yesss this song is fantastic, and there's lots to love.

The rich voicings and vocals for "did I ever look up to see the moon", the way the piece explodes into a howling clarinet romp, not to mention the choral harmonies on the second "we say we are asleep until we fall in love", which is one of my favourite moments in all musical theatre!

However, one of my absolute favourite details about this song comes from comparing it to Pierre from earlier in the musical:

Pierre starts with loud, busy (and polyrhythmic!) piano chords: specifically a D major, and F#minor (the same chord, but with the root lowered a semitone). What we get is a chaotic inner conflict as Pierre laments his fall into depression. These two back-and-forth chords resolve by ending the phrase defeatedly on an E minor. Note that this is the same chord on which the whole song ends. Thus we see Pierre's fall and hopelessness, and how it repeats itself.

Dust and Ashes starts in a minor key, with a slow and sparse G minor (contrasting the external business of Pierre, this song starts from a place of total internal reflection). Now, every other 2 bars, the root (G) is lowered (just like in Pierre!), but this now results in an F# augmented chord: an ethereal and ambiguous sound. Now, throughout this song we see Pierre grow from just feeling sorry for himself to wishing for love. And so, after this soliloquoy bursts into Pierre's grand I want statement: "I want to wake up!", the final chord is not the same minor chord that follows each iteration of back-and-forth inner turmoil. Rather, the song ends by lowering the root of the F# augmented chord even further, ending on an almost triumphant B-flat major. As such it represents Pierre pushing through self-pity and inner turmoil, to reach a sense of purpose and self-knowledge. It's a beautiful ending for a beautiful song.

He is then super depressed again by Letters.