From feeling glee to chills. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the musical numbers from the Fox show that still give us goosebumps to this day.
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00:00I want to hold your hand
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the musical numbers from the Fox show that still give us goosebumps to this day.
00:14Let's celebrate, remember, a year in the life of a ranch
00:21Number 10. I Know Where I've Been
00:23Recurring performer Alex Newell returns to McKinley High in splendid fashion.
00:28There's a light, burning bright, showing me the way
00:37As Unique, Newell played the first transgender character on the show, and returned to the show when Coach Beast underwent his own transition.
00:46Unique performs I Know Where I've Been from the musical Hairspray, a barn-burning anthem of social progress despite struggle.
00:53I pray the answers up ahead
00:59Cause I know where I've been
01:04Newell's soaring vocals sails over the song, highlighting its themes of persevering through hatred and historical wrongs.
01:11Most poignant, though, is that Newell is backed by a choir made up completely of trans people.
01:17There's a struggle that we have yet to win
01:25There's a lot of history and struggle on that stage, but most importantly, a lot of strength.
01:31Number 9. To Sir With Love
01:34But how do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
01:43Having spent the entire first season dreaming of success at a regional competition, McKinley High's New Directions came in dead last.
01:52Knowing this means the Glee Club will be shuttered for good, the group sings one last song to their fearless leader, Mr. Schuster.
01:59To Sir With Love
02:06Taken from the movie it's named after, To Sir With Love is their moving thank you to him.
02:11Through teary eyes, they're able to sing about just how much his mentorship has meant to them.
02:17A friend who taught me right from wrong and weak from strong, that's a lot to learn
02:25By the end, they're crying, he's crying, we're crying, even hard-hearted gym teacher Sue Sylvester is crying.
02:33Number 8. Pure Imagination
02:36Sue Sylvester may always have it in for Will Schuster and his merry band of musical misfits, but even she can't deny them after doing her this solid.
02:51When her sister passes away, she is unable to get a handle on her grief.
02:55But the Glee Club, whose existence she's constantly threatening, makes a special performance in honor of her sister.
03:02What we'll see will defy explanation
03:12Their take on pure imagination is a sonic treat. With all its beautifully layered harmonies and genuine beauty, it's what Glee does best.
03:21Out of context, it's a delight. In the context of the episode, it's devastating.
03:27There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination
03:40Number 7. Teenage Dream
03:42This is a song that I sang the first time I ever met the love of my life. So Kurt, this is for you.
03:49In a heartstring-tugging callback to the day Blaine and Kurt first met, this acoustic reprise of the Katy Perry song that brought them together is so perfect and so unfair.
03:59By season 4, things were getting rocky in the show's core relationships. Blaine had cheated on Kurt, and this stripped-down version of Teenage Dream was his soul-bearing confession.
04:10Darren Criss always had a voice like butter, but here, he trades in his usual velvety smooth style for something more raw and aching.
04:26It's a far cry from the effervescent version he sang with the Dalton Academy Warblers.
04:32We can dance until we die. You and I will be young forever.
04:41Number 6. I'll Stand By You
04:43The members of New Directions are tasked with choosing ballads to sing.
04:47Finn Hudson, nervous about becoming a father, or so he thinks, chooses I'll Stand By You by The Pretenders.
04:54Nothing you confess could make me love you less. I'll stand by you.
05:03Already a pretty song in its own right, there's something about Cory Monteith's naive quarterback performing it that's really powerful.
05:10The way he sings it seems so simple, but there's so much going on under the surface.
05:15Take me in into your darkest hour, and I'll never desert you.
05:22He's so hopeful, so sincere, and so clueless about what's coming that it gives you all the feels at once.
05:29It's yet another song that takes on even deeper meaning now that Monteith is no longer with us.
05:35I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I screwed up, Mom.
05:41It's gonna be okay. I'm so sorry.
05:46Number 5. Keep Holding On
05:49Head cheerleader Quinn Febreze's unplanned pregnancy is outed to the entire school, leaving her humiliated and isolated from her friends.
05:57Keep Holding On is the group's promise to stick by her no matter what.
06:02You're not alone. Together we stand. I'll be by your side. You know I'll take your hand.
06:12It's a moving moment for a lot of different reasons.
06:15Avril Lavigne's ballad from the Aragon soundtrack becomes one of the first group numbers where the entire Glee Club really becomes whole.
06:23Just stay strong, cause you know I'm here for you. I'm here for you.
06:32Up to this point, Quinn's just been spying on the Glee Club for Sue Sylvester.
06:36Here, she finally lets herself become a part of them.
06:40Keep holding on, cause you know we'll make it through. We'll make it through.
06:49This is old school Glee at its best.
06:52Number 4. I Want to Hold Your Hand
06:55I want to hold your hand.
07:01When Kurt Hummel's dad suffers a heart attack, the entire Glee Club rallies around him.
07:06They share songs and try to help Kurt take heart that his dad will pull through this crisis.
07:11But its most powerful song is the one Kurt sings himself.
07:15I want to hold your hand. I want to hold your hand.
07:26The slow, yearning take on the Beatles classic brings out another side to the lyrics.
07:31I want to hold your hand becomes a song from a son to a father who was always there.
07:36The flashbacks between the two is what really gets the waterworks going.
07:41And when I touch you, I feel happy inside.
07:50It goes to show that since Kurt was young, instead of running from who his son was,
07:55Burt Hummel always just accepted him.
07:58Number 3. Cough Syrup
08:00Life's too short to even care at all.
08:05It's terrible.
08:06Football jock Dave Karofsky was introduced as a villain,
08:09but his journey from homophobic jerk to out-and-proud gay man is a hard-fought one.
08:14In season 3, he almost takes his own life when he's outed to his teammates at his new school.
08:20I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down, come down.
08:29The haunting scene where he prepares the deed is underscored by Darren Criss' cover of Cough Syrup
08:34by alternative band Young The Giant.
08:37The sequence parallel cuts between Karofsky's being tormented at his new school and Blaine's song,
08:43a powerful testament to feeling lost and still waiting out the storm for something better.
08:48I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down.
08:58Number 2. If I Die Young
09:00Sink me in the river at dawn, send me away with the words of a love song.
09:11In the aftermath of Cory Monteith's death, the show paid tribute to him through his character Finn Hudson,
09:17whose death is written into the show.
09:19The members of the Glee Club do their best to send him off with a song.
09:23Santana Lopez's offering is especially moving.
09:27Life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no.
09:30Ain't even gray, but she buries her baby.
09:34Dedicating the band Perry's If I Die Young to Finn and accompanied by a piano and mandolin,
09:40Santana's song is a beautiful tribute to a life taken too soon.
09:45What we do get is absolutely shattering as she can't even get through the number.
10:00Naya Rivera's cover went viral in 2020 after the actress' own untimely death.
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10:24Bob Dylan's love song has been recorded by several legends through the years.
10:28This one is up there with some of the best covers.
10:42The cast lost a family member when Cory Monteith died.
10:45Star Lea Michele lost her fiancé.
10:48It's arguably the moment the line between fact and fiction became thinnest on Glee.
11:04As Rachel Berry, Michele had so many moments to shine.
11:08Her big belt and star power were on full display throughout its six seasons.
11:13But here, she is pared back and raw.
11:27She's teary-eyed from the first verse, and so are we.
11:31Did these moments give you goosebumps? Let us know in the comments.
11:39Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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