than isolate singers in booths, the company recorded much of the material together, instruments in hand, to preserve the show’s feeling of a pub session spilling over into a love story. Fiddles, accordion, mandolin, piano and cajón sit alongside acoustic guitars, and you can hear the score breathe and sway as if it were still on stage. That decision keeps the album close to the stage experience: imperfect in the best way, driven by performance chemistry instead of studio perfectionism.

Tracks & Scenes

The album mirrors the show’s running order, so you can follow Guy and Girl’s week almost beat by beat. Below are some of the most important songs and how they function onstage; timing is given in story terms (early Act I, late Act II) rather than minutes on the clock, because productions and recordings vary slightly.

“Leave” (Steve Kazee / Guy)

Where it plays:

Early in Act I, the musical opens on a near-empty Dublin street. Guy stands alone with his guitar, pouring out “Leave” to an audience of passers-by who barely care. It is completely diegetic: he is literally busking, with the band built out of other cast members drifting in and out as fellow street musicians. On the album it feels like a confession you happened to overhear.

Why it matters:

This is rock-bottom for Guy. The song introduces his heartbreak, his ex in New York and his conviction that music has stopped being worth the pain. When the rest of the score slowly pulls him away from this place, you always hear “Leave” in the rear-view mirror.

“Falling Slowly” (Steve Kazee & Cristin Milioti / Guy & Girl)

Where it plays:

Still in Act I, inside the little music shop where Girl has access to a piano. She strong-arms Guy into showing her one of his songs, grabs his notebook and sits at the keys. What begins as a shy exchange between two musicians becomes a small miracle: other cast members join in on violin, guitar and backing vocals, turning the shop into an impromptu studio. It is fully diegetic — they are rehearsing — but staged with the glow of a montage.

Why it matters:

“Falling Slowly” is the moment they become co-authors instead of strangers. The album version keeps that build: first a fragile guitar-and-piano duet, then a swell of ensemble harmonies that suggests what their collaboration could become. It is the thesis statement for the entire show.

“If You Want Me” (Cristin Milioti & Ensemble / Girl)

Where it plays:

Later in Act I, after Guy has handed Girl a CD of instrumentals. In her apartment, after everyone else has drifted to sleep, she plays the disc and quietly overlays her own lyrics. Onstage the ensemble often floats around her like thoughts made visible, moving furniture and echoing phrases; the number hovers between diegetic (she really is singing to the track) and interior monologue.

Why it matters:

The scene reveals that Girl is not just a muse; she’s a songwriter in her own right. The track on the album leans heavily on her vocal line and subtle percussion, painting the inner life she rarely shows in dialogue.

“Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy” (Steve Kazee / Guy)

Where it plays:

Mid-Act I, on a Dublin bus after Girl has roped Guy into fixing her vacuum cleaner. She eggs him on until he breaks into this cheeky, half-improvised song about his ex and his day job. In the theatre it is light, fast and unapologetically diegetic — a guy messing around with a guitar to make someone laugh.

Why it matters:

The number lets Guy drop his seriousness and show off the scruffy charm that drew Girl in. On the record it works like a palate cleanser between the heavier ballads, reminding you that the score knows when to crack a joke.

“Gold” (Steve Kazee & Ensemble)

Where it plays:

Near the end of Act I, at a pub open-mic night. Girl tricks Guy into signing up, and the Emcee introduces him as “The Hooverman”. He steps to the mic, terrified, and sings “Gold” as the bar gradually quiets and the band joins in. It is very much diegetic — a public performance — but the lighting and staging isolate Guy and Girl, who lock eyes across the room.

Why it matters:

This is Guy’s first real step back into being a musician. The album captures the slow crescendo: bare vocal and guitar, then the rhythm section and strings lifting him into full band mode. Dramatically, it’s the moment Girl’s belief in him becomes impossible to ignore.

“Sleeping” (Steve Kazee / Guy)

Where it plays:

At the top of Act II, after Guy and Girl have taken a day trip to Howth Head. A nearly-romantic moment has fizzled, and the stage empties, leaving Guy alone with his guitar. “Sleeping” emerges as a late-night confession to the sea and to himself, performed in-story but staged almost like a soliloquy.

Why it matters:

The song lets Guy articulate, clearly and painfully, that he is caught between his past in New York and the possibility of something new with Girl. On the record, the slow build and cracked high notes tell you exactly how far he still has to go.

“When Your Mind’s Made Up” (Company)

Where it plays:

Mid-Act II, inside the recording studio once the band has finally secured a bank loan. Microphones hang everywhere, the engineer hovers in the booth, and the group throws itself into “When Your Mind’s Made Up” as their first demo track. What you hear on the album is essentially that fictional session: full-throttle live band, overlapping instrumental lines and a sense that everything might fall apart at any second.

Why it matters:

Structurally it is the big “we did it” moment; emotionally it is more complicated. The lyric hints at stubbornness and emotional walls, even as the music roars. You can feel the fault lines in Guy and Girl’s relationship underneath the triumphant sound.

“The Hill” (Cristin Milioti / Girl)

Where it plays:

Immediately after that first studio take, when the rest of the band has stepped out. Girl stays at the piano and, believing herself alone, sings “The Hill”. Guy walks in midway and silently listens. The number is diegetic — she is literally playing — but staged as if we’re inside a diary entry she would never willingly share.

Why it matters:

This is Girl’s emotional centerpiece. The album version strips away almost everything but her voice and piano, so you hear every hesitation and bit of self-protection cracking. It reframes the whole story from her side.

“Gold (A Cappella)” (Company)

Where it plays:

Late in Act II, the band gathers on a hill overlooking Dublin before the record is finished. Without instruments, they sing “Gold” in close harmony, voices alone against the night. Onstage it feels like a blessing for the album they’ve created and for each other’s futures; in the recording it comes across like a folk choir warming the air around your speakers.

Why it matters:

It turns a song that began as Guy’s solo into a communal ritual. The a cappella arrangement underlines one of the show’s quiet points: art is rarely a solo act, even when one person is holding the guitar.

“Falling Slowly (Reprise)” (Steve Kazee, Cristin Milioti & Ensemble)

Where it plays:

In the final sequence of Act II. Guy has left for New York to reunite with his ex; Girl remains in Dublin with her daughter and a brand-new piano he has sent as a gift. They sing “Falling Slowly” again from separate locations, voices overlapping as if they were still sharing the same room. The staging cross-cuts between them; on the album you hear that distance in the arrangement.

Why it matters:

The reprise refuses to give us a conventional romantic ending, yet it also refuses tragedy. Instead it frames their week together as the thing that got them both moving again. As a final track, it feels like an exhale.

Notes & Trivia

• Almost every major number is diegetic: characters pick up instruments and perform in pubs, shops or studios, so the cast album often feels like a live concept record.
• The stage musical keeps nearly all the beloved songs from the film but adds pieces like the comic “Abandoned in Bandon” and reshapes “Gold” into both a pub-rock anthem and an a cappella prayer.
• The film’s title song “Once” does not appear in the show itself, but the Broadway company sometimes used it as a special curtain-call treat on notable nights.
• The actor-musician idea — everyone onstage playing — is built into the album’s DNA; you can hear subtle chair scrapes, breath and ensemble timing that would be ironed out of a more traditional cast recording.
• The Broadway production won eight Tony Awards and then the cast album went on to win the 2013 Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album, giving this little indie story the full awards-season sweep.
• Folk-rock ballads like “Falling Slowly” and “The Hill” have migrated far beyond the show, turning up in auditions, cabarets and singer-songwriter sets well outside the musical theatre scene.

Reception & Quotes

Critics responded to the album almost the way characters respond to the songs within the show — quietly at first, then with something like awe. Reviewers praised its refusal to sound like a conventional Broadway belt-fest, instead leaning into acoustic textures and emotional understatement.

As one major outlet noted, the score’s Irish-tinged folk-pop and use of strings, accordion and cajón can feel like chamber music dropped into a downtown bar. Others pointed out that the arrangements differ enough from the film soundtrack to justify the album’s existence, while still respecting the original songs and their rough-edged charm.

“Different enough from the movie soundtrack, yet wholly respectful — a rare cast album that works for people who don’t usually like musicals.” AllMusic

“A warm acoustic sound approaching chamber-music intimacy, emotional but never mawkish.” The New York Times

“Pure, moving and inventive… a beautifully adapted stage score.” Chicago and London critics, on the musical and album

Commercially, the album hit the upper reaches of Billboard’s Cast Albums chart for several years in a row and picked up the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album in 2013. In the 2020s it has stayed in print and online, popping up on streaming platforms alongside a 2-LP and colored-vinyl reissue for collectors. New productions of Once across North America and Europe still use this recording as a reference point, so the album keeps quietly shaping how the show sounds in local theatres in 2025.

Interesting Facts

• The show’s bar set often functions as a working bar before the performance, so audiences can literally clink glasses on the same floor where the songs will be sung.
• Orchestrator Martin Lowe won a Tony for his work on the stage score; his orchestrations are the backbone of the cast album’s soundworld.
• The album sessions were filmed for short “making of” clips, which show Kazee, Milioti and the ensemble recording together rather than laying down isolated studio vocals.
• Because the musical’s characters are mostly working-class artists, the score leans into slightly “unfinished” textures — strummed guitars, small intonation wobbles — that many listeners now treat as part of the emotional truth.
• “Gold (A Cappella)” became a surprise cult favorite; some choirs perform it without knowing it comes from a musical at all.
• A marigold-colored vinyl edition of the cast album introduced the recording to a fresh wave of listeners who discovered it through record-store browsing rather than theatre fandom.
• Regional and university productions often use the Broadway album to teach actor-musicians the show’s style, so its phrasing and grooves have quietly standardized how Once sounds worldwide.

Technical Info

• Title: Once: A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
• Year: 2012 (recorded January 17, released March 13)
• Type: Original Broadway cast album for the stage musical Once
• Principal composers & lyricists: Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (with additional material by Fergus O’Farrell and others)
• Book (stage source): Enda Walsh, adapting the 2007 film written and directed by John Carney
• Orchestrations & music direction: Martin Lowe (orchestrations, arrangements, album co-producer), with music supervision support credited in the stage materials and liner notes
• Lead performers on album: Steve Kazee (Guy), Cristin Milioti (Girl), with the original Broadway ensemble in supporting vocals and instrumentals
• Studio: Avatar Studios, New York City
• Label / catalog: Masterworks Broadway / Sony Music Entertainment; multiple CD, digital and vinyl configurations
• Release context: Recorded between the show’s off-Broadway run and its Broadway opening at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in March 2012
• Awards: Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album (2013); connected to the Tony Award–winning Broadway production of Once
• Selected notable placements (onstage moments tied to tracks): “Falling Slowly” in the music-shop rehearsal; “Gold” at the pub open mic; “When Your Mind’s Made Up” during the recording-studio sequence; “The Hill” as Girl’s private confession; “Falling Slowly (Reprise)” over the cross-cut finale between Dublin and New York
• Availability in 2025: Widely available on major streaming services, digital download stores, CD reprints and recent vinyl pressings, including a marigold-colored LP edition.

Key Contributors

Subject	Relation	Object
Glen Hansard	composed songs for	Once (film) and Once: A New Musical
Markéta Irglová	co-wrote music and lyrics for	Once: A New Musical
Enda Walsh	wrote book for	Once: A New Musical (stage production)
John Carney	wrote and directed	Once (2007 film), the musical’s source
Martin Lowe	orchestrated and co-produced	Once: A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Steven Epstein	produced	Once: A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
Steve Kazee	originated the role of	Guy in the Broadway production of Once
Cristin Milioti	originated the role of	Girl in the Broadway production of Once
Masterworks Broadway	released	the original Broadway cast recording of Once
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre	hosted	the original Broadway run of Once
New York Theatre Workshop	premiered	the off-Broadway production that led to the cast album
Sony Music Entertainment	serves as parent company of	Masterworks Broadway, the album’s label

Questions & Answers

Do I need to know the film Once to enjoy this cast recording?

No. The album tells a clear emotional story on its own; knowing the film just adds extra layers of deja-vu and comparison.

How different is the Broadway cast album from the original movie soundtrack?

The songs are largely the same, but the Broadway versions use fuller orchestrations, new vocal arrangements and different dramatic timing to fit a two-act stage structure.

Is the album recorded live, or is it a heavily edited studio production?

It is a studio album, but it was cut with the full band in the room, so it keeps a loose, live feel rather than a hyper-polished Broadway sheen.

Where can I listen to Once: A New Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) in 2025?

It is available on the major streaming platforms, digital stores and in physical editions on CD and vinyl, including recent colored-vinyl pressings.

If I only try one track, which should it be?

Start with “Falling Slowly” to feel the core relationship, then jump to “When Your Mind’s Made Up” or “Gold (A Cappella)” to hear the ensemble and the album’s full dynamic range.

Short plot summary of Once the musical.

The story takes place in modern Dublin, present day streets and bars.
We meet Guy, a nameless street musician, heartbroken and ready to quit music.
He plays his songs on a city corner, mostly for himself, not for success.
We meet Girl, a Czech immigrant, practical, sharp, but deeply sensitive inside.
She hears his music, feels the pain and honesty in his performance.
She refuses to let him give up, almost drags him back into hope.
Together they gather a small group of friends and fellow musicians.
They rehearse, they argue, they laugh, and they record a demo album.
Love slowly grows between them, quiet and complicated, never simple.
Real life stands in the way, responsibilities, families, old relationships.
The musical suggests that love can be real, even without a neat ending.
Music becomes the bridge, healing their past and opening their future paths.

What makes the stage production different.

The key staging idea, the actors are also the onstage band.
There is no hidden orchestra pit, almost all instruments stay visible.
Guitars, violin, cello, mandolin, piano, accordion, everything sits onstage.
Performers step out from the ensemble, act a scene, then rejoin the band.
The main set is simple, usually a bar with mirrors and chairs.
That bar often functions as a real bar for audiences before curtain.
The visual style feels like a pub session, not a glittering spectacle.
Choreography is subtle, more like movement and flow than big dance breaks.
The tone is intimate, focused on emotion more than theatrical fireworks.
The result, you feel like you are inside a late night jam session.

Differences between the film and the musical.

The film is extremely quiet, almost documentary in its atmosphere.
The musical keeps that intimacy but builds larger ensemble moments.
Secondary characters are more defined, given musical moments and humor.
Some songs move to different story points to heighten dramatic effect.
The central love story remains ambiguous, tender and bittersweet.
If you love the film, the musical feels like an expanded conversation.
If you meet the musical first, the film feels like a gentle memory.
Most fans end up treasuring both, like two siblings in the same family.

Why Once still feels relevant in 2025.

Once continues to live strongly in regional and amateur productions.
The show is attractive for smaller theatres, limited set, strong music focus.
Companies in North America and Europe keep it in regular rotation.
Universities and drama schools use it to showcase actor musicians.
The score remains popular in concerts and cabarets, especially its duets.
The song Falling Slowly is now a standard for musical theatre auditions.
Covers appear frequently online, from bedroom guitars to formal recitals.
So the album you saw is part of a continuing, very active tradition.