Feature
By Numbers
Back To The Future by numbers: Every song in the stage musical of Back To The Future
Here’s your breakdown of every song on the West End soundtrack of Back To The Future
What do you get when you cross a hit Huey Lewis and the News single with a multiple Grammy-winning writing team? If you guessed anything other than the Back To The Future soundtrack, we’d be fascinated to know what it was. The 80s blockbuster is now a larger-than-life West End show, complete with hits from the original film, brand new music, and (spoiler?) a flying, time-travelling car. Whether you’re thinking of taking your first trip to the Adelphi Theatre or you’re just dying to know what Doc Brown’s singing voice sounds like, we’re here to guide you. Here’s what you need to know about every song in the Back To The Future musical.
‘It’s Only A Matter Of Time’
After finding a message in the home of his scientist friend, Dr Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown, asking Marty to meet him in the parking lot of Twin Pines Mall after midnight. ‘It’s Only A Matter Of Time’ begins after Marty has destroyed the amplifier playing his electric guitar and is walking through town fantasising about being a rock star. We’re also introduced to Goldie Wilson, who is running for mayor. Both Marty and Goldie believe that great things are on the horizon for them.
In the original film, the song ‘Power Of Love’ plays during this sequence. In the stage musical, ‘Power Of Love’ instead features near the end of the show, with just a small snippet used in the next track.
Key lyric: “Come on now future, let’s hit the turbo booster”
‘Audition/Got No Future’
Marty and his band audition to play for the school dance with a few lines of ‘Power Of Love’ before the principal shuts it down, telling him that he’s from a family of slackers and throwing cold water over Marty’s dreams of making it big. Marty sings a few mournful lines about his crushed hopes.
Key lyric: “I got no future/I won’t be getting out of here”
‘Wherever We’re Going’
Marty’s girlfriend Jennifer comforts him and reminds him not to let other people define the course of his life. She’s happy to trust in the future and in their relationship.
Key lyric: “Wherever we’re going is alright, alright, alright, alright with me”
‘Hello, Is Anybody Home?’
Marty returns home to find his father allowing his supervisor, Biff, to bully him, his brother boasting about his job at a burger restaurant and his mother discouraging his sister from dating. As his dad tells Marty to aim lower in life, Marty’s frustration with his family grows. He wonders how they can all remain so complacent. Whilst lecturing his sister, his mother relates the story of how she met Marty’s father – a story that’s about to get a little more convoluted…
Key lyric: “Success is overrated, overstated, overblown/Listen to my mantra/Just leave me alone…”
‘It Works’
Marty goes to meet Doc at the Twin Pines Mall parking lot and discovers that Doc has built a time machine from a DeLorean, after a lot of experimentation. However, it’s come at a cost – he’s dying from radiation poisoning. Marty jumps in the car to get medical help in a subsequent instrumental number, and despite Doc’s warnings, drives fast enough to accidentally go back in time.
Key lyric: “I found what I was searching for/It’s called the Flux Capacitor/It’s this year’s break-through scientific first”
‘Cake’
Now in 1955, Marty leaves the car in a barn and heads to the town square where the citizens of Hill Valley are boasting about their clean, healthy town. Some of their healthy habits include chain smoking and insulating their homes with Asbestos, and the song playfully points out that the 1950s town is only a utopia for a specific group of people.
Key lyric: “It’s a good old-fashioned modern way of living/And no one does it better than we do”
‘Gotta Start Somewhere’
Marty meets future mayor Goldie working in the diner, and accidentally lets his future slip. Inspired, Goldie sings this upbeat solo to Marty’s father, George, now a teenager terrorised by Biff and his gang.
Key lyric: “You gotta start somewhere/You gotta get going or you’re never gonna get there”
‘My Myopia’
Marty finds George spying on Lorraine, Marty’s mother, from a tree. George sings about how all he can think about is Lorraine – he doesn’t have time to consider anything else. Marty is horrified to discover that his parents didn’t meet because of some twist of fate, but because his father is a “peeping tom.” When George falls out of the tree, Marty is knocked unconscious.
Key lyric: “When you narrow your point of view/You see only what you want to”
‘Pretty Baby’
Marty wakes up in Lorraine’s bedroom to find her caring for him. Now that the chain of events that got his parents together has been disrupted, Lorraine has fallen for Marty instead. Horrified, Marty tries to keep her at bay.
Key lyric: “Pretty baby, got this funny feelin’/Pretty baby, I might need some healin’”
‘Future Boy’
Marty escapes and finds the house of a younger Doc. Convincing him that he’s from the future, Marty takes him to the car, and Doc worries that Marty will be stuck in the past forever. Marty despairs, until Doc reveals that a bolt of lightning would help power the car. Knowing that a bolt of lightning is due to destroy the clock tower soon, Marty formulates a plan.
Key lyric: “No room for mistake/It’s the only way to ever get you back/Back to the future, boy”
‘Something About That Boy’
After Doc tells Marty that his future existence depends on him getting his parents’ love story back on track, Marty encourages George to invite Lorraine to the dance. However, an altercation with Biff sees Marty stepping up to defend George, accidentally impressing Lorraine even more. She sings about an ineffable quality in Marty that she can’t quite articulate but feels drawn to. However, Biff and his gang feel the opposite and plot to teach Marty a lesson.
Key lyric: “There’s something about that boy/He’s bringing me so much joy/I don’t know what it is but those eyes of his look through me”
‘21st Century’
Act Two begins with Doc dreaming about the advancements that he believes will be made as the world enters the 21st century. The irony, of course, is that his utopian imaginings are far from the reality that we live in.
Key lyric: “No more hunger, no more pain; they’re things of the past/Peace and love is all we’ll ever know”
‘Put Your Mind To It’
After reluctantly accepting Lorraine’s invitation to the school dance, Marty plots to have George win her over instead. He gives George lessons in how to conduct himself, to boost George’s confidence and make him more appealing to Lorraine.
Key lyric: “Put your mind to it/Don’t be blind to it”
‘For The Dreamers’
![Roger Bart - For The Dreamers (From Back to the Future: The Musical) [Official Music Video]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5ck27i9TfdE/0.jpg)
Meanwhile, Doc is preparing to send the lightning to the DeLorean via a wire connected to the clock tower. He reflects on all the scientists throughout history who failed to achieve their goals and vows to succeed on their behalf.
Key lyric: “Yes, this one’s for the dreamers/Whose names we don’t remember/They were close but no cigar/And we don’t know who they are…”
‘Teach Him A Lesson’
Biff and his gang learn that Marty is planning to appear at the dance and plan to deter him from messing with them again. He feels that something is suspicious about the way Marty acts and dresses, but a little like Lorraine he is unable to put his finger on what it is.
Key lyric: “I’m gonna remind him/Of what a man can’t do”
‘The Letter/Only A Matter Of Time’
On the night of the dance, despite knowing the risks of talking to people about their futures, Marty writes Doc a letter to warn him of his death in 1985. Nervous about his only chance to return to the future and get time back on track, Marty reflects on the life waiting for him in 1985 and hears Jennifer’s voice.
Key lyric: “There’s one chance and this much is so clear/If I miss it, I may never leave”
‘Deep Divin’’
This school dance number, sung by Marvin Berry, sets the scene for the ‘Enchantment Under The Sea’ celebrations, where Marty sets his plan into motion to get George to kiss Lorraine.
Key lyric: “In the South Sea Islands they dive for pearls/In the USA, they dive for girls”
‘Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)’
After some confusion, George rescues Lorraine from Biff and the two of them end up dancing to this song. Another student tries to cut in, but George fends him off, preventing Marty from fading to existence. He and Lorraine share a kiss on the dance floor, getting time back on track. This track is one of the few songs from the original film to make it into the stage production and was originally recorded by the Penguins.
Key lyric: “I’m just a fool/A fool in love with you”
‘Johnny B. Goode’
Marty takes the stage at the dance to play ‘Johnny B. Goode’ by Chuck Berry, catching the crowd off guard with his excessive guitar solo. This track is also one that made the cut from the original film.
Key lyric: “Go Johnny, go, go, go”
‘The Clocktower/For The Dreamers’
Doc faces his fear of heights to reconnect the upper cables, working to the backdrop of this dramatic instrumental number. When he succeeds, he performs a short reprise of ‘For The Dreamers’ whilst Marty accelerates to 88 miles per hour and succeeds in going back in time. Since Marty doesn’t arrive in time to save Doc’s life, this reprise appears to act as Doc’s goodbye – until it’s revealed that Doc did in fact read Marty’s letter and wore a protective suit when assembling the machine.
Key lyric: “This one’s for the dreamers like me”
‘The Power of Love’
Discovering that his family’s fortunes have been changed for the better by his adventures in time, Marty attends the annual celebration in honour of his father, a famous science fiction writer. He and his band play ‘The Power of Love’ at the event. The song, originally released by Huey Lewis and the News, was written especially for the 1985 film.
Key lyric: “It might just save your life/That’s the power of love”
‘Doc Returns/Finale’
Doc interrupts the celebrations to take Marty back in time again, hinting at further adventures, and reveals that the car can now fly.
Key lyric: “It’s only a matter of time”
Back To The Future is currently booking at the Adelphi Theatre – find tickets here
