Buffy the Musical

Which Buffy the Musical Song Are You?

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By Mary Fechter

We all know about story arcs, the growth of characters and stories over time. Joss Whedon is a master of this, and Season 6 is my favorite example because a huge turning point is Buffy the Musical.

The arc begins at the end of Season 5 when Buffy dies to save her sister – and the world.

Only her friends can’t bear to go on without her, and Willow, a witch, raises her from the dead.

It’s not the joyous event you might think. Buffy is a shell of the girl she was. She’s thrust back into a life of fighting demons, and taking care of her sister on top of it. But she suffers in silence. She’s willing to sacrifice her own peace for the peace of her friends.

That’s the kind of girl Buffy is.

When the demon Sweet is summoned to Sunnydale (say that 3 times fast) and people start bursting into song, blurting out whatever’s on their minds, it’s worrisome.

At first, Buffy is longing for the feelings she had in her old life. Now she’s just “Going Through the Motions,” doing what’s expected of her as she tries to find what’s missing.

More secrets are revealed through song – some that have been building all season, like Buffy’s, including Anya and Xander’s fears of their upcoming mixed marriage (human and demon), Dawn’s that no one is paying attention to her, and Tara learns that she really IS under Willow’s spell as the increasingly powerful witch has erased some of Tara’s memories.

And these revealed secrets give a twist to the rest of the season.

Giles reveals his fear that he’s letting Buffy lean too heavily on him, which leads to him pulling back when Buffy needs help rescuing Dawn from Sweet, and sets the story up for when he leaves later in the season.

And the big secret, the one Buffy has kept all season?

Tears are in her eyes when she turns to her friends, who have decided to help her after all, and sings, “There was no pain, no fear, no doubt till they pulled me out of heaven.”

And her friends are sick with the knowledge and understanding of why Buffy has been so different (“She came from the grave much graver.”) all year.

So why song? Couldn’t Joss just have written an episode where everyone is cursed to tell the truth no matter what? Sure, but does Joss do things the easy way? Giving Sweet’s story added another layer to the episode.

Buffy has to save Dawn? Check. (See also Season 5.)
Buffy’s secret revealed against her will? Check.
Joss shows he’s a genius? CHECK!! (See also “Hush,” the Angel puppet episode and the entirety of Firefly.)

Again, why music? Okay, so I couldn’t actually FIND that, but I seem to remember that the cast was kind of joking around about doing a musical and Anthony Stewart Head (Giles) and Amber Benson (Tara) really got into the idea, and it went from there. Joss even wrote all the music and words, matching the songs to the ranges of the different actors (none of that digital manipulation like in Moulin Rouge.) If you have the soundtrack (and I do), there are tracks of Joss singing.

For more information, lyrics and quotes from the episode, check out the following sites:

BuffyMusical.com

Once More With Feeling

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