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Kimberly Akimbo

 In "Kimberly Akimbo," the 11-o'-clock number is a breakup song, and it's a show-stopper:


I was never the daughter you wanted.
That's the thing we never say.
But that's the truth, and that's OK.

We live in a house that's haunted.
There's always you, there's always me.
And there's the ghost of a girl I'll never be.
There's the ghost of a girl I'll never be.

This ending seems to allude to "Next to Normal": "Day after day, wishing all our cares away, trying to fight the things we feel--but some hurts never heal." Both songs are about a noble loss. It's painful to admit you have been in denial, but it's also liberating.

I was never the girl you intended.
She was young, and she was bold.
She'd hold your hand when you got old.

Let's admit the dream has ended--
And what you wished for wasn't me.
She was the ghost of a girl I'll never be.
She was the ghost of a girl I'll never be.

 Before I go....give up the ghost.
Just be with me...instead....

Many lines in this show have double meanings, and here the speaker refers to two departures: (1) leaving the family home, and (2) leaving the Earth. The speaker identifies a destination, "somewhere that's beautiful." She is referring to the American South, the actual spot she is headed for. But she is also referring to whatever place we visit when we die, when we "give up the ghost."

This is a completely surprising and overwhelming song--coming from the mouth of a child--and it resolves the show's central conflict in a plausible and "earned" way. 

Let me go.
Let me go.
Let me fly away.

It's just three people on a stage, without a dance number, without fireworks. Less is more. The sentences are profound, but they're simple enough to come from a teenager. Each voice does its own thing--but there is also a minute of harmony, at the end, and that's exactly the right way to end this scene.

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