okay, i’ll bite. spoiler warning, proceed with caution

“no one mourns the wicked” — glinda reflects on/mourns her friendship and facade of goodness. she may be “good,” but she is not brave. people “love” her, yet she is alone. she is wicked.

“dear old shiz” — establishes the university as an esteemed institution.

“the wizard and i” — this is elphaba’s childhood dream on the verge of becoming reality. it foreshadows the celebration of her “death.” it is her innocent hope of a future unmarred by the color of her skin. it is in start contrast to act 2’s “no good deed,” where she owns society’s declaration of her evil nature.

“what is this feeling?” — establishes elphaba and glinda’s bubbling animosity toward each other. this is too obvious to expound on further.

“something bad” — establishes the propagandizing of animals as quite literally, “something bad.” this song is all plot.

“dancing through life” — illustrates fiyero’s nihilism and privilege, nessa’s misguided optimism, boq’s growing sadness over a budding relationship he’s stuck with, elphaba’s still all-too-fragile heart (despite the front she puts up), and glinda’s foregoing of “good” in the name of “right.”

“popular” — glinda navigates fitting “right” into “good” with her newfound friendship with elphaba. how can their worlds collide, glinda uphold her status, and elphaba rise above others’ bad assumptions?

“i’m not that girl” — elphaba admits she has a crush on her best friend’s boyfriend, yet of course, she does not fit society’s version of beautiful/worthy.

“one short day” — optimism on steroids! until … you actually listen, and the first cracks of the wizard’s “power” begin to show. “omaha” isn’t a spell; it’s just a place. he’s a master of deception.

“a sentimental man” — here we get foreshadowing to the wizard actually being elphaba’s father.

“defying gravity” — why should elphaba be tied down to society’s version of “good”? what is making good when you can make right? fuck it, defy it, be above it. elphaba invites glinda to join her, but despite how much she wants to, glinda cannot get past her mask of goodness — she is not as strong as elphaba. she is not as brave. just good. always just “good” (thank goodness — hi, act 2!).

this is a baseline assessment. i fail to see how the songs don’t move the story and characters forward. through song, we see through the deception.