Theatre
By Numbers
Paddington The Musical: By Numbers
Here’s your breakdown of every song on the Paddington The Musical soundtrack
Britain’s favourite bear has been dazzling audiences at the Savoy Theatre, and with eleven Olivier nominations Paddington The Musical is on its way to being one of London’s most-loved shows. At its heart is a score by Tom Fletcher, writer of ten no.1 singles with his band McFly, and composer of three soundtrack albums to go alongside his bestselling children’s books. The Paddington The Musical soundtrack is now on streaming, and if you’re ready to dive in, allow us to be your guide. Here’s what you need to know about every song in Paddington The Musical.
‘Overture/Mr Gruber’s Curiosities’
The story begins at Mr Gruber’s shop, where he stocks his shelves with curiosities. A young man finds his attention captured by a stuffed bear, which wears a tag reading ‘Please look after this bear’. Mr Gruber begins to tell the story of the bear’s dangerous journey from Peru to London.
Key lyric: “He climbed aboard a boat/He travelled with a note/Oblivious to the dangers that may find him”
‘I’ve Arrived’
Paddington arrives at Paddington Station, homesick and overwhelmed, penning a mental letter to his Aunt Lucy. He doesn’t find Paddington Station to be a very friendly place, contrary to Aunt Lucy’s description, and is struggling to convince someone to listen to his plea for a home. Meanwhile, the Londoners around him are wrapped up in their own concerns.
The Browns arrive home from their camping trip, and it doesn’t sound like anyone has had a good time. Mrs Brown is saddened by the failure of the trip – she only wants to unite her family and help them all to reconnect with each other. When she spots Paddington, she becomes the first person to show him kindness, stopping to ask if he’s okay. Upon hearing his story, she offers to house him for the night whilst they look for someone to take care of him.
Key lyric: “Dear Aunt Lucy/I’ve just found a family/My tomorrow starts today”
‘The Taxi Driver’s Code’
The Browns’ mean next door neighbour Mr Curry tries to prevent them from taking Paddington home, citing the Taxi Driver’s Code. However, when he goes head-to-head with the Browns’ very smart nine-year-old son Jonathon, who corrects him on the code, he’s forced to back down.
Key lyric: “Wait, I beg your pardon/You can’t bring a bear to Windsor Gardens”
‘Don’t Touch That’
Paddington enters the Browns’ home and meets the housekeeper, Mrs Bird. His well-meaning curiosity leads him to interact with everything breakable in the house – and he leaves most worse for wear. The Browns – particularly Mr Brown – try to contain him, and Mr Brown’s frustration mounts.
Key lyric: “I can hardly blame/All these bits and bobs and things for screaming ‘touch us!’ in my brain”
‘One Page At A Time’
When Mrs Brown tucks Paddington into bed in the attic, she shows him her comic book drawings. Her art is an outlet for her desire to take more adventures together as a family. She envisions herself as a superhero flying alongside her children and husband to deal with the everyday difficulties of marriage and motherhood.
Key lyric: “So with every blot of ink on every line/I put myself in these pictures of mine/Every painting, that’s me saving the world one page at a time”
‘Pretty Little Dead Things’
We move to the Natural History Museum, where Millicent Clyde has just added a chinchilla to her taxidermy collection. Since she was a child, she’s had an obsession with dead things. Her collection is almost complete – now she only needs a Peruvian Bear. And she’s in luck – her assistant Grant has just revealed that one has moved into Windsor Gardens…
Key lyric: “Pretty little dead bear/Nowhere you can hide”
‘The Rhythm Of London’
Judy Brown’s boyfriend Tony and his mum Tanya introduce Paddington to London and convince him that the city isn’t so scary after all. They tour him around the city and show him the landmarks, helping him to adjust to London’s fast pace.
Key lyric: “If you’ve got fur or you’ve got skin, feel the beat and you can join right in”
‘Mr Gruber’s Shop’
Investigating a red hat given to his uncle by an explorer, Paddington and the Browns go to Mr Gruber’s shop, who teaches them that each item has a hidden story. He’s able to identify that the hat came from the Geographer’s Guild.
Key lyric: “Thought it may look old or dirty/Everything you find is one of a kind/Every single object has a journey”
‘Hard Stare’
The Browns and Paddington go to the Geographer’s Guild and are greeted by the rude Lady Sloane. To convince her to let them visit the archives, Paddington gives her his powerful hard stare.
Millicent Clyde – the explorer’s daughter – is also looking for access to the archives with her assistant Grant, searching for more information about the Peruvian Bear.
Key lyric: “Step out of line and beware/Don’t look in the eyes of a bear!”
‘The Explorer And The Bear’
Paddington learns the name of the explorer, Montgomery Clyde, who once promised his uncle that Paddington would have a home with him. He imagines what his life with Montgomery might be like and is excited to eventually write to his Aunt Lucy and let her know that his expedition has been a success. He’ll be sorry to leave the Browns, but feels he now knows where he’s supposed to be.
Key lyric: “You won’t ever find a pair/That compares to the explorer and the bear!”
‘Risky Business’
At Mr Brown’s work do at the Savoy, where he’s angling for a promotion, he sings a rock song dedicated to Mrs Brown. She’s delighted by the public declaration of love.
Key lyric: “Love is a risky business, you know it’s true/And tonight I’ll take a risk on you”
‘One Of Us’
After being baited with marmalade by Millicent Clyde and accidentally ruining the event, Paddington leaves a note and runs away to be with Millicent, who claims she’ll take care of him as her father intended. Mr Brown feels Paddington has caused disruption in his family, but Mrs Brown defends him. However, it comes too late – Paddington is already gone. Mrs Brown goes after him.
Key lyric: “Didn’t know we were incomplete/But it was so obvious/If he’s looking for family, then he’s already one of us”
‘Marmalade’
In Act Two’s opener Paddington sings of his love for marmalade, winning over Mr Curry, who feels no one has ever shown him such kindness.
Key lyric: “If your love has got no flavour and you wish it would end/Do your tongue a little favour and try this my friend”
‘Worth The Work’
Feeling guilty over Paddington, Mr Brown talks to Mrs Bird, who tells him about her late husband and the work it takes to have a great marriage. She encourages him not to take Mrs Brown for granted and to work on the relationship. He confesses he sometimes feels that he’s no longer the person Mrs Brown fell in love with, but he knows the relationship is worth any amount of effort he needs to put in.
Key lyric: “It takes work to make love work”
‘Where’s Paddington’
Mrs Brown tries to create the perfect ‘Missing’ poster, hoping it will lead her Paddington. With Mr Gruber’s help, she prints copies and distributes them around London. Her kids and friends spread the word around the city, worried by the news Montgomery Clyde is dead. Mr Curry, who knows where Paddington is, wrestles with whether to put himself at risk and save the bear. He decides to help.
Mr Brown gets involved, despite the fact that his family are still upset with him. Tanya reprimands him for his overprotectiveness and encourages him to let go and enjoy the city he lives in.
Key lyric: “There’s a missing bear/London say a prayer that he is found before he’s hurt”
‘Everything You Never Were’
Millicent Clyde reflects on her strained relationship with her father, wondering what he’d say if he could see her now. She knows Montgomery would probably free Paddington, but she considers her father a failure. She’s about to go further than he was ever able to and complete her collection – by killing and stuffing Paddington. She reveals to a frightened Paddington that Montgomery is dead, and rings the Geographer’s Guild, inviting them to the museum that night to see her collection.
Key lyric: “Everything you could have had/If you weren’t such an amateur/Now I’m everything you never were”
‘It’s Never Too Late’
Mrs Bird convinces Grant that it’s not too late to turn his life around, step out from Millicent’s shadow and do the right thing. He’s taken aback by her spot-on advice and decides to stand up and make a change, inspired by her joie de vivre.
Key lyric: “It’s time to spread love, not hate”
‘Aunt Lucy’s Prayer’
Afraid for his life, Paddington reflects on the advice his Aunt Lucy once gave him if he ever got lost – to roar, and wait for her to roar right back. However, he feels that this time Aunt Lucy can’t come and save him. He roars, and waits for London to roar back and let him know that the city cares about him. His song becomes a plea to the city to stand up and show the world that it can rally to take care of lost souls.
Key lyric: “London, is there room for me?/Is there love to spare?/London, please look after this bear”
‘The Geographer’s Guild’
Lady Sloane and the rest of the Geographer’s Guild reaffirm what it means to be a part of this prestigious organisation. They’re excited by Millicent Clyde’s hint that she’s discovered something remarkable and are here to view it. Rather than leaving things in their proper home, they’re passionate about stealing objects of interest and bringing them back to London to shut them up in museums – something they view as a long standing British tradition.
Key lyric: “If you’re looking for culture, who’s bringing it home?/It’s the golden, generous, great Geographer’s Guild”
‘Unstoppable’
The Browns hear Paddington’s roar and set out to save him – and Mrs Brown finally sees her dream of her family setting out on adventure together realised. Finally, the Browns are an unstoppable team, united in a common goal.
Meanwhile, Millicent Clyde prepares to stuff Paddington, before the Browns burst in and accost her. Mr Brown steps up to defend his family and Paddington – and just in time, Mrs Bird arrives, having rallied all of Windsor Gardens behind her. Mr Brown confirms that he loves Paddington and considers him family.
Key lyric: “We will fight for what’s right, we will answer the call/Together we are unstoppable!”
‘Everything You Never Were (Reprise)’
In this reprise, Millicent Clyde reiterates that she never felt loved by her father, and shoots Paddington. As the Browns and all their friends testify as to how Paddington changed their lives, they descend on Millicent. Believing Paddington dead, the Browns mourn him.
Key lyric: “All that you needed was there/The love in the eyes of this bear”
‘Worth The Work (Reprise)/Mr Gruber’s Shop (Reprise)’
Paddington’s life is saved, as the bullet strikes the tin in his pocket given to him by Mr Gruber, in which he keeps a photograph of the Browns. Mr Brown confirms that Paddington is a member of the family and it’s time to bring him home, giving him his new name – Paddington Brown.
We return to Mr Gruber’s shop, where he tells us that what we should take from this story is that kindness shouldn’t be complicated.
Key lyric: “Everything will find its place in history/This was just history told our way”
‘Missing Beat’
Windsor Gardens celebrates that Paddington is officially one of them. London embraces the bear as their newest neighbour, one who’s already had impact on so many lives.
Key lyric: “Nine million hearts in this town/Nine million and one now we’ve found Paddington Brown”
‘Dear Family’
The Browns receive a message from Aunt Lucy, who writes to thank them for taking care of Paddington, telling them that she can finally be at peace in the knowledge that Paddington is safe with his new family. Paddington writes to Aunt Lucy to tell her how happy he is in London.
Key lyric: “She knows that we will look after this bear”
Paddington The Musical is now playing at the Savoy Theatre – find tickets here
