It seems strange that learning to give and receive love should be so difficult for some of us—you look around at the couples who were high school sweethearts, they weren’t prickly and standoffish, keeping everything and everyone at an ironic arm’s length, why were you? Surrendering to the challenges of love—it’s essential work, maybe the essential work. Sondheim lists the reasons why not: feeling smothered, having to share, having to bend—and then halfway through, turns the song on the lines “someone who’ll always be there, as frightened as you, of being alive,” into an invitation to love.

Stephen Sondheim, “Being Alive,” from the musical Company, 1970. Performed by Raúl Esparza and the cast of the 2006 Broadway revival.

This post is part of Music 100, a love letter to songs. 100 words on 100 songs in 100 days, running from Groundhog Day to May 31, 2025.

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