Cut Songs

Too Much For One Heart

Song begins around 1:02

     This song is a big solo that was supposed to go near Please, the number in Act 2 where John and Kim speak about how Chris has come for her. It was supposed to be sung by Kim about her son Tam, and how much he reminds her of Chris. It's a beautiful song, and the melody can still be heard throughout the score of the show. It didn't tell the audience anything new about Kim's character though, and it didn't progress the plot. Kim is basically just pontificating on a point the audience already knows about for three and a half minutes, and the song was cut for timing purposes.

The Sacred Bird

     The Sacred Bird was the original finale for the show. It's essentially just her final lullaby to Tam, where she sings that there's no reason for him to cry for her, for his life will be better with his father. She compares herself to "the sacred bird" (a phoenix) which, despite dying, will be reborn through her act of love. I think the song itself was rather effective, but at this point the audience doesn't know that Kim is going to shoot herself, and this number gave them too much time to figure it out. The number is still present to an extent, it's just drastically cut down. The number is present in its entirety on the London Cast Recording.

Little God of My Heart

                                                                             A link to the song

     This was another alternate version of the Finale, and the one used for most of the Broadway run. It disappeared around the time that the touring versions began. This one was really overt with the whole "she kills herself thing," and in my opinion sounds a little harsh for a final goodbye to your son. It too was dropped in favor the the current finale.

Kim's Escape

     This number is something of an enigma to me because it's not present on any recordings of the show, nor do any readily available bootlegs exist. It's present in the original vocal score of the show, but absent from the London Cast Recording, so it must have been dropped pretty early on. It's a short aria for Kim after she kills Thuy that went between This is the Hour and If You Want to Die in Bed. It contained a short reprise of I Still Believe, as well as some music not heard in the rest of the score. It also showed her resolving to find Chris in America, and her making the decision to track down the Engineer. People who have heard it have said that it's pretty.

Update: The song was cut early in the previews, but there is a bootleg of Lea Salonga singing it.