Theatre
By Numbers
Beetlejuice By Numbers: Every song in the stage musical
Here’s your breakdown of every song on the soundtrack of Beetlejuice The Musical
Beetlejuice The Musical has finally made it to the West End, and Tim Burton’s ghost brings with him a scarily infectious score. Packed full of delightfully dark comedy, the musical adaptation of the cult classic film is one of the best nights out currently on offer in London, with a whole lot of heart hiding under its ghoulish exterior. Here’s our breakdown of every song on the Beetlejuice soundtrack.
‘Prologue: Invisible’
At her mother’s funeral, Lydia Deetz mourns her loss and her failure to get her father to notice her. Beside the gravestone, she sings this lament. It’s a mournful start to the show, but Beetlejuice is about to arrive and pick up the tempo.
Key lyric: “You’re invisible when you’re sad”
‘The Whole “Being Dead” Thing’
Beetlejuice welcomes the audience to “a show about death”, promising to be their guide through the distressing material. He reminds them that they’ll all be dead one day, so they might as well enjoy the show right now.
Key lyric: “That’s the thing with life: no one makes it out alive”
‘Ready Set, Not Yet’
A young married couple, Adam and Barbara, move into their new home and set up their new life. Tentatively they discuss having kids – but they aren’t quite ready yet. They decide to hold off as they have plenty of time. Or do they? Adam and Barbara fall through the floorboards of their home, and Beetlejuice appears to remind us that we did sign up for a show about death.
Key lyric: “A house, a yard, a minivan/A baby should be next”
‘The Whole “Being Dead” Thing, Pt. 2’
Beetlejuice generously offers to be Adam and Barbara’s guide in death. With a cheer squad of ghosts, he gives them a peppy welcome. He encourages them to stay around and haunt the house rather than pass on to the Netherworld.
Key lyric: “Stick with me/I’m like a ghost-zombie Jesus”
‘Dead Mom’
Lydia moves into the house with her father, feeling as if she is the only one who remembers her mother. She believes her father expects them all to move on and forget, but she refuses. Isolated and alone, she vows to makes her father say her mother’s name.
Key lyric: “Daddy’s moving forward/Daddy didn’t lose a mom”
‘Fright Of Their Lives’
Beetlejuice tries to teach the Maitlands to haunt like real ghosts so that they can frighten the house’s current residents. However, he and the couple have hugely differing ideas of what the word ‘scary’ means. He needs the Maitlands to get a living person to say his name, but his current plan doesn’t seem feasible. Frustrated, Beetlejuice gives up on them.
Key lyric: “Don’t be so vanilla/Would a little anger kill ya?”
‘Ready Set – Reprise’
Adam and Barbara decide that Beetlejuice is right – they need to get a little more serious about scaring. They vow to give it a proper go in order to get their home back from the Deetz family.
Key lyric: “If we wanna win back our home/I gotta get right outside my comfort zone”
‘No Reason’
Lydia talks to a woman named Delia, who her father hired to be her life coach. Delia tries to convince Lydia that everything happens for a reason and that the universe has a plan for Lydia’s life. It turns out that Delia might need to believe in invisible forces even more than Lydia, however.
Key lyric: “Just listen to the melody the universe sings/’Cause everything, everything happens for a reason”
‘Invisible (Reprise)/On The Roof’
Lydia meets the Maitlands, and tries to convince her father to leave by telling him the house is haunted. After learning that Delia is her father’s secret lover, and that the two are engaged, Lydia decides that she’s hit her limit and goes up to the roof to jump off. Beetlejuice is already up there, mourning his lot in life (death?) when he realises that Lydia can see him. Delighted, he realises that this is his chance.
Key lyric: “Guess they will never see/The demon who isn’t there/You’re invisible when you’re me”
‘Say My Name’
Beetlejuice tries to convince Lydia to say his name three times and bring him into the real world. He pledges his assistance in punishing her father, although his suggestions are more extreme than she’d like. They play a game of charades in order for Beetlejuice to communicate his name. Entertained by his pleading, Lydia toys with him, letting him know she’s not an easy target and telling him she’ll consider his offer.
When Adam and Barbara arrive, they try to convince Lydia to stay away from Beetlejuice. To convince her otherwise, Beetlejuice possesses Adam and Barbara so that Lydia might hear glowing reviews about him from their own mouths. However, once Lydia realises that any ghost can perform a possession, she pushes Beetlejuice off the roof and decides to work with Adam and Barbara to make her dad notice her instead.
Key lyric: “I may be suicidal, but Beetlejuice it’s not as if I’ve lost my mind”
‘Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)’
At a very important business dinner party, Adam and Barbara possess Charles Deetz, Delia and their guests, forcing them to sing. However, the investors that Charles has been trying to bring on board with his housing project are delighted at the potential in a genuine haunted house. Desperate, Lydia closes Act One by calling on Beetlejuice, bringing him into the world of the living.
Key lyric: “Daylight come and me wan’ go home”
‘Girl Scout’
Act Two opens with a cheery song by a girl scout on her way to sell cookies in the neighbourhood. She confides to the audience that her parents are overprotective due to a heart defect that makes shock very dangerous to her. When she knocks on Lydia’s door, she’s in for the fright of her life – Beetlejuice has taken over the house, helping Lydia scare everyone who comes to the door.
Key lyric: “Only takes one shock and I could be dead from the fear/Still, I’m gonna sell some cookies!”
‘That Beautiful Sound’
Beetlejuice summons multiple versions of him to terrorise everyone who approaches the house, from pizza delivery men to neighbours. He and Lydia celebrate the sound of their screaming.
Key lyric: “The sound of a scream/Is music to me”
‘Barbara 2.0’
Trapped in the attic, Barbara and Adam realise they should have gone straight to the Netherworld when they died and that they allowed themselves to be manipulated. Wanting to help Lydia, Barbara convinces Adam they have to live differently now they’re dead than they were when they were alive – they need to summon their courage and take action to fix the situation.
Key lyric: “And now Barbara the doormat/She’s coming back in a new format/Time to let go/Say hello to Barbara 2.0!”
‘What I Know Now’
After a series of missteps, Lydia manages to enter a door opened by Beetlejuice to get into the Netherworld and look for her mother. Her father follows her. In the Netherworld they meet Miss Argentina and a group of other ghosts, who urge them to return to the land of living whilst they still can.
Key lyric: “I thought I knew/But I was wrong/’Cause life is short/But death is super long”
‘Home’
Lydia searches frantically for her mother. Unable to find her, she breaks down in tears. Her father finds her and the two finally reconcile, with Charles finally saying Emily’s name. Lydia decides to go home and make the best of the unorthodox family she has left.
Key lyric: “Adam, Barbara, Delia and Dad/It’s messy, but they’re all that I have/I’ll make the best of being flesh and bone”
‘Creepy Old Guy’
Back at the house, Beetlejuice prepares to kill everyone, but Lydia prevents him by agreeing to marry him, which would bring him fully to life and allow him to experience humanity. They sing this uncomfortably funny song about the creepy situation, with Beetlejuice unaware that Lydia is planning to stab him as soon as he’s alive enough to kill.
Key lyric: “Here comes the bride/God be glorified!/I can’t believe some cultures think this kind of thing’s alright”
‘Jump In The Line’
With Beetlejuice gone, the Deetzes and Maitlands decide to share the house. Lydia reaffirms that she’ll never forget her mother, but she’s ready to enjoy the life she has left with her unusual family, both living and dead.
Key lyric: “A little unconventional I know/But Mama, I’m home”
Beetlejuice The Musical is currently playing at the Prince Edward Theatre – find tickets here
