
Peak
43
Weeks
2
Score
171
Chart Year
2025
"For Good" is a duet from the 2025 Wicked: For Good movie, performed by Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. The song is the climactic moment when the two witches reconcile and acknowledge the huge impact their friendship has had on each other's lives. Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the score and lyrics for the original 2003 Broadway Wicked musical, avoided writing "For Good" until the very end because he understood its crucial importance to the entire work. "I knew that it was the key to the show," he said in an interview on the musical's YouTube channel in May 2011, "and that if we solved this song, we had the show. And if we didn't solve the song, it didn't matter what else we did in the show." The song's title and core concept came from Schwartz' brainstorming session with Wicked playwright Winnie Holzman. While discussing the witches' knotty friendship, Holtznan observed that they had "changed each other for good." Schwartz seized on it, and the whole song rests on that double meaning: permanence and benevolence. Schwartz found further inspiration in a conversation with his daughter Jessica, when he asked her what she would say to a close childhood friend named Sarah if she knew she'd never see her again. Her answer, about people coming into our lives for a reason and helping us grow, became the blueprint for the opening verse. The composer decided to make "For Good" a duet so Elphaba and Glinda could tell each other what their friendship has meant as they say goodbye forever. Director Jon M. Chu uses the number in Wicked: For Good as the emotional centerpiece. The performance represents the culmination of Elphaba and Glinda's estrangement and final reconciliation, as an angry mob rises against the Wicked Witch. The moment completes their long arc from rivals to soul-shaping companions. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande also performed "For Good" alongside the original Broadway icons - Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth - during the television special Wicked: One Wonderful Night on November 6, 2025. For the occasion, Schwartz composed new lyrics for the bridge and even sat in as pianist. For many, the definitive version remains the one on the original Broadway cast recording, where Menzel and Chenoweth first turned the song into the tear-duct-activating classic it is today. "For Good" has since been covered everywhere from Glee to cabaret bars, becoming one of musical theater's go-to duets.
[Elphaba:] I'm limited Just look at me Not with your eyes, with theirs I'm limited, and just look at you You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda Here, take it [Glinda:] What? But you know I, I can't read this, I— [Elphaba:] Well, you have to learn Because now it's up to you For both of us Now it's up to you [Glinda:] I've heard it said That people come into our lives for a reason Bringing something we must learn And we are led To those who help us most to grow If we let them And we help them in return Well, I don't know if I believe that's true But I know I'm who I am today Because I knew you Like a comet pulled from orbit As it passes a sun Like a stream that meets a boulder Halfway through the wood Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But Because I knew you I have been changed for good [Elphaba:] It well may be That we will never meet again In this lifetime So let me say before we part So much of me Is made of what I learned from you You'll be with me Like a handprint on my heart And now whatever way our stories end I know you have re-written mine By being my friend Like a ship blown from its mooring By a wind off the sea Like a seed dropped by a skybird In a distant wood Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But Because I knew you [Glinda:] Because I knew you [Glinda & Elphaba:] I have been changed for good [Elphaba:] And just to clear the air I ask forgiveness For the things I've done you blame me for [Glinda:] But then, I guess we know there's blame to share [Glinda & Elphaba:] And none of it seems to matter anymore [Glinda (Elphaba):] Like a comet pulled from orbit (Like a ship blown from its mooring) As it passes a sun (By a wind off the sea) Like a stream that meets a boulder (Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood) Halfway through the wood (In the wood) Who can say if I've been changed for the better? I do believe I have been changed for the better [Glinda:] And because I knew you [Elphaba:] Because I knew you [Glinda & Elphaba:] Because I knew you I have been changed For good
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 6, 2025 | 43 | 83 |
| 2 | Dec 13, 2025 | 96 | 30 |