jellydiangelo

rise up: not a whole lot to say on this one tbh, except noah mullins! loooove their voice, beautiful and haunting which is perfect for this role. i think they did very well as balladeer/david. maybe when i've listened more/seen a video of their performance i'll have more thoughts about the differences in the character between noah and jack... but today is not that day. i love this song. i wish i was more musically intelligent, but alas, all i can say is i love the instrumentation and that the strings in this album do something to me!! i guess one small difference is the much softer "wake up" whiiich, i dont hate but also miss the "WAKE! UP!" lol. but could just be a cast album thing ? idk i am interested how some of these changes play out on stage ? anyway NEXT

walk upon the water: ok fr this time i don't have a lot to say about this one except that i liked it and nicole nyarambi's (i believe?) voice is so good sooo pretty. had me swaying and waving a yogurt back and forth in the grocery store. (also that piano!!! mmhmmmm) 

song for the countryside: one of my favorites of coouurse-the imagery in the lyrics is stunningg.  makes me want frolic through a field or twelve. i think noah really did it justice (and i really really love jacks version). so no notes. (though everytime i listen i expect to hear the 'baaa's!'  and other interjections lol) (also in the original i love jack's little laughs at the start and just how gleeful and whimsy he sounds.)

the art of getting lost: ok... here it is. i'm so sad they changed this song actually. i miss the original lyrics and melody, and one of my favorite lyrics in the musical got cut ("love wouldn't mean much / if it couldn't break your heart"). idkk maybe it'll grow on me more. i like some parts of it, but i'm not really a fan of the talky parts...  it doesn't help that while writing this i'm going back and forth between the cast album and the bootleg lol. it's not like it's more accurate to the book now so i wonder why they changed it. maybe to be more on theme with the walking/journey theme? "the art of getting lost is the key to being found" definitely encapsulates the theme of the story sooo. but overall not my fav and i will mourn the og (and the reprise!!) quick shoutout to the violin? fiddle? (idk pls correct/educate me) in both versions, it's fabulous.

shout it from the rooftops: another one i don't reaaally like the changes to.. it already wasnt my fav song in the og (tbh this whole part feels a bit weird anyway but that's another discussion) i miss the fake outs (which were my favorite parts of the og song lol) though these changes are actually closer to the book i think, cause the silver-haired gentleman was more struggling with how he felt about the young man/if he should express that to him rather than coming out to harold? so i'm kinda split, but again it's not my favorite part of the show anyway so NEXT

tin of soup for one: ugh. UGH. just as devasting as the og. jenna russell is wonderful. having just read the book, it hurts even more :,) ("now i feel so empty / i'm not sure i'm even here") (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) no notes only tears. this will be going on my 'saddest of the sad' musical theatre playlist.

you're fckd: don't have much to say about this one either except it's just as iconic as the og haha. glad that it's the same actor from the og (i'm pretty sure) ! she's so great. 

keep on walking mr fry: i didnt listen to this one much from the og tbh, but it's very pretty! very moving and i enjoy both versions, and i think it's growing on me more now haha. i do kind of miss the people calling out encouragements to harold, i feel like that would have been nice in the cast recording too. 

the pilgrims trail: i do miss the og actor for wilf, he had such a rich, deep voice and a great stage presence. the new actor is fine but i don't like his voice as much... but i'm interested to see how he does on stage cause again, cast albums can be quite different than stage performances. (i also miss the delivery of the gorilla line from the og haha). ok but the second half- chillsssss omg noah. ("so tell me, what. are. you. doing this all for?") and that last note!! noah!!! i really want to see noah's acting on stage, or even hear a audio cause i feel like it'll have even more emotion than a cast recording version (like all the emotion in jacks voice in the bootleg gets me every time ahhhh.) but! it's still so so good. kind of miss harold's "david!!" at the end but ig it makes sense for it to not be there in the cast recording? again the instrumentation is soo good. those drums at the end ahhhhh. 

my hero, harold fry: again, i miss the og wilf, especially in this song cause his performance was soooooo good, but otherwise i love this song so much. what a fun happy empowering song that makes me want to walk across england! (as long as you dont think too much and start comparing it with 'rise up' and the difference in wilf's "a man so brave and strong / I doubt he's ever even cried" and david's "a man too sad for laughter / and too ashamed to cry" and what that says about how harold sees himself vs how wilf and the pilgrims see him and how different your perception of a person could be depending on what side of the story you see and how you never really know wait wait wait let me finis-)

such a simple thing: another one of my favorites, like in the top 3 for sure. i feel like it encapsulates so well what the heart of this story is about, and you feel and experience the healing that maureen is experiencing as she chooses to let go and move forward and open up the curtains and just- ugh. I love it so much. again no notes on the cast recording, jenna russell is so fabulous. also the staging and lights and choreography and everything of the barn dance scene in bootleg was sooo good. ("shape the rest of my living years" if someone said that to me i'm afraid i would have to fall in love with them.) 

one foot in front of the other: the cast recording for this one was so good tooo. "just put one foot in front of the other" right after "such a simple thing" ughh don't talk to me. ("go and find your son" ok what if i just sob for the rest of my life then. this was added in i believe it's such a good addition ugghhhhh.) the way it turns from so sweet and hopeful to ominous and menacing ahhhh, the transition is so good. cause the closer harold comes to confronting his son, he actually has to confront it all you know, the grief and all the ugly parts and the reality of what happened and the failures on his part. david's confrontation part of this song is sooo goood. this part of this song was my first intro in this musical from that one video with jack wolfe (what is it about that man and giving the performance of a lifetime on top of a staircase) again, noah did soo well. and the instrumental part at the end ahhhhhhhh. in the bootleg, harold and maureen's dialogue as they frantically try to find david and mark and jenna's acting is so so heartbreaking. and again the "david!" at the end is so so painful. so i missed that from the cast album, but i also like that we have just the instrumental now too, and knowing what's happening even without the words makes it just as painful so :') 

dear girl in the garage: don't talk to me about this song. i genuinely think it's one of the saddest songs in musical theatre. ("i just keep on wondering how i lost the one thing i can't replace") ("she just stood there looking out through curtains like he'd be home soon"). i love that it's a letter to the girl who inspired harold to do this walk in the first place which led to harold finally confronting what happened, and really grieving, and then healing as a result ("and i never would have walked / if we never would have talked / and the sun wouldn't have shone through the cracks / and i'd just like to thank you for that") a small thing but i love queenie's part in the cast album- the way she says "you've been through enough" (queenie my queen, i'm reading her book now) also have to shout out mark addy's performance if i haven't done so already cause omg, the emotion in his performance is so real and heartbreaking. i can't imagine having to sing this song every night. 

here's one for the road: this song after 'dear girl in the garage' hurts sooo much, but in the best way. like, this is the healing part. with all the people harold's met on his journey chiming in, and then when harold and maureen laugh together ahhhhh. this song does something to me. (i love in this cast album, maureen's little laugh when she says "you're laughing" like, the awe and wonder in her voice that harold's laughing cause it's been so long.) "maureen, let's go home" and it's not just going home to their house but also to each other UGH. i love the recording of this song, and it's such a beautiful end to a beautiful musical.