Mike’s Favorite Original Songs of the Decade: #24 – “A Million Dreams,” from The Greatest Showman

24. “A Million Dreams,” from The Greatest Showman

What an incredible song this is. The ‘dreamer’ song, perfectly introducing the character and taking us from him as a child to him as an adult. That chorus is really what drives the song — it captures the spirit of invention and creativity and shows how infectious it can be. Because the song is also a bit of a seduction. The character is talking about all these ideas he has, but also saying, “Come, share this with me, we can do this.” And it’s just a fantastically structured song, too (that again, would be perfect on the stage): the kid talking about his dreams, then inviting his crush to share them with him, then right as we get to another chorus, he’s an adult, which is just a perfect way to bring the main actor into the film/show. And then we get into the duet, as the two characters are now married and are doing this all together. It’s just a really incredible piece of work.