If West Side Story isn’t the greatest of the old-school Hollywood musicals, then it, at the very least, has to be a contender. Released in 1961, it adapts the 1957 stage musical of the same name to the screen expertly, making things feel simultaneously like a stage production and more cinematic. There’s a boldness to the visuals that sometimes feels like artifice, but it’s also beautiful in its own way, and a striking contrast to the rawness of the emotions within the narrative.
Said narrative is a contemporary update of Romeo and Juliet, transporting the action to New York City in the 1950s, centering on the doomed love between two young people associated with opposing sides of a gang war. Visuals and a great story can only go so far in a musical, though, and thankfully, the songs in West Side Story are just as amazing. Leonard Bernstein composed the music and Stephen Sondheim was behind the lyrics, with their work translating well from stage to screen. All the main musical numbers found in the 1961 film (excluding instrumentals) are ranked below, starting with the good (as there are no truly bad numbers) and ending with the best.
West Side Story
Two youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.
- Release Date
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December 13, 1961
- Director
-
Robert Wise
, Jerome Robbins - Cast
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Natalie Wood
, Richard Beymer
, Russ Tamblyn
, Rita Moreno
, George Chakiris - Runtime
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151 Minutes
11
“I Feel Pretty”
Maria, Consuelo, Rosalia, and Francisca
Look, while not terrible, on account of it functioning as part of the overall story and being something of an earworm, “I Feel Pretty” is the closest thing West Side Story has to a kind of lame musical number. Again, “closest thing” to is not the same thing as being a true stinker, but Maria’s song about being in love and feeling generally ecstatic about it is perhaps a touch too silly.
But hey, it’s a counterpoint to Tony’s (admittedly the right kind of corny) “Maria,” and the chorus will get stuck in your head, for better or worse. It’s also probably for the best to have the song play out before one of the story’s most tragic scenes, with “I Feel Pretty” happening after said event in the original play and the 2021 film being a bit jarring… by design, sure, but it’s still a bit weird. The lyrics in the stage version are better, though, because the 1961 film version is the one where Maria says “I feel pretty, and witty and gay.”
10
“One Hand, One Heart”
Tony and Maria
Laying the foreshadowing on a little thick while also not being terribly memorable musically, “One Heart, One Hand” is a bit forgettable overall. The scene it’s played during is quite good, though, with Maria and Tony staging a mock wedding together and pledging their love to each other, there being an obvious ominous quality to the whole “till death do us part” thing.
The song itself, though, is just a little too short and melodically simple in the 1961 version to make a true impression. It helps drive home both the brevity and passion inherent to the time Maria and Tony spend together, helping the all-important love story side of West Side Story as a whole, but there are better songs within the musical; ones that are either more fun or more emotional… or both!
9
“A Boy Like That/I Have A Love”
Anita and Maria
There is a jarring quality to “A Boy Like That/I Have A Love,” but maybe there has to be, considering what the song aims to do narratively. And that clashing is spelled out quite plainly in the song’s title. Maria and Anita both have differing views about Maria’s love, with Maria more willing to forgive the murder of her brother than Anita is to forgive the murder of her lover. The two pretty much sing different songs at each other in an odd duet… or it might be more accurate to call it a musical argument.
This results in something that is awkward to listen to, if you want to judge it purely as a song, but it has a specific function and probably isn’t supposed to be super pleasing to listen to in the traditional sense. While it’s therefore pretty good in the 1961 version of West Side Story, it might well be one of the numbers that was actually done better in Steven Spielberg’s version, released 60 years later.
8
“Cool”
Ice and Jets
Speaking of the also very good Steven Spielberg-directed version of West Side Story, it probably found a better use for “Cool” than the 1961 film. In the earlier West Side Story film, it’s sung after the rumble that sees the deaths of both Riff (the leader of the Jets) and Bernardo (the leader of the Sharks), and is performed by the otherwise somewhat minor character of Ice.
In this version, it is great for the narrative, highlighting how the Jets are kind of falling apart after the rumble, and is also useful considering that some other musical numbers that happen after the rumble in the stage version were put earlier in the 1961 version. Still, 2021’s version is more memorably staged and a little more dynamic, as well as more compelling on account of it involving the more significant characters of Tony and Riff, rather than Ice.
7
“Jet Song”
Riff and Jets
If “Cool” is all about the Jets having fallen apart, or in the process of falling apart (thanks to its kind of deranged quality), the not-very creatively-titled “Jet Song” is a little more balanced. It’s got a ton of machismo that is a bit cheesy, but coming after the very theatrical prologue (you know, the part with the finger-snapping and the dance-fighting), it is a little easier to swallow.
The way it reincorporates some of the memorable instrumental music heard in the lyrics-free “Prologue” is also neat, and an early indication that the viewer’s in good hands as far as songwriting goes. As the first number in West Side Story with lyrics, it’s short, punchy, and effectively memorable, as well as something that does a good job of elaborating upon the gang warfare angle of this Story on the West Side, which was introduced mostly through dance – and without dialogue – in the preceding sequence.
6
“Gee, Officer Krupke”
Riff and Jets
Being funny and sad at the same time, “Gee, Officer Krupke” is surprisingly effective at breaking down certain youth-related problems, doing a lot to explain why the Jets largely act the way they do. It’s not quite as good a musical number as “America,” which is mostly about why the Sharks feel and act the way they do, but it’s still pretty great overall.
Like many West Side Story songs, it’s catchy and simple but without feeling simplistic. It’s got some hammy lines, and it’s one of the most theatrical numbers, but the underlying message of the song is genuinely quite sad. These are disaffected and alienated young men, and they deal with that through comradery and humor, sure… but such things, and their gang as a whole, do little to properly address the myriad of problems they face. As far as they’re concerned, the world at large has told them “Krup you.”
5
“Something’s Coming”
Tony
The placement of this one might be a bit controversial, given “Something’s Coming” might not be quite as dynamic, punchy, or memorable as “Jet Song” or “Gee, Officer Krupke,” but it’s a pretty fantastic “I Want” song. What an “I Want” song is, exactly, is pretty straightforward. They’re numbers performed early on, and generally feature a lead character pining for something.
“Something’s Coming” is great because it is this kind of song, but there isn’t anything selfish about it. It’s all very earnest, and even if one could argue it’s a little silly that Tony inherently feels “something coming,” the arrangement, vocal delivery, and simple staging of the number help sell its sincerity. And, of course, it contrasts heavily with the tragedy inherent to the film’s second half; what Tony wants, after all, more or less sets off a series of events that cost him his life.
4
“Maria”
Tony
If you’re talking about the character of Maria, she’s probably done more justice in the 2021 film, but if you’re talking about the song “Maria,” the 1961 version trumps the 2021 version. It occurs right after the dance – which is a scene that contrasts well with the rumble; both pitting the Sharks and Jets against each other in two very different ways – and sees Tony entirely lovestruck by Maria, just after meeting her.
That aforementioned artifice is what makes “Maria” work so well in this 1961 film. The big dance is already kind of psychedelic and dreamlike, but that vibe continues as Tony sings “Maria,” colors and shapes swirling around to signal how he’s basically walking on that illustrious 9th cloud. Young love and instant love can be hard to buy in certain stories, but West Side Story – and this musical number specifically – tries to make you feel it. Logic doesn’t matter. The hazy, dreary, ecstatic, and unreal feeling of love in its earliest stage is captured here in both a syrupy song and dreamy imagery. It’s enough to make you forgive the fact Tony says the word “Maria” about 30 times in less than three minutes.
3
“America”
Anita, Bernardo, Sharks and Girls
The best musical number in West Side Story that’s not about love is, quite comfortably, “America.” It’s the most energetic song in perhaps the entire musical, and does kind of make the Sharks seem a bit cooler than the Jets. Like, “Jet Song” is cool, and “Cool” is… well, not cool, but definitely something. But if the gang war was truly fought over who had the better musical numbers, the Sharks would win thanks to “America.”
But, as mentioned before, it’s probably most comparable to “Gee, Officer Krupke.” While that song talked about problems faced by disaffected American youths, “America” is all about the immigrant experience in America, exploring the additional problems Puerto Ricans face in the titular nation. The socially conscious lyrics hold up surprisingly well, all these decades later, and it’s technically perfect on a musical/songwriting front, too.
2
“Somewhere” and “Somewhere (reprise)”
Tony and Maria / Maria
This might be cheating a little bit, but the two best songs in West Side Story both have two versions each. That could be what helps the two stand out so much; each gets an initial rendition sung by Maria and Tony, and then each gets a reprise. In the case of “Somewhere,” that reprise is heart-wrenching, sung just by Maria in the film’s closing scene.
It’s a simple way to break the hearts of everyone in the audience, having an emotional/romantic number like “Somewhere” be repeated, but no longer as a duet, on account of that couple being permanently torn apart because one of them dies. “Somewhere” was already beautiful and bittersweet when the two of them sang it, but when Maria sings it again, now alone, as Tony dies, barely able to keep her composure… it’s impossible to not feel moved.
1
“Tonight” and “Tonight Quintet”
Tony and Maria / Maria, Tony, Anita, Riff, Bernardo, Jets, and Sharks
The other song, other than “Somewhere,” that has two renditions in West Side Story is “Tonight.” After the dance, Maria and Tony sing “Tonight” together on a fire escape, which is the most direct shoutout, visually speaking, to Romeo and Juliet (mirroring that play’s balcony scene). Just as “Jet Song” makes the conflict in “Prologue” explicit, so too does “Tonight” drive home the love between Maria and Tony that was first established in the lyric-free dance, during – fittingly enough – the dance scene.
“Tonight” has such a beautiful build, beginning small and quiet and growing in intensity and emotion as it goes along. Like “Maria,” it’s blisteringly effective at making you feel the instantaneous love between the film’s two characters that otherwise might be implausible. Even better is the way “Tonight” is reworked and built upon further in “Tonight Quintet,” which is West Side Story’s most epic number, involving pretty much everyone in the cast, and playing out immediately before the dramatic rumble, when everything changes. “Tonight” is a beautiful and perfectly paced love song, and then “Tonight Quintet” is ambitious, large-scale, and stunningly well-assembled, considering all the disparate parts. Together, these two versions of “Tonight” represent West Side Story’s music at its very best.
