West side story songs

In this lesson, we will explore ''West Side Story'', a musical written by composer Leonard Bernstein. In looking at the story, we will also examine the songs and characters and learn a bit about Leonard Bernstein's life and work.

West side story songs theatre music by American composer Leonard Bernstein that premiered August 19, 1957, in Washington, D.C., before moving to Broadway for a second opening on September 26, 1957. The musical is a 20th-century American adaptation of the Shakespearean tale of Romeo and Juliet. It has become one of the most frequently performed of all American musicals, and many consider it to be the definitive Bernstein composition.

Songs from west side story

The 1957 musical West Side Story was a collaboration among composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, and choreographer Jerome Robbins. The story is based on Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, featuring 'star-crossed', or ill-fated, lovers from opposite sides of the tracks. The Broadway production had nearly a thousand performances from 1957-1960, and was turned into a 10-time Academy Award-winning musical film in 1961.

For the creation of this musical, Bernstein was joined by lyricist Stephen Sondheim, playwright Arthur Laurents, choreographer Jerome Robbins, and impresario Harold Prince. It ran for 732 performances, and it might have won the 1958 Tony Award for best musical had its competition not been The Music Man. In 1961, adapted for the silver screen, West Side Story took 10 Academy Awards, including best picture. Below is the list of West side story songs.

Somewhere from west side story

Artist: Barbra Streisand 

Album: The Broadway 

Album Released: 1985 

Awards: Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instruments And Vocals 

Genre: Musicals

‘Somewhere’ has probably found the most fame outside of the musical – and at least a smattering of our Bernstein-shaped tears can be attributed to this final, heartbreaking love duet. It borrows the tune from the slow movement of Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Piano Concerto, but the final note is shifted a tone higher, hinting at a brief moment of hope for the star-crossed lovers.

America west side story song

Artists: Marilyn Cooper, Chita Rivera, Reri Grist 

Movie: West Side Story 

Released: 1957 

Genre: Pop

Grab your castanets! ‘America’ is the biggest dance number in the musical, and Sondheim’s rhyming game is exceptional here. Beginning with triplets, it paints a nostalgic picture of Puerto Rico, before moving into 6/8 time and that earworm-y C major melody.

 

Something’s Coming

Artist: Jimmy Bryant 

Movie: West Side Story 

Released: 1961

In third place, it’s the musical’s tagline. Full of jumpy rhythms, ‘Something’s Coming’ is based on a syncopated ostinato, which is repeated throughout. It sets the tone for Tony becoming disillusioned with gang violence, and his desire to leave the Jets.

 

Maria from west side story

Artist: Larry Kert 

Movie: West Side Story 

Released: 1957

There’s no greater example of the tritone than in ‘Maria’. After that echoed build-up (which makes it sound a bit like poor Tony is lost in a train tunnel somewhere) a great big tritone comes in as Tony exclaims Maria’s name aloud for the first time. But the mood here couldn’t be further from the menacing feeling the tritone normally creates – and that’s because it’s only there for a moment, before it resolves to create a lovely perfect fifth interval.

 

Tonight west side story

Artist: Leonard Bernstein 

Movie: West Side Story 

Genre: Musicals

Ah, those sweet teenage dreams of finding a Shakespearean man to sing to us on our parents’ balcony... In their first love duet, Maria and Tony are suspended in time, while the rest of the world fades away. Gone is the focus on tritones – ‘Tonight’ is all about nice, loved-up fourths and fifths. *swoons*

Gee Officer Krupke

Artist: Leonard Bernstein 

Movie: West Side Story 

Genre: Musicals

‘Gee, Officer Krupke’, the great comic number in the musical, is a perfect example of Bernstein and Sondheim’s incredible teamwork. The orchestra introduces the song in a light, vaudeville style, before Action launches us into a whopping great tritone in the first interval.

 

Jet Song

Artist: Russ Tamblyn 

Movie: West Side Story 

Genres: Jazz, Pop

Tritone klaxon! In the ‘Jet Song’, the juicy interval appears prominently, but is never resolved. By leaving it unresolved, Bernstein builds that uncomfortable, ominous atmosphere that will set the tone for the rest of the musical.

 

I feel pretty west side story

Artists: Joanne Miya, Suzie Kaye, Marni Nixon, Yvonne Othon 

Movie: West Side Story 

Released: 1961

In eighth place, it’s Maria’s ‘I Feel Pretty’. It’s a bit twee, but the song will always be charming, sweet and one of Bernstein’s most memorable melodies. Lyricist Stephen Sondheim described the idea behind this song as “simple’. The New York Times elaborated, saying that Sondheim “said he was never particularly fond of his lyrics in ‘West Side Story’, especially ‘I Feel Pretty’.”

 

Cool west side story

Artist: Tucker Smith 

Movie: West Side Story 

Released: 1961

The tritone, also known as the devil’s interval, is frankly everywhere in West Side Story – so this is by no means the only example of it on this list. ‘Cool’, like ‘Maria’ and ‘Gee, Officer Krupke’, is based around the devil’s interval, and it creates a dark, stilted atmosphere to tell the audience that something is up. (It’s not that we don’t like ‘Cool’, by the way, it’s just Bernstein wrote too many bangers.)

 

A Boy Like That

Artists: Chita Rivera, Carol Lawrence 

Play: West Side Story 

Released: 1957

A duet between Anita and Maria, this is Anita’s final piece of wisdom for her sister-in-law, before Tony’s (spoiler alert) sticky end. The tempo constantly flits between 3/4 and 4/4 time, creating a feeling of unease. More than anything, it just makes us think: why didn’t Maria just listen to wise old Anita? It would have saved her a lot of upset.

 

West side story soundtrack

The soundtrack of the West Side Story film is deservedly one of the most popular soundtrack recordings of all time, and one of the relatively few to have attained long-term popularity beyond a specialized soundtrack/theatrical musical audience. (It is an entirely different recording, it should be emphasized, from the original Broadway cast recording, which was also a massive-selling album.) Its widespread impact could be attributed to a few factors: the wide range of compositional and orchestral styles, from cool swing jazz and shades of Latin pop to classical; the universality of the storyline, pitting underdog lovers against the world; and an assortment of songs that goes well beyond the sentimental love odes that are the staples of musicals (though it has some of those, too), including some downright tough posturing and sardonic social commentary. "Jet Song," "America," "Gee, Officer Krupke," "Tonight," "Cool," "Maria," "I Feel Pretty," and "Something's Coming" are all among the most famous and oft-sung soundtrack numbers ever. Why might you want to upgrade if your familiar old album has been moldering in the collection for decades, or if you got it passed down for free from older relatives? Well, aside from the excellent remastered sound and historical liner notes about the film and soundtrack production, it has four tracks designated as previously unreleased. One of those, "Intermission Music," is pretty dispensable, as it's simply a 90-second instrumental version of "I Feel Pretty." But "Overture" is a worthy instrumental fanfare, and the "Finale" and "End Credits" that close the release have some supremely booming funereal tones, in keeping with the downbeat end of the film.

West side story soundtrack

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Overture
(1957) (uncredited)
Composed by Leonard Bernstein

Prologue
(1957) (uncredited)
Composed by Leonard Bernstein

Jet Song
(1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Tucker Smith, Russ Tamblyn, Bert Michaels, and The Jets

Something's Coming
(1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Richard Beymer (dubbed by Jimmy Bryant)

Dance at the Gym
(1957) (uncredited)
Composed by Leonard Bernstein

Maria
(1957) (uncredited) (1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Richard Beymer (dubbed by Jimmy Bryant)
Later Danced by Natalie Wood

America
(1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Rita Moreno, Suzie Kaye, George Chakiris, Yvonne Wilder, and The Sharks

Tonight
(1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Richard Beymer (dubbed by Jimmy Bryant) and Natalie Wood (dubbed by Marni Nixon)

Gee, Officer Krupke!
(1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Russ Tamblyn, Tony Mordente, Bert Michaels, David Winters, David Bean, and The Jets

Intermission
(1957) (uncredited)
Composed by Leonard Bernstein

I Feel Pretty
(1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Natalie Wood (dubbed by Marni Nixon), Suzie Kaye, Yvonne Wilder, and Nobuko Miyamoto

One Hand, One Heart
(1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Richard Beymer (dubbed by Jimmy Bryant) and Natalie Wood (dubbed by Marni Nixon)

Quintet
(1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Rita Moreno, Jimmy Bryant dubbing Richard Beymer, Marni Nixon dubbing Natalie Wood, Russ Tamblyn, Tucker Smith, George Chakiris, The Jets, and The Sharks

The Rumble
(1957) (uncredited)
Composed by Leonard Bernstein

Somewhere
(1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Richard Beymer (dubbed by Jimmy Bryant) and Natalie Wood (dubbed by Marni Nixon)

Cool
(1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Tucker Smith

A Boy Like That/I Have a Love
(1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Rita Moreno (dubbed by Betty Wand) and Natalie Wood (dubbed by Marni Nixon)

Somewhere
(reprise) (1957) (uncredited)
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Performed by Richard Beymer (dubbed by Jimmy Bryant) and Natalie Wood (dubbed by Marni Nixon)

End Credits
(1957) (uncredited)
Composed by Leonard Bernstein

America, My Country 'Tis of Thee
(1832) (uncredited)
Music attributed to Henry Carey ("God Save the King!") (1744)
Whistled by The Sharks as they leave the candy store

La Cucaracha
(uncredited)
Traditional
Whistled by one of the Jets