Stephen Schwartz probably had no idea his musical Wicked would have 16 straight years run on Broadway and a return to Broadway immediately after theaters were shut down in 2020. Composed in 2003 after many successful stage and movie musicals, his twist of the Wizard of Oz story took the work by storm. “Couldn’t be Happier” is sung by Glinda, the “good witch” who has everything she could ever want. This short ballade in E-flat features constant meter changes and nearly incomplete phrases. Listening, one understands quickly the compositional style betrays her words. Schwartz wrote, “Uncharacteristically, I have found I am often writing lyrics before music on this project. Perhaps that is because the story of Wicked is so intricate and complex, I have to be sure each song is telling not just a story, but the exact right story.”

I couldn't be happier
No, I couldn’t be happier
Though it is, I admit 
the tiniest bit unlike I anticipated
But I couldn’t be happier
Simply couldn’t be happier … Well, not “simply”
‘Cause getting your dreams
It’s strange, but it seems
A little, well, complicated
There’s a kind of a soft of…cost
There’s a couple of things get…lost
There are bridges you cross and didn’t know
You crossed until you crossed
And if that joy, that thrill,
Doesn’t thrill you like you think it will…
Still with this perfect finale, 
The cheers and the ballyhoo,
Who wouldn’t be happier?
So I couldn’t be happier.
Because happy is what happens 
When all your dreams come true
Well, isn’t it?
Happy is what happens
When all your dreams come true