Peak
56
Weeks
2
Score
144
Chart Year
2025
"No Good Deed" is the moment in the 2025 Wicked: For Good movie when Elphaba concludes that every attempt to do the right thing has backfired. She relives the whole catastrophe: the disastrous business with Fiyero, the capture of Dr. Dillamond, and the tragedy of her sister Nessarose. Every time she tried to help, the universe responded with a firm absolutely not. By the end, she declares she's done doing good. Cynthia Erivo, who performs the song as Elphaba, sees "No Good Deed" as the weakest moment for her character. "It's her really surrendering to a thing that she's sort of been trying to push away." Erivo reflected in an Exclusive Q&A. "She's worked to try and build a better world for herself basically. I think she wants people see her as the good that she has inside. And, I think, because it's happened so often and other people's reflections have been forced on her, other people's perceptions and ideas have been forced on her at this point when she's lost so much. There is nothing left for her to give. There's nothing left for her to do. And so she becomes the thing that she's been fighting against this entire time." Director Jon M. Chu originally staged Erivo being pulled through the air at the top of the song, which required complicated un-rigging mid-take. "She did those versions of it, but one time she was like, 'I don't want to unrig and do the whole thing, it's throwing me. Let me just do it here,'" Chu recalled to Entertainment Weekly. "And she does it, and she's just in it, and that's the take we use. That's why it's messy, because our camera [operator] didn't know it was happening. I forgot to tell them." Stephen Schwartz composed "No Good Deed" as a song with exceptionally challenging vocal requirements. It opens with what sounds like a scream, a high note that is a minor second above the song's tonal center, creating a controlled but deeply unsettling effect. Then there are operatic dynamic shifts, whispering pianissimo moments that abruptly blast into belted hurricane notes, and extended vocal runs reminiscent of classical singing. "I think it's structured very much like an aria but it's built to get a great big hand at the end with a big belted last note," Schwartz said. "So it's still very much musical theater." Long before Erivo was dangling 17 feet above the stage, Idina Menzel took ownership of the song in the original Broadway cast recording. Schwartz wrote the number specifically to showcase her vocal power; "No Good Deed" is placed near the end of Act Two, after "As Long As You're Mine" and the capture of Fiyero, and before the final duet, "For Good." Beyond the film version, Erivo performed a stripped-down arrangement of "No Good Deed" with the ballerina Misty Copeland in November 2025. This haunting interpretation has only a violin and cello accompaniment.
[Elphaba:] Eleka nahmen nahmen Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen Eleka nahmen nahmen Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen Let his flesh not be torn Let his blood leave no stain Though they beat him Let him feel no pain Let his bones never break And however they try To destroy him Let him never die Let him never die Eleka nahmen nahmen Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen Eleka nahmen nahmen Ah tum ah tum eleka eleka What good is this chanting? I don't even know what I'm reading I don't even know what trick I ought to try Fiyero, where are you? Already dead or bleeding? One more disaster I can add to my Generous supply No good deed goes unpunished No act of charity goes unresented No good deed goes unpunished That's my new creed My road of good intentions Led where such roads always lead No good deed goes unpunished Nessa Doctor Dillamond Fiyero Fiyero One question haunts and hurts Too much, too much to mention Was I really seeking good Or just seeking attention? Is that all good deeds are When looked at with an ice-cold eye? If that's all good deeds are Maybe that's the reason why No good deed goes unpunished All helpful urges should be circumvented No good deed goes unpunished Sure, I meant well Well, look at what well-meant did 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 Ever again No good deed Will I do Again
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dec 6, 2025 | 56 | 70 |
| 2 | Dec 13, 2025 | 97 | 29 |