If I Can't Love Her

In Beauty and the Beast (1991), the Beast does not have his own song and hardly sings apart from a brief solo during "Something There".[1][2] Composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman had not been able to determine a suitable moment for the character to sing in the original film, but Menken considered it imperative that the Beast sing in the 1994 stage musical adaptation because he believes that he is truly "the protagonist of the story, whose life has changed in the most dramatic way."[3] "If I Can't Love Her" was one of six original songs written by Menken and lyricist Tim Rice for the stage adaptation.[4][5][6] Since Ashman had died in 1991 prior to the film's release, Rice was recruited to collaborate with Menken on writing new songs for the stage musical, out of which "If I Can't Love Her" was developed.[7] Menken identified creating "If I Can't Love Her" as "one of the benefits" of his new partnership with Rice.[8]

"If I Can't Love Her" was written to close the show's first act.[9] Since the musical was written in two-act structure,[10] "If I Can't Love Her" was conceived to allow the Beast an important opportunity to either "howl for redemption or just say I’ve given up".[11][12] "If I Can't Love Her" focuses on character development, as do most original songs written specifically for the musical.[13] Determining that the production did not require more show-stopping musical numbers like "Be Our Guest" and "Gaston", Rice opted to write new material that "expand[s] the characters and their relationships" instead, describing "If I Can't Love Her" as a song that uncovers the Beast's "human longings".[14] Linda Woolverton, who wrote the film's screenplay,[15] also used "If I Can't Love Her" to develop the Beast into a more rounded, fully realized character while adapting her own screenplay into the show's book,[16] further exploring "thoughts previously unheard" from the character.[17] Actor Terrence Mann, who originated the role of the Beast on Broadway, recorded "If I Can't Love Her" for the musical's original cast album, which was released on April 26, 1994.[18]

"If I Can't Love Her" is sometimes referred to by critics as the Beast's only solo song in the stage musical,[19][20] although the character also performs the brief "How Long Must this Go On?".[21] Prior to "If I Can't Love Her", the show primarily consists of upbeat musical numbers performed by supporting characters such as Gaston, Lefou, and Lumiere.[17] In the musical, the Beast sings "If I Can't Love Her" at the end of Beauty and the Beast's first act after he angrily frightens Belle away from the castle,[10] before she encounters a pack of wolves while fleeing through the forest,[9] serving as the finale to Act I.[22] Immediately following the lively "Be Our Guest",[17] the ballad precedes the show's intermission,[3] ending Act I "on a smoky and introspective note", according to Brad Hevenor of The Independent.[23] Belle leaves the Beast to ponder what little is left of his humanity.[7] While lamenting the status of his relationship with Belle, the Beast realizes that he has squandered an opportunity to love someone and "turn everything around," still struggling to love a person as "beautiful and fascinating" as Belle.[24] Belle's departure forces the Beast to examine that failing to love her will result in him remaining a beast forever, realizing that he has not only lost Belle but also "any chance of being himself again."[24]

Striving to imbue the character with more depth and dimension,[25][26] Menken described the scene as a moment in which the Beast ponders "If I can’t love her then who can I ever love?".[27] The Disney Song Encyclopedia author Thomas S. Hischak described the song as a "soul-searching" ballad in which the hero "fights off despair and considers his ability to fall in love with Belle".[28] According to Tamara Ikenberg of the Anchorage Daily News, the number "reveals the depths of the Beast's depression as he accepts that he may never be human again and wishes for a way ... out of his pain."[29] Natalie Salvo of The AU Review identified the musical number as the moment "the character poured his heart out".[30] According to LAexcites.com contributor Imaan Jalali, the number demonstrates the character's "distinct melancholy that reverberates with the hearts of attendees" while "he bares his downtrodden soul".[31] The Beast later reprises the song after he allows Belle to return home and tend to her ailing father, wondering if he will ever see her again.[28] Conversely, the reprise "expresses his own sorrow of remaining in the curse, but more importantly of not winning Belle’s love".[7]

Menken summarized the musical number as simply "a moment of just crying out to the heavens."[3] The Ottawa Citizen critic Zaina Khan wrote that the ballad indicates "a shift from ferocity to humility displaying the Beast’s dichotomy between ill-tempered rage and instant regret."[32] Similarly, The Plain Dealer contributor Laura DeMarco believes that the song "further humanize[s]" the Beast.[21] Bruce Miller of the Sioux City Journal described the musical number's staging as a combination of the stage musicals Les Miserables (1980) and Evita (1978),[33] which is sometimes performed onstage amidst artificial fog.[34]

"If I Can't Love Her" is a melancholy power ballad.[35][36] Written in the key of C major and performed at a "free" tempo of 112 beats per minute,[37] the song lasts four minutes and six seconds (4:06) in duration.[38] AllMusic's Peter Fawthrop described the track as "dark" and "mournful".[39] Lindsey BahrIt, writing for the Toronto Star, described its melody as "soaring".[40] The Plain Dealer's Laura DeMarco described the ballad as "sentimental",[21] while D23 called it "heart-wrenching".[8] Some critics have deemed "If I Can't Love Her" an anthem;[41] Holly Beretto of Houstonia identified the song as "an anthem to love desired and lost" that "showcases [the actor's] vocal and acting range."[42] Similarly, Bruce Miller of the Sioux City Journal dubbed it a "lament about lost love".[33]

Musically, the song begins with "soft phrases" expressing "gentleness and heartfelt emotion, before build[ing]" as it grows and progresses.[43] Despite being performed in a major key, the ballad compensates by using "vocals, slowness, and mirroring the haunting theme" of the score.[24] Variety's Jerome Weeks wrote that the song "combines a lovely descending-line melody with one of Rice’s most touching efforts in the way the Beast haltingly, almost inarticulately grapples with his developing love."[44] Thomas S. Hischak, author of The Disney Song Encyclopedia, observed that the track boasts "a resounding, operatic tone that is far heavier" than the film's original songs.[28] Vladimir Bunoan of ABS-CBNnews.com compared the ballad to selections from the stage musical The Phantom of the Opera (1986).[45]

Jo Litson of Limelight identified the song as a "tenor power ballad",[46] with Mann's original vocals spanning two octaves, from B₃ to F₅.[37] Performed in the vocal range of a baritenor, the vocalist performs "a high and sustained note" while singing the ballad's final line “If I can’t love her, let the world be done with me”,[17][31] a lyric Paul Lockwood of the Northwest Herald described as "heart-wrenching".[47] Lyrically, the protagonist wonders who he can love "If [he] can't love her".[48] Beginning "And in my twisted face there's not the slightest trace of anything that even hints of kindness", the song's lyrics convey "hope and hopelessness, the pain and beauty of love, and the anguish of loss."[24] Entertainment Weekly's Clark Collis wrote that the song is about "How am I going to fall in love with her?".[49]

The song has received positive reviews from critics, who praised Menken and Rice's songwriting, as well as the performances of Mann and subsequent actors. Variety's Jeremy Gerard reviewed "If I Can't Love Her" as Rice's "best lyric".[16] Also contributing to Variety, Jerome Weeks lauded the ballad, writing that Menken and Rice's efforts particularly "shine" during "If I Can't Love Her",[44] while Tom Jacobs opined that "If I Can't Love Her" "makes the strongest impact" among Menken and Rice's new material, complimenting Mann's "passionate rendition".[6] Reviewing Justin Glaser's rendition at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, John Berger of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser wrote that the actor "brings Act I to a stirring and passionate close with 'If I Can’t Love Her'".[50] The Times-Picayune critic Theodore P. Mahne wrote that Jason Kyle Dowies "solid vocals burst forth with power and passion".[51] The Greenville News critic Paul Hyde called Chase Wolfe's version at the South Carolina Children's Theatre "impassioned",[52] while Bob Curtright of The Wichita Eagle wrote that Thaddeus Pearson's rendition "is particularly powerful and heartbreaking".[53]

Other critics have commended ways in which the song expands the Beast's character. Melissa Taylor of the Houston Chronicle believes that the song offers the Beast "a gloomily relatable interiority" that the film otherwise lacked.[54] Reviewing a performance at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Boca Raton Magazine wrote that "If I Can't Love Her" provides "deeper emotional understanding to the sorrows of both [the Beast and Belle]", while calling it a beautiful conclusion to the first act.[55] Bruce Miller of the Sioux City Journal opined that the number provides the character with his "best roar".[33] Andra Abramson of DC Metro Theater Arts identified "If I Can't Love Her" as the show's only original song that does not "pale in comparison to the familiar songs from the movie."[5] Conversely, Sean Daly of the Tampa Bay Times dismissed the song as a "hookless yearner",[56] while the Edmonton Journal deemed it "generic" despite its "quivering intensity", writing "the Phantom might easily have taken [it] on, if he felt like padding out his stage time."[57]

Singer Josh Groban covered "If I Can't Love Her" for his album Stages (2015).

Singer and actor James Graeme covered "If I Can't Love Her" with the National Symphony Orchestra for the compilation album The Very Best Of Broadway Musicals (2002).[58][59] In 2004, actor Ron Raines included his rendition of the ballad on his album So In Love With Broadway (2004).[60][61] Singer Josh Groban covered the song and included it on deluxe versions of his studio album Stages (2015), sold exclusively at Target.[62][63] The track is cited as a "Target exclusive track".[64] Actor Kane Alexander covered "If I Can't Love Her" for his Broadway-themed studio album Kane Alexander: Different Stages (The Broadway Album) (2017).[65][46]

The song was nearly incorporated into the 2017 live-action remake of the animated film.[66] Menken and director Bill Condon had originally wanted to use "If I Can't Love Her" but ultimately concluded that the film lacked an appropriate moment at which the Beast could sing it, determining that the character could only sing after he had released Belle.[9] Although Menken and Rice had considered re-writing the song's lyrics to suit the scene, they ultimately decided to write an entirely new ballad instead,[9] which became "Evermore". Condon explained that "Onstage, you can have a character express his feelings for three minutes in a beautiful, powerful song" whereas "In a movie, that character has to be somewhere different at the end of the song from where he starts, the story has to keep on."[9] The filmmakers also determined that the original song was not suitable for the film's three-act structure,[10] as the Beast's solo occurs later in the film than it does in the musical.[67] Menken joked that "If I Can't Love Her" was written "specifically for the act break of a Broadway show; in a film, people aren't going out to go to the bathroom and get drinks."[3] Menken maintains that he would have included "If I Can't Love Her" in the film if given the option.[67] Comparing the two ballads, actor Dan Stevens, who portrays Beast in the remake and recorded "Evermore", wrote that the new song is about "I’ve fallen in love with her, and now she’s buggered off, woe is me" whereas "If I Can't Love Her" muses "How am I going to fall in love with her?".[49] Critics consider "Evermore" to be a replacement for "If I Can't Love Her",[68] to which it was compared. Maria Sciullo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote that the new song "lacks the sheer power of 'If I Can’t Love Her,'" despite being "more upbeat in spirit".[69] ReelViews' James Berardinelli called "Evermore" "solid, although perhaps not as good as 'If I Can’t Love Her'."[70]

After debuting in the musical, "If I Can't Love Her" proved to be very popular among fans.[48] "If I Can't Love Her" is considered to be one of Mann's signature songs.[71] Since becoming a professor of musical theatre at Western Carolina University, Mann has observed that "If I Can't Love Her" is one of three songs from his stage career regarded as standards for male students due to how much his role in Beauty and the Beast resonated among fans.[71]