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Unexpected Song

"Unexpected Song" is a 1984 song from the musical Song and Dance originally sung (on Broadway) by Bernadette Peters. The music was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Don Black. It is one of Lloyd Webber's most frequently performed compositions.[1]

"Unexpected Song"

1984 (1984)

1984

Background[edit]

The music for "Unexpected Song" originates from Lloyd Webber's instrumental album Variations, much of which became the dance music in the second half of Lloyd Webber's musical Song and Dance. Black wrote lyrics to one of the tracks, "Variation 5," which became "Unexpected Song." The song was released by Marti Webb and Justin Hayward as a duet in 1981. Later, Black wrote new lyrics to the melody and retitled the song "When You Want to Fall in Love."[2] The original lyrics were re-instated when the show was re-written for Sarah Brightman's run. Brightman released the song as a single in 1984.


"Unexpected Song" was later used in Lloyd Webber's and Black's reworking of the show, returning to the original album title of Tell Me on a Sunday.

Composition[edit]

"Unexpected Song" is a ballad.

Chart performance[edit]

Brightman's single peaked at #76 on the UK Singles Chart.

on Song & Dance: Original Broadway Cast Recording (1985)

Bernadette Peters

with the London Symphony Orchestra, on Songs from the Stage and Screen (1987)

Michael Crawford

on The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection (1991)

Paul Jones

Clare Burt on Aspects of Andrew Lloyd Webber Volume 2 (1996)

on Julian Lloyd Webber's Unexpected Songs (2006)

Michael Ball

on Best of Act One

Anthony Warlow

on Tell Me On a Sunday (2006)

Denise Van Outen

on Unexpected: Myrra Malmberg Sings Lloyd Webber (1997)

Myrra Malmberg

on The Musicals Unplugged (2003)

Dave Willetts

on Unexpected (2021)

Marie Osmond