A complete guide to all the songs from 'Next to Normal'

Ahead of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical's West End transfer, we take a look at the songs — including "I'm Alive" — that comprise the pulsating rock score.

Julia Rank8 July, 2024, 14:00

Rock musical Next to Normal returns to the West End this summer for a limited season, following its sold-out run at the Donmar Warehouse last year. Caissie Levy, Jamie Parker, Jack Wolfe, Eleanor Worthington-Cox, Jack Ofrecio, and Trevor Dion Nicholas reprise their acclaimed performances.

Written by Tom Kitt (music) and Brian Yorkey (lyrics and book), the show tells the emotive story of a mother struggling with bipolar disorder. The Broadway production won three Tony Awards, including Best Score. It also won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The London production was nominated for four Olivier Awards.

London Theatre’s review commented that "Kitt and Yorkey look at bipolar disorder in a nuanced and thoughtful way, without falling into the trap of finding easy solutions to the characters’ problems" and admired the way the score creates "countless opportunities for the cast to show off their vocals."

There are big spoilers ahead, so go to the show and then check back to read all about the songs with our guide.

Book Next to Normal tickets on London Theatre.

“Just Another Day”

Diana Goodman, a suburban mother with bipolar disorder, is awake in the middle of the night, waiting for her son Gabe who has broken his curfew. Her daughter Natalie is also awake. Her husband Dan is also restless. The whole family is struggling but they to hold it together to present a picture of a “perfect loving family” to the world.

“Everything Else”

Natalie practises for a piano recital. Mozart had many problems, but you can’t detect them in his music. She looks forward to graduating early and leaving for Yale, away from her parents. She meets the rebellious Henry, who’s admired her for a while from afar.

“Who Is Crazy" / "My Psychopharmacologist and I"

Dan questions his sanity while waiting in the car during Diana’s appointment with her psychopharmacologist (“It's like an odd romance / Intense and very intimate / We do our dance“). Fine prescribes various cocktails of drugs, chancing upon a combination that prevents her from feeling anything. Fine deems that a successful result.

“Perfect for You”

Henry declares his love to Natalie: “I can't fix what's f----d up / But one thing I know I can do / I can be perfect for you.”

“I Miss the Mountains”

Diana remembers the days when she experienced highs and lows (“I miss the highs and lows / All the climbing, all the falling / All the while the wild wind blows”). In her current state, on an even keel with her feet on the ground, “Everything is perfect” but “Nothing’s real.” Encouraged by Gabe, she disposes of her medication.

“It’s Gonna Be Good”

An anxious Dan organises a family dinner and invites Henry to join.

“He’s Not Here”

Diana has made a birthday cake for Gabe but Dan has to quietly remind her that he died nearly sixteen years ago. The audience realises that his presence onstage is the manifestation of Diana’s hallucinations.

“You Don’t Know”

A distraught Diana retorts that Dan doesn’t understand how she feels, struggling to get out of bed in the mornings and feeling as if all colour has faded to black and white.

“I Am the One”

Dan reminds Diana of his patience and loyalty. Gabe, who only Diana can see, echoes his words. She takes comfort from him, rather than her living husband.

“Superboy and the Invisible Girl”

Natalie tells Henry that she’s spent her life feeling second-rate in comparison to her late brother, “A hero, a lover, a prince.” Diana overhears and admits, “I love you as much as I can.”

“I’m Alive”

Diana makes an appointment with a new doctor who practises talking therapy and hypnosis. She sees Gabe, who asserts his power over his mother (“The perfect stranger who knows you too well”) in the rock number.

“Make Up Your Mind" / "Catch Me I’m Falling”

Diana tells Dr Madden that she and Dan got married after she became pregnant when they were both undergraduates. She admits that she couldn’t hold Natalie as a newborn. She and Dan end up missing Natalie’s piano recital.

“I Dreamed a Dance”

Following Dr Madden’s advice that she clears out Gabe’s things, Diana has another hallucination in this delicate, whimsical number.

“There’s a World”

Gabe encourages Diana to commit suicide so they can be together and she’ll be free of her illness.

“I’ve Been”

Following Diana’s suicide attempt and hospitalisation, Dan ruminates on his life by her side. His concludes that his life is “just a slower suicide.”

“Didn’t I See this Movie?”

Diana is horrified to be prescribed Electric Shock Therapy (ECT), which calls to mind One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the experiences of writer Sylvia Plath and actress Frances Farmer.

“A Light in the Dark”

Dan implores Diana to try ECT, as it might be their last chance to find a solution. She agrees to give her consent.

“Wish I Were Here”

Over a two-week period in hospital, Diana receives a gruelling course of ECT treatments (“the bolt of lightning crashes and it burns right through my mind”). Meanwhile, Natalie is going off the rails and experimenting with drugs (“I am worlds away from who I was…”). Both experience extreme emotions and ask, “Is my brain reborn or is it wrecked?”

“Song of Forgetting”

Diana returns home but the ECT has wiped her memory.

"Hey #1"

Henry, concerned about Natalie’s drug use, tries to reconnect by inviting her to the spring dance but is rebuffed.

"Seconds and Years"

Dr Madden is pleased with Diana’s progress and reassures her that memory loss is a fairly common side effect of ECT.

"Better Than Before"

Dan and Natalie help Diana to sort through boxes of souvenirs, including mementoes of their wedding, holidays, and Natalie’s childhood, avoiding any mention of Gabe. Dan is hopeful that things will “get back to better than before” but Natalie reminds her mother of all the times she’s let her down.

“Aftershocks”

Diana feels as if something is missing and Gabe reappears (“With nothing to remember is there nothing left to grieve?”).

"Hey #2"

Henry continues to try to reconcile with Natalie.

“You Don’t Know” (Reprise)

Diana is frustrated feeling like “I’m some Christopher Columbus / Sailing out into my mind / With no map of where I’m going / Or of what I left behind.” Dr Madden mentions her son – what son?

“How Could I Ever Forget?”

Diana remembers that Gabe died when he was 18 months old. Dan assures her that his death wasn’t their fault. Yet, in her hallucinations, he’s a teenager.

“It’s Gonna Be Good” (Reprise)

Diana demands to know her son’s name. A perplexed Dan tells Diana that they’ll go back to Dr Madden, who will prescribe further treatment.

“Why Stay?" / "A Promise”

Diana and Natalie ask Dan and Henry respectively why they remain “So steadfast and stolid and stoic and solid” when they’ve already done more than enough. They respond that they made a promise.

“I’m Alive” (Reprise)

Gabe appears to Diana again and she draws away from Dan.

“The Break”

Diana asks Dr Madden, “What happens if the cut, the burn, the break was never in my brain or in my blood, but in my soul?”

“Make Up Your Mind” / “Catch Me, I’m Falling” (Reprise)

Dr Madden advises Diana to try further treatment but she’s had enough following 16 years of it.

“Maybe” / “Next to Normal”

Diana tells Natalie how much she reminds her of herself. Natalie is frustrated that it’s taken so long for her mother to try to connect with her. Diana assures her that things will get better but Natalie isn’t convinced. Eventually, they hug and resolve to seek a “life that’s next to normal.”

“Hey #3” / “Perfect for You”

Diana drives Natalie to the dance. She explains to Henry that she’s afraid she’ll end up with the same problems as her mother. Henry promises to stand by her.

“So Anyway”

Diana tells Dan that she is leaving him even though she still loves him (“With you always believing / That we can still come through / It makes me feel the fool / To know that it's not true”).

“I Am the One” (Reprise)

Dan reflects on his years of devotion to Diana. He sees Gabe for the first time and speaks his name for the only time in the show. They embrace and Gabe disappears.

“Light”

The family adjusts to their new “normal”, “Knowing that the darkest skies will someday see the sun.”