Where would we be without music? Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the best songs from the musical version of “The Color Purple.”
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00:00 "Hey! Hi!"
00:03 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:06 for the best songs from the musical version of The Color Purple.
00:09 [Singing]
00:17 Number 10. Lily of the Field
00:19 "You can't do this! You can't do this!"
00:23 There is no shortage of awful things Celie Harris endures,
00:27 but at least she has Nettie.
00:28 Despite being her sister, she's also her only real friend.
00:32 This is why it's so devastating when Celie's abusive husband, Mr.,
00:36 banishes Nettie from their home.
00:37 In the aftermath, Celie's sense of self and even her faith are left shaken.
00:41 "Won't you bring back my Nettie?"
00:46 Lily of the Field finds her pleading to God to bring Nettie back.
00:49 The latter promises to write, but when Celie doesn't hear from her,
00:53 or isn't allowed to hear from her, she loses hope.
00:56 "What kind of God?"
01:00 It's a haunting song, and a difficult one to shake off once you've heard it.
01:04 "Are you?"
01:11 Number 9. Opening, Mysterious Ways
01:13 "Hey sister, what you gonna do?"
01:16 "We're gonna dive by the river, gonna play with you."
01:18 The first rousing number introduces us to Celie and her sister Nettie,
01:22 as well as the group of church ladies who will reappear throughout the show
01:25 as a sort of Greek chorus.
01:27 Despite their uproarious praise, Celie's sad story breaks through their joyful noise.
01:31 "When the king threw Daniel in the lion's den."
01:35 They remind her and us that God works in mysterious ways,
01:39 and those ways don't always make sense.
01:41 Setting up the religious themes that will follow her throughout the story,
01:44 this uplifting score serves as a reminder to keep faith
01:47 during even the most troubling of times.
01:49 "We're gonna go on working, mysterious ways."
01:53 Number 8. African Homeland
01:55 "Dear Celie, oh I love you."
02:00 Years down the line, Celie's discovery of letters sent from Africa
02:05 detail Nettie's experiences as a missionary.
02:08 African Homeland is presented in tableaus and fragments of memories.
02:11 "I teach your children ABCs."
02:15 Instead of the American gospel and jazz-inspired numbers we've been treated to,
02:20 this number is infused with African drum beats.
02:22 There's a lot to fit into this song given that it represents years of lost letters,
02:27 and we get to hear about Nettie's journey to the continent and all its beauty.
02:30 "I vibrated like a bell when I saw the African coast."
02:35 We also hear about her own suffering,
02:37 and her final letter concludes on a note of faithfulness
02:39 that she will see her sister again.
02:41 "I only hope that when that day comes, we are not too old to recognize each other."
02:47 Number 7. Too Beautiful for Words
02:51 "I've always been the kind of gal that had a lot to say."
02:56 Celie's life is completely upended by the arrival of her husband's old flame,
03:02 singer and all-around good time, Suge Avery.
03:05 Needless to say, Suge has lived a lot of life.
03:07 She says what she means, means what she says, and doesn't care what other people think.
03:12 "I says the things that's on my mind, too dumb to shy away."
03:19 However, she's struck by Celie's grace and resilience.
03:23 Even though Celie's walked through life believing every terrible thing that's been said of her,
03:27 Suge can see her in a way no one ever has.
03:30 It's an eye-opening moment for both of them.
03:32 "You hide your head under your wing."
03:38 The tenderness between them is a highlight of the show,
03:40 coaxing Celie out of the doom and gloom.
03:42 "Too beautiful for words."
03:50 Number 6. Pushed a Button
03:51 "Now there's something about good lovin' that all you ladies should know."
03:57 Suge's first song at the local juke joint is as playfully erotic and
04:01 lyrically suggestive as any classic jazz song.
04:04 Till then, she'd been recovering from illness,
04:06 so this is really the first time we get to see her at her full seductive power.
04:10 "Keep on turning up the voltage till that man begin to glow."
04:15 She slinks and howls through the sexy track with freewheeling abandon,
04:19 in total control of the scene.
04:20 "When I listen all you red hot lovers, you ought to know what to do."
04:27 Although it's a showcase for the performer playing Suge,
04:29 it's also a rowdy ensemble number that goes a long way in throwing us
04:33 into the world of a boozy backwoods 1920s saloon.
04:37 "Push that button."
04:44 Number 5. Hell No
04:45 "All my life I had to fight."
04:50 Miss Seeley's stepdaughter-in-law, Sophia, barrels into the story
04:54 and becomes an early influence on Seeley's journey of self-discovery.
04:58 Her song, Hell No, is a testament to all she's had to endure at the hands of men.
05:02 "I had to fight my brothers, my cousins, my uncles too."
05:06 She leads the women of the ensemble in her determination to never again be any man's victim.
05:12 Broadway cast member Danielle Brooks described how empowering it was to sing the song every night.
05:17 "Oh, you better learn how to fight back while you're still alive."
05:24 Defiant and wickedly funny, it's the perfect encapsulation of Sophia's place in the world
05:28 of the musical. She's brassy and unwilling to back down. She has to be that way to survive.
05:34 "Hell, hell, hell, hell, hell. No!"
05:41 Number 4. Mr. Song, Seeley's Curse
05:44 "Nobody to put up with me. Nobody to mess with me. Nobody to push me around."
05:50 Although the 1985 movie doesn't totally redeem Seeley's abusive husband,
05:54 the novel and the musical follow his transformation after Seeley leaves him.
05:58 "Nobody to tell me who I am and who I am."
06:05 His fortunes sink and his life goes downhill, all because of Seeley's supposed curse on him.
06:11 It's more than a simple case of what goes around comes around.
06:14 "A black man's life can't get any worse."
06:18 Left alone with himself, his fears, and his misfortunes,
06:21 he sings a roller coaster of a song where he bares his soul and resolves to change his ways for the
06:26 better. It may be hard to swallow after what we've seen, but if this show does one thing,
06:30 it's explore nuance. "Ain't gonna be nothing I say. Gonna be something I do."
06:39 Number 3. What About Love?
06:40 "It's... then me."
06:47 Seeley may be naive and Suge may know almost everything about everything,
06:51 but both of them are on the same page at the end of Act 1.
06:54 What About Love is their duet after discovering their burgeoning attraction to each other.
06:59 "Love's the one thing I knew."
07:05 Each woman has to realign what she knows about love. The realization they come to is that love
07:10 is not defined by tangible things, but by how they feel and what they can be for each other.
07:15 "And what about, what about love?"
07:22 This relationship, while it lasts, provides a lot of healing for Seeley,
07:26 making What About Love and its reprise one of the most moving numbers in the show.
07:30 Number 2. The Color Purple
07:38 "God is inside you and everyone else."
07:44 In a riveting counterpoint to Lily of the Field,
07:47 Suge first sings the title song to Seeley in the second act of the show.
07:50 "God is the flowers and everything else."
07:57 Realizing how much of Seeley's anger and despair is still unresolved,
08:02 Suge tries to comfort her with the conviction that God is not vengeful,
08:05 but a force that lives in every living being.
08:08 By the end of the story, the two reprise the song in a powerful show-stopping climax.
08:13 "Color purple."
08:18 Their anthem of gratitude, strength, and beauty closes the show,
08:21 leaving the audience on a note of tremendous hope and love.
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08:47 Number 1. I'm Here
08:49 There was no way it wouldn't be number one. It's hard to compete with a crowd-pleaser like this.
09:02 Taking its refrain from Seeley's iconic and heart-stopping speech from the original story,
09:06 "I'm Here" is her triumphant moment of self-realization.
09:10 "I got my sister. I can feel her now."
09:16 Despite what the world has done to her, and despite her mistreatment by Mister,
09:20 she knows how much she matters. Her reward is her self-worth.
09:24 "Gonna hold my head up. Gonna put my shoulders back."
09:30 Just as a piece of music, it's impossible to hear the song and not feel something.
09:34 With its soaring vocals and stirring message, it never fails to bring the house down.
09:39 What's your favorite song from The Color Purple? Tell us in the comments.
09:58 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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10:08 [Music]