When we were writing the movie there was this slot
where we had lots of talk about whether it was a song,
were these two places where we checked back
with Elsa, that felt like, that at the moment
we even had like "battle song?" as a question mark
when we were writing the movie, and we also
had, sort of, "interior monologue song?"
Because when you're doing a movie and the in the
late second act or the third act of the movie
plot really takes over and you want action to
to lead, not songs. You don't want to feel like you're
stopping, whereas on stage it's all about emotion.
And so we looked at that battle idea, we looked at
the inner reflection, idea and we combined them
to turn it into the song "Monster.
"A monster, were they right?
Has the dark in me finally come to light?
Am I a monster full of rage
Nowhere to go but on a rampage?
What really came first I think was music
and this 7/8 idea. It was time signature that came first
with "Monster." We, and we looked at those songs that
make you feel the stress that the character is going
through, and they tend to be an odd key signatures.
I remember finding the vamp which is...
You don't know where to breathe and you're watching as
the singer struggles for where to breathe and you,
in sympathy, start also not knowing where to breathe.
It's an anxious feeling, key to where she begins her moment.
You have to think about the downbeat, so you have to
go hear it hear it "it's finally come, come to knock down my door...
I can't hide this time like I hid before
That's the big chorus there, and we,
you're right it's syncopated against seven which is
just a weird feel.
"Was I a monster from the start?
How did I end up with this frozen heart?"
The music is going ba bam ba bam ba bam
ba bam ba bam ba bam ba
And she's going,
"I'll do all that I can to make things right...
But before I fade to white
I'll do all that I can to make things right
She's doing three and then four, while the orchestra is
doing four and then three, so it's a it's a little,
and plus they're going, "keep your guard up,"
so it's a musical moment of of complexity and
syncopation and and you're also hearing two people
saying two different things and we're trying to, we're
trying to build a musical fight, a musical battle,
tugging, there's a battle going on within her and there's a
battle going on on the stage.
And I think I remember suggesting it to Christian,
you know, "end this winter, bring back summer,
keep your guard up," and that kind of thing
He was right, he was right, it needed to sound military
and you just sound like a group of not thinking men.
It was a bunch of men who were coming for the thinking woman.
They're going, "end this winter, bring back summer
keep your guard, no harm comes to her"
What we kept changing in Denver was how we got into this song.
When we didn't have those men, in Denver,
it was sort of like checking in on Elsa, and then she
starts to sing and we didn't quite know why,
but once we had the, "end this winter" coming,
then it gave her a launch pad.
What I was really excited about was the distortion
fuzz on the electric guitar on the the bass line. On this line:
"End this winter, bring back summer
keep your guard up
I wanted to put the line "bringing destruction
to the stage." I thought that would be cool,
a cool comment on what we were doing with Frozen.
"Bringing destruction to the stage
Caught in a war that I never meant to wage
Do I kill the monster?
Perhaps go to go to Bobby for the cage, page,
rage stage rhyme. Good job, honey.
Thank you.
Every choice we make is about deepening the story.
We knew, we needed a big song in act 2
It couldn't have the same positive uplifting spirit
that let it go had. It had to be, it was a self attacking kind of number.
When we talked to Jen about what is Elsa
really thinking about? She said, you know we didn't put
this in the movie, but really you know if you think
about it, what would be logical for her to be thinking
about is, "am I the problem? do I need to remove myself
from this equation?"
In the case of Elsa's trauma and her childhood journey
that sort of keeps her caught in this pattern,
it's that she was told that she was bad.
This is her childhood wound playing out at a key
moment of adult choice.
Well, she does sing the song in a different form in act 1.
She sings it as little Elsa.
Which is not on cast album. You have your come see the Broadway show.
"I see Arendelle, a winter night."
It's the same.
People shouting full of fright. Angry crowds
crowds of angry men. It's all because of me they look at
me and see a monster."
And then later she goes, "Mother, it's how it has to be.
what's best for her is best for me...
Father, you know what's best for me
If I die, will they be free?
We also really wanted to show this character that we
identify with. She pushes through that and she says,
I'm gonna stay alive and I'm gonna fix this.
"I have to stay alive to fix what I've done.
Save the world from myself, and bring back the sun
If I'm a monster then it's true
There's only one thing left that's for me to do
But before I fade to white.
I'll do all that I can to make things right
I cannot be a monster
I will not be a monster
Not tonight.
Caissie Levy, you guys, come see Caissie Levy.
It gets a little like Henry Higgins and Eliza.
Bobbie, your question brought me back to him going,
"I'll do all that I can to make things right,"
and I go, "I'll do all I can to make things right."
And he goes, "No! I'll do all that I can to make things right."
And then I say, "Stop yelling at me!
I'm gonna get it."