A hypothesis

Okay, I have a small sample size from which I'm making conclusions, but I'm going to put a stake in the ground: I think that all musical theatre can be improved by the addition of Emma Goldman.

More on seeing Ragtime

This is suddenly my new favourite song from musical theatre.

It's from the second act. One of the main characters, Coalhouse Walker Jr., has suffered at the hands of a racist fire chief, and after being denied justice from all official channels, decides to exact his own retribution. He burns down some fire stations, and starts a reign of terror, demanding that the fire chief be turned over to him to face Coalhouse's justice.

It's at this point that another character, known as Younger Brother -- part of a family of upper middle-class white folks who happened to get to know Coalhouse in act one -- becomes politicized and wants to join Coalhouse's group.

The song is fundamentally about text and subtext. It's called "He Wanted to Say" -- it's about the things that Younger Brother wanted to say when he finally meets Coalhouse. He's tongue-tied, and can't figure out how to tell Coalhouse that he wants to join his cause. Emma Goldman (a recurring character in the musical) suddenly appears as an omniscient narrator and tells the audience what Younger Brother wanted to say but couldn't.

This video is a non-professional recording of a low-budget production -- sadly you can't see Coalhouse or his men in the video, but it has a pretty clear recording of the lyrics.