A period musical, The Greatest Showman is a visionary explosion of color, emotion, and a spectacle created by first time director Michael Gracey and a star-studded cast led by Hugh Jackman. The product of their efforts is a film that is as entertaining and visionary as the man on whom it is based.
Celebrating the birth of show business, the music of the film is an integral part in portraying the journey of P.T. Barnum, as he rose from nothing to be one of the most recognized names in the entertainment industry, with undeniable imagination and ambition.
It is that music that led the film's album to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Chart.
The soundtrack left many dancing out of the theaters to the voice of Zendaya, entranced by the thought of performing with Jackman and Zac Efron.
So here's a ranking of the songs from the Golden Globe-nominated film:
1. This is Me
This is THE song from the film. I plan to make it my anthem for 2018. There's no wonder that it already has so much Oscar buzz.
Best lyrics: "I am brave, I am bruised, I am who I'm meant to be, this is me."
2. From Now On
This really is Jackman's best work on the entire album. It's an uplifting ending ballad at its finest. Watch here to see Jackman perform it for the first time ever, before the movie was even given the green light.
Best lyrics: "And we will come back home, and we will come back home, home again."
3. A Million Dreams
The song transfers seamlessly from child P.T. Barnum to Hugh Jackman's adult version, and it does it beautifully. Once more, we get to see Jackman and Michelle Williams dance on rooftops like its the set of Dancing With The Stars.
Best lyrics: "Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors fill my head, a million dreams are keeping me awake."
4. Rewrite The Stars
Just like I needed a Zac and Hugh duet, I needed one with Zac and Zendaya to. Plus, they did it while doing trapeze work.
Best Lyrics: "How do we rewrite the stars? Say you were meant to be mine? Nothing can keep us apart, cause you were the one I was meant to find."
5. The Greatest Show
The endlessly colorful number that defines spectacular production, and perfectly bookends the film.
Best lyrics: "So tell me do you wanna go? Where it's covered in all the colored lights, where the runaways are running the night. Impossible comes true, it's taking over you. Oh, this is the greatest show!"
6. The Other Side
This is the Zac Efron, Hugh Jackman duet I never knew I always needed.
Best Lyrics: "So trade that typical for something colorful, and if it's crazy, live a little crazy, you can play it sensibly, a king of conventional, or you can risk it all and see."
7. Never Enough
Hearing this song just once will never be enough for me.
Best lyrics: "Towers of gold are still too little, These hands could hold the world but it'll Never be enough, Never be enough."
8. Come Alive
This is where the real showstopping numbers begin.
Best lyrics: "When the world becomes a fantasy, and you're more than you could ever be, 'cause you're dreaming with your eyes wide open.
9. Tightrope
Michelle Williams was a beautiful choice for Barnum's wife Charity, and she created a surprisingly beautiful song to explain the couple's relationship.
And the fact that it uses the tightrope as a circus metaphor to explain the turbulence of the couple's life is even more creative.
Best lyrics: "Hand in my hand and we promised to never let go, we're walking a tightrope".."
10. Never Enough (Reprise)
Another reprise that just can't possibly hold a candle to the first performance of the song, I had to rate this song so low, mostly because I really did not appreciate the character of Jenny Lind hitting on Barnum, although she has an INCREDIBLE voice.
Best lyrics: "All the shine of a thousand spotlights, all the stars we steal from the night-sky will never be enough."
11. A Million Dreams (Reprise)
Though the daughters of Barnum put a sweet spin on this song, it ranks so low purely because the first version of the song is just so much better. But, the family moment makes for a cute scene in the film.
Best lyrics: "I think of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see."
