The song “No Good Deed” in the musical Wicked is one of the highlights of the show’s second act and it’s also a stand-out moment in the new movie Wicked: For Good.
This post will contain some spoilers, so beware of reading further if you don’t want to know what happens!
Keep reading to find out more…
“No Good Deed” happens in the middle of the movie after Elphaba’s friendship with Glinda falls apart, her sister Nessarose has died, and her new love Fiyero sacrifices his life for her. She flies to her hideout and performs a spell with hopes of saving Fiyero from the brutality of the Wizard’s guards.
“Eleka nahmen nahmen / Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen,” she sings out for the spell.
She also vents her frustration with everything going wrong while trying to do “good” for the world, so she decides to finally embrace being the Wicked Witch of the West.
Elphaba ends the song by singing, “All right, enough, so be it / So be it then / Let all Oz be agreed / I’m wicked through and through / And since I can’t succeed, Fiyero saving you / I promise no good deed / Will I attempt to do again.”
There’s also a very slight change in the lyrics from the Broadway version, which might throw off fans trying to sing along.
Idina Menzel sings the final verse, “I’m wicked through and through / Since I can not succeed, Fiyero saving you.”
Cynthia Erivo changed it to, “I’m wicked through and through / And since I can’t succeed, Fiyero saving you.”
Listen to the song below from YouTube or download it now on iTunes or Amazon.
Read the full lyrics below.
Read “No Good Deed” by Cynthia Erivo on Genius
Listen to Elphaba’s new song “No Place Like Home” as well!
