| "If I Can't Love Her" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Terrence Mann | |
| from the album Beauty and the Beast: Original Broadway Cast Recording | |
| Released | April 26, 1994 |
| Recorded | 1993–1994 |
| Length | 4:06 |
| Label | Walt Disney |
| Composer(s) | Alan Menken |
| Lyricist(s) | Tim Rice |
| Producer(s) |
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"If I Can't Love Her" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Tim Rice for the musical Beauty and the Beast (1994), a stage adaptation of Disney's 1991 animated film of the same name. Sung by the Beast after he frightens Belle away from the castle, "If I Can't Love Her" details the characters' struggles to love her. The song was first performed by American actor Terrence Mann, who both originated the role of the Beast on Broadway and recorded it for the show's original cast album.
Since the Beast barely sings in the original film, Menken and Rice wrote "If I Can't Love Her" to give the Beast a proper solo number, as well as offer him character development and an opportunity to express his feelings about both Belle and his situation. The song borrows musical motifs from some of the score Menken had written for the animated film. A melancholy power ballad more operatic in style than the show's other songs, "If I Can't Love Her" is a lament about love both desired and lost. The song is later reprised after the Beast frees Belle and allows her to return home. Upon premiering in Beauty and the Beast, "If I Can't Love Her" received mostly positive reviews from theatre critics, who praised Menken and Rice's songwriting, and Mann's vocal performance.
"If I Can't Love Her" has since been covered by several artists, including singer Josh Groban. "If I Can't Love Her" was nearly included in the 2017 live-action remake of the film but was ultimately omitted because the songwriters deemed the ballad unsuitable for the film's pacing, instead replacing it with an original song for the Beast entitled "Evermore".