Warning: Spoilers below for Cyrano.
The musical romance Cyrano has a fantastic original soundtrack; here's every song ranked worst to best. The new musical tells the classic tale of Cyrano de Bergerac (Peter Dinklage) with a rich and vibrant collection of original songs. Set against a beautiful baroque cityscape, Cyrano is a dazzling symphony of romance, beauty, and heartbreak.
The story features a classic love triangle between the characters Cyrano, Roxanne (Hayley Bennett), and Christian (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). Christian, a lovestruck guard, enlists the help of Cyrano, the witty wordsmith, to craft love letters to Roxanne. But unbeknownst to Christian, Cyrano is also in love with Roxanne. What follows is a tragic yet beautiful tale of love and loss. Other recent adaptions of the story of Cyrano de Bergerac include Netflix's Sierra Burgess Is A Loser and The Half Of It.
Though often simple in form, the songs in Cyrano contain powerful messages of hope, despair, and love. The effortless poetry of the lyrics is enhanced by the lush strings of the London Contemporary Orchestra. And the singing voice of Peter Dinklage is absolutely magical. Here's every song in Cyrano ranked.
"No Cyrano" starts off as a powerful sad song by Roxanne asking Cyrano to stay alive after he collapses in the ending of Cyrano. It functions musically as a reprise to "Madly," only this time it's sung as a duet by Cyrano and Roxanne. Cyrano confesses that he wrote the love letters, and Roxanne professes her love for Cyrano. Finally, the truth comes out, but, sadly, the occasion is bittersweet as Cyrano dies. It's obviously an important song for the story, but as for the song itself, the only memorable parts are the callbacks to “Madly."
The song "Madly" marks the first time audiences hear Dinklage's rich singing voice in all its baritone glory. This song starts and ends with the question “Have you ever loved someone madly?” It functions as Cyrano’s “I want" song, sharing his desire for Roxanne while lamenting that it would be impossible for him to act on it given his physical stature. It's a simple and effective song that introduces the central narrative conflict.
Cyrano sings to Roxanne how he truly feels in "Overcome," a song filled with stunning lyrical imagery like stars diving into ocean waves. The word “overcome” was first heard in the song “Your Name,” but in this song, it carries more depth as Peter Dinklage's character sings. Even though lyrics don't always have to make sense, the word is much more convincing in this context. Cyrano is terrified to reveal himself, so Christian pipes up instead, abruptly ending the song in a humorous exclamation.
It’s not a musical without a reprise. Sung by Christian, this reprise of "Someone To Say" highlights his skills of courage and fighting but also his lack of wit and poetic ability. Visually, the scene features a well-executed juxtaposition of soldiers training to fight, then dancing and singing in unison about love. By its nature, this reprise is very similar to the excellent opening number, which puts it higher on the list.
This is the first song in Cyrano. The melody in "Somone to Say" opens up the musical and functions as the main theme of the movie, often heard in the score to accentuate romance and desire. It is the classic “I want” song - found in most musical theater shows - that establishes Roxanne's plight and desires. An understated opening builds to an anthemic chorus revealing that everyone in the city is also looking for true companionship. The song ends with Roxanne's unaccompanied solo vocal, a clue that this musical will not be filled with fanfare, but rather the intimacy of human desires communicated through poetic songs.
Continuing the spoken diss track rap battle from the dialogue, “When I Was Born” is a fun, intense song wrapped around the action of a sword duel on a stage. Visceral, exciting, and cleverly verbose, "When I Was Born" is a great establishment of Cyrano's multifaceted character. This is a very strong, entertaining song filled with plenty of humor and action and lots of clever wordplay reminiscent of Lin Manuel Miranda's eloquent style in projects like Hamilton, In The Heights, and Encanto. It definitely sets the tone for the rest of the film.
This song contains the strongest vocals from Roxanne by far, angry, passionate, and very powerful. The drama escalates as Roxanne demands from Christian words he does not know and therefore cannot say. "I Need More" is similar in tone and theatrical style to “Never Enough” from The Greatest Showman, but with far more poetic language and a performance dripping with desperate longing.
Roxanne reads Christian’s letter which is actually written by Cyrano in "Every Letter." The scene features a montage of all three characters writing and singing of their conflicting desires in beautiful harmonies. Driving strings propel the drama forward as the ironic line “These words are truth” foreshadows the impending conflict. The entire scene is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. Reminiscent of "One Day More" from Tom Hooper's Les Miserables - although much more intimate and understated - "Every Letter" is hands down the best song in Cyrano.
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