Defying Gravity Falls Flat

I was excited when I first heard that Glee would be covering "Defying Gravity" on an upcoming episode. Though I don't consider myself a Gleek, I have been watching the show each week, and was eager to hear how they'd approach the song.

My excitement quickly turned to disappoint when I heard the song. They used the pop arrangement that Idina Menzel released as a solo, which just doesn't do the song justice. Defying Gravity is about Elphaba's realization that she's no longer happy with following the status quo. Now that she sees the Wizard for who he really is, she's deciding that she needs to take action, needs to defy gravity, to do the impossible. As Elphaba's emotions build, so does the song, until she finally breaks free in the last verse, ending with a yell of triumph.

Of course, some of the impact is lost when sung out of context, but it shouldn't be gone completely. The pop arrangement used is too passive, never building or going anywhere. The last verse, the most memorable part from the original, was cut, yet they still left the big money note. Either cut the ending completely, or do it as it was written, but don't pick and choose. As it is, the ending of Glee's version is jarring and out of place, and appears to have been left just so Lea could sing it, rather than as a natural progression of the song.

While I disliked the arrangement, I do think that both Lea Michele and Chris Colfer did well with what they were given. And I actually enjoyed the version in the episode more than the iTunes version, if only because seeing the characters as they sang at least added a little more emotion to the song.

It was their originality in songs like "Don't Stop Believing" that really hooked me to Glee in the first place. Hopefully Glee will return to those roots, rather than reusing arrangements that weren't very good to start with.