Theatre
By Numbers
Matilda by numbers: Every song in the stage musical of Matilda
Here’s your breakdown of every song on the West End soundtrack of Matilda the Musical
Created by Tim Minchin, the music in the stage adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic Matilda is some of the best in the West End. The musical was nominated in all ten Olivier categories for which it was eligible when it first premiered in 2012, and won seven of them, setting a new record for any show in the history of the awards. In April 2025 it celebrated its 5,000th performance, and it continues to be a first night at the theatre for many young people – and an unforgettable one for attendees of all ages.
If you’re yet to see the show and keen to get more familiar, or you just can’t get that one particularly catchy number out of your head, you’re in luck. Here’s our breakdown of every song in Matilda the Musical.
‘Miracle’
Matilda is all about how children are viewed by the adults around them. The show opens with a chorus of children at a birthday parent describing how their parents adore them – a clown performing observes that the parents might be overestimating their talents. The parents themselves pipe up to praise their kids and make excuses for their failings.
We then move to the hospital where Mrs Wormwood is horrified to learn that she is nine months pregnant and will have to miss the Bi-Annual International Amateur Salsa and Ballroom Dancing Championships. The doctor delivering her baby sings about how precious life is – but Mrs Wormwood doesn’t seem to share his conviction. Mr Wormwood arrives and is highly disappointed to discover that he has a daughter rather than a son. The Wormwoods lament their bad luck, which they believe they have done nothing to deserve.
As the chorus returns to sing about how miraculous every child is, the children themselves brag about the praise their parents heap on them. When Matilda herself raises her voice, the contrast is stark – the things she hears from her parents on a daily basis are the exact opposite…
Key lyric: “My mummy says I’m a miracle/One look at my face and it’s plain to see”
‘Naughty’
Intelligent and well-read, Matilda is determined not to sit back and let fate take its course like the characters in her books. The adults around her don’t take her seriously and her parents don’t seem to suffer any consequences for their rude and unethical behaviour. Knowing that no one will fix these things for her, she resolves to take matters into her own hands – even if that means breaking the rules.
Key lyric: “Even if you’re little you can do a lot/You mustn’t let a little thing like little stop you”
‘School Song’
When Matilda and the rest of the Reception class turn up at the school gates for their first day, they don’t find a particularly warm and supportive environment. Clinging to the affirmations of their parents, they’re soon greeted by the older students, who paint a very different picture of life. Minchin’s clever wordplay allows them to intimidate the younger children with a description of the soul-crushing life at Crunchem Hall and teach them the alphabet at the same time.
Key lyric: “Just you wait for Phys-ed!”
‘Pathetic’
After meeting the precocious Matilda, teacher Miss Honey is convinced that the five-year-old should be immediately placed in the top class. However, she can’t quite work up the nerve to knock at the office of headmistress Miss Trunchbull and tell her so. After talking herself out of knocking, she recalls how special Matilda is and gains the necessary courage.
Key lyric: “But this little girl, this miracle…”
‘The Hammer’
Miss Trunchbull takes a different view of Matilda. Having already spoken to Mr Wormwood, she has made up her mind that Matilda won’t get any special treatment. Reminiscing on her days as an athlete throwing the hammer for her country, she emphasises to Miss Honey that she had to follow strict rules in order to succeed, and that she expects the same of all the children in her school. She orders Miss Honey out.
Key lyric: “If you want to teach to success/You don’t use sympathy or tenderness”
‘Loud’
Miss Honey’s next course of action is to appeal to Matilda’s parents and try to make them understand why Matilda is special. Mrs Wormwood isn’t any more sympathetic to her view, and sings about how the volume with which you speak is much more important these days than anything you have to say.
Key lyric: “What you know matters less/Than the volume with which what you don’t know’s expressed”
‘This Little Girl’
Miss Honey reprises her earlier theme in order to tell herself off for letting the Wormwoods talk her out of the house. She is still desperate to advocate for Matilda, even though she sees herself as weak and ineffectual.
Key lyric: “What sort of teacher would I be/If I let this little girl fall through the cracks?”
‘Bruce’
The rousing closer to Act One sees Miss Trunchball discipling Matilda’s classmate, Bruce Bogtrotter. Upon realising that Bruce has eaten a slice of her ginormous chocolate cake, she demands that he finish the entire thing. Bruce despairs – until the class cheer him on in song.
Key lyric: “We never thought it was possible/But here it is coming true/We can have our cake and eat it too”
‘Telly’
During the interval, Mr Wormwood speaks about how much better watching telly is than reading. Matilda’s older brother helps him up with backing vocals – and a twangy guitar solo.
Key lyric: “All I know I learnt from telly/The bigger the telly, the smarter the man”
‘When I Grow Up’
Act Two begins with this poignant number, in which all the children reflect on all the things they’ll be able to do when they’re older – like face their fears and set their own bedtimes. Miss Honey joins in, still waiting for the day when she feels grown up.
Key lyric: “When I grow up, I will be brave enough to fight the creatures that you have to fight beneath the bed each night to be a grown-up”
‘I’m Here’
Alone and upset, Matilda disappears into the story she has been telling over the course of the play, about the daughter of an escapologist and his deceased acrobat wife. Raised by a mean, abusive aunt, the daughter is subject to all kinds of horrors – until Matilda describes the escapologist running to his daughter. Playing the part of the daughter, Matilda and the escapologist comfort each other. The escapologist demands revenge on the aunt and storms out – and Matilda tells the audience that he never came home again.
Key lyric: “Don’t cry, I am here little girl”
‘The Smell Of Rebellion’
Aggravated by what she perceives as continued insubordination from her students, Miss Trunchbull demands the students take part in one of her gruelling Phys-Ed classes. She sings about how this rebellion needs to be nipped in the bud before it spreads. Fantasising about a world without children, she lets loose a string of nonsense that reveals the depth of her instability, before a comment from one of the class snaps her back to her mission.
Key lyric: “Have you ever smelled anything worse than that smell of rebellion?”
‘Quiet’
Angered by all the injustice that surrounds her, Matilda disappears into her mind again. We get an insight into her complex thoughts and her busy brain, and she tells us that all the noise has pushed her to a point where everything is hot and bright. Suddenly, it all hits a ceiling, and everything becomes very still. Matilda has a clarity she’s never had before. We’re about to find out that this how she discovers her telekinetic powers.
Key lyric: “And it is quiet/And I am warm/Like I’ve sailed into the eye of the storm”
‘My House’
Visiting Miss Honey in her home, Matilda sees the shed that her teacher is forced to live in after losing everything to her cruel aunt. Miss Honey tries to convince her that she’s content with her life as is, but Matilda begins to realise that Miss Honey’s story is familiar…
Key lyric: “It isn’t much, but it is enough for me”
‘Revolting Children’
After realising that the story she’s been telling is actually Miss Honey’s, Matilda comes up with a plan to banish her evil aunt – Miss Trunchbull – once and for all by frightening Miss Trunchbull with her telekinetic powers. This achieved, the children celebrate her departure, and a play on the double meaning of ‘revolting’ sees them enjoying being everything she said they couldn’t be.
Key lyric: “We’ll be revolting children/’Til our revolting’s done”
Matilda the musical is currently playing at the Cambridge Theatre – find tickets here
