Something 's Coming ( song ) - wikipedia Something 's Coming ( song ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2015 ) `` Something 's Coming '' is a song from the 1957 musical West Side Story. It was composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and is sung solo in a tenor voice by the male lead character ' Tony '. Contents 1 Production 2 Synopsis 3 Composition 4 Critical reception 4.1 Use in Exams 5 References 6 External links Production In his work Leonard Bernstein, Humphrey Burton explained : `` When it was decided to add Tony 's first - act song `` Something 's Coming, '' Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim the scene - setting page in Arthur Laurents 's outline. `` something 's coming, '' Laurents had written : `` it may be around the corner, whistling down the river, twitching at the dance -- who knows ? '' The lines were incorporated in the lyrics. `` We raped Arthur 's play - writing, '' Bernstein said. `` I 've never seen anyone so encouraging, let alone generous, urging us, ' Yes, take it, take it, make it a song. ' '' '' Bernstein reported on the last minute change thus :... I missed you all terribly yesterday. We wrote a new song for Tony ( `` Something 's Coming '' ) that 's a killer, and it just was n't the same not playing it first for you. It 's really going to save his character -- a driving 2 / 4 in the great tradition -- but it gives to Tony -- so that he does n't emerge as just a euphoric dreamer. Synopsis BBC.com explains : ' Something 's Coming ' is taken from Act I and is Tony 's first solo. At this point he has not met Maria. He has become disillusioned with gang warfare and looks forward to a better future. He wants to leave the Jets but agrees to join them to go to a dance later that evening. Composition BBC.com explains `` The song opens and closes in D major. It modulates to C major for two contrasting sections of the song... The song opens with a syncopated accompaniment figure in 3 / 4 time. A similar repeated pattern is heard throughout. The pitches change to fit the harmony. The accompaniment stays in the background throughout so that the singer can be heard clearly. The opening accompaniment is played by clarinets ( including bass ), pizzicato ( plucked ) strings, drum kit ( snare drum and hi - hat cymbal, played with wire brushes ) ''. The site also noted `` the same bar of accompaniment is repeated several times... ( as ) this gives time for the actors to move across the stage and is a device often used in musicals. It noted that the song alternates between 2 / 4 and 3 / 4 time signatures, the word - setting is mostly syllabic ( one word to a syllable ), and that the song includes many examples of triplets. It also explains `` ' Something 's Coming ' does not follow a standard song structure such as verse and chorus. Instead it is held together by three ideas or themes which are heard throughout the song and presented in different ways. '' The first theme has a `` tritone between the bass note C and the F sharp in the vocal line. The F sharp resolves onto a G. '', the second has `` declamatory repeated notes and the use of accents '', and the third has `` long sustained notes, legato phrases and rising intervals ''. Critical reception Chichester.col.uk noted the song is meant to `` capture... a sense of hope ''. AllMusic wrote of the Oscar Peterson Trio jazz version of the song `` Something 's Coming seems like a series of vignettes, constantly shifting its mood, as if moving from one scene to the next. '' Use in exams In 2008, the English exam board Edexcel added ' Something 's Coming ' to their Music GCSE syllabus, and is now used as one of the 12 set works covered in the course, under ' 20th Century Music '. References ^ Jump up to : `` West Side Story Official Site - Leonard Bernstein Bio Excerpt ''. Westsidestory.com. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 04. Jump up ^ West Side Story : Cultural Perspectives on an American Musical by Elizabeth A. Wells cites this quote ( without the parenthetical ) to : Bernstein Collection, correspondence, Box 5, folder 33, Letter to Felicia Montealegre Bernstein, 8 August 1957 - see also Geoffrey Holden Block ( 2004 ). Enchanted Evenings : The Broadway Musical from Show Boat to Sondheim. Oxford University Press. p. 384. ISBN 9780195167306. ^ Jump up to : `` GCSE Bitesize : Orchestra ''. BBC. 1970 - 01 - 01. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 04. Jump up ^ `` GCSE Bitesize : Musical theatre ''. BBC. 1970 - 01 - 01. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 04. Jump up ^ `` GCSE Bitesize : ' Something 's Coming ' - West Side Story ''. BBC. 1970 - 01 - 01. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 04. Jump up ^ `` GCSE Bitesize : Structure ''. BBC. 1970 - 01 - 01. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 04. Jump up ^ `` GCSE Bitesize : Accompaniment ''. BBC. 1970 - 01 - 01. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 04. Jump up ^ `` GCSE Bitesize : Word - painting ''. BBC. 1970 - 01 - 01. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 04. Jump up ^ `` REVIEW : West Side Story, Mayflower Theatre, Southampton, until Saturday, May 3. - Chichester Observer ''. Chichester.co.uk. 2014 - 04 - 24. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 04. Jump up ^ Ken Dryden. `` West Side Story - Oscar Peterson Trio Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards ''. AllMusic. Retrieved 2014 - 06 - 04. External links Further analysis of the Something 's Coming Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim 's West Side Story ( 1957 ) Characters Maria Inspiration William Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet Adaptations West Side Story ( 1961 film ) West Side Story Suite ( 1995 ballet ) Variations Deaf Side Story ( c. 2002 musical ) Swango ( 2002 musical ) West Bank Story ( 2005 parody film ) Boogie Town ( 2012 film ) Songs Act 1 `` Something 's Coming '' `` Maria '' `` Tonight '' `` America '' `` Cool '' `` One Hand, One Heart '' `` Tonight ( Quintet & Chorus ) '' Act 2 `` I Feel Pretty '' `` Somewhere '' `` A Boy Like That '' Albums West Side Story ( 1957 original cast ) West Side Story ( 1959 Previn ) West Side Story ( 1961 soundtrack ) West Side Story ( 1961 Tjader ) Bernstein Plays Brubeck Plays Bernstein ( 1961 Brubeck Quartet ) West Side Story ( 1962 Peterson Trio ) Kenton 's West Side Story ( 1962 Kenton ) Toshiko -- Mariano Quartet ( in West Side ) ( 1963 Akiyoshi ) West Side Story ( 1974 Earl Hines ) Related `` The First Time '' `` Upper West Side Story '' Wild Side Story China Girl `` Roses '' Play It Again Josh Superjail ! Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Something%27s_Coming_(song)&oldid=774347399 '' Categories : Songs written by Stephen Sondheim Songs with music by Leonard Bernstein 1957 songs Yes ( band ) songs Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from November 2015 All articles needing additional references Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 7 April 2017, at 20 : 38. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who sings something coming in west side story
Answer: the male lead character 'Tony'