Unironically Holding Space With The Lyrics Of Defying Gravity

A silly internet meme hints at a deeper truth

I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but people have been taking the lyrics of “Defying Gravity” and really holding space with that.

A couple weeks ago, in the middle of the Wicked press tour, a reporter from Out.com mentioned the above fact (Observation? Wishful thinking? Fantasy?) to Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. This resulted in an interaction I will never find the words to properly describe. It's a perfect distillation of the overly earnest and intense theater kid mindset. If you haven’t seen it already, take a look for yourself.

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An entire memeplex sprouted up around this moment. For days, you couldn’t go more than a couple of swipes without seeing jokes about holding space, the lyrics to “Defying Gravity” and/or the realities of working in queer media. The resulting Know Your Meme page did a fantastic job of collecting the best examples.

But here’s the thing. Even though this discussion was patently absurd, I knew exactly what they were talking about. What’s more, I totally agreed with the sentiment.

If you’re not overly familiar with Wicked, I’ll do my best to spare you any unnecessary details. You mostly need to know that “Defying Gravity” is the Act One curtain drop song in the original Broadway musical, and it closes out the film that’s just been released.

“Defying Gravity” is an incredibly moving, deeply powerful song about self-actualization. In the beginning of the movie, Elphaba (The Wicked Witch Of The West from the original Wizard Of Oz) sings in “The Wizard And I” about wanting nothing more than to meet and work with the great Wizard himself. By the end, disillusioned after discovering the truth of who the Wizard is and what his aims really are, she proclaims in “Defying Gravity” that “No Wizard that there is or was is ever gonna bring me down.” Within the span of two and a half hours, she goes from needing the Wizard to validate her existence to saying “FUCK the Wizard” and believing in her own abilities. That’s a hell of a character arc.

While the lyrics in question are about a green witch, they can apply to any struggles the listener is facing. I saw Wicked on Broadway a couple years ago, back when my comedy career was entering its death rattle stage and I was grasping for motivation in any place that I could. I heard lyrics like “It’s time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap” and “I’m through accepting limits ‘cause someone says they’re so” and felt personally spoken to, so much so that I spent most of the final verse trying (and failing) not to cry in front of my family.

I went to see the Wicked movie over Thanksgiving break with my mom and wife. This time, I was emotionally prepared. I mostly kept it together during the final song, shedding only a few thug tears, but the rest of the theater was not so lucky. Nearly everyone in the room was sobbing by the time the credits rolled.

That’s when something struck me about “Defying Gravity.” It’s not a sad song by any means. It’s actually extremely positive. And yet, it regularly moves people to tears. Why is that?

I’m sure some of it comes from the way the music is composed. I don’t know anything about music theory, but the way the song sonically expands as it moves along seems to play a sizable role in its impact. It emotionally primes the listener for the message that’s being put forward. But the lyrics are doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. It’s Elphaba’s unrepentant self-affirmation in the face of failure and despair that moves the audience in this manner. We see her stand tall, we feel inspired to do the same, and the resulting burst of positive energy brings up these intense emotions that result in tears.

To paraphrase Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth - People don’t pay to see an artist or a particular work of art. They pay to see someone believe in themselves.

This is why I found the reaction to the press junket interaction so perplexing. Yes, the video clip was ridiculous and cringe and unintentionally hilarious. It felt like a discarded sketch from I Think You Should Leave. But it touched on something true and honest, and every extremely online theater kid and Gay Twitter power poster who engaged with this meme should know that better than anyone else.

When asked in an interview with Variety what she meant by “holding space”, Out.com’s Tracy Gilchrist said “‘Holding space’ is being physically, emotionally and mentally present with someone or something. For me, it means being in the moment, not being distracted and feeling something on a cellular level.” If you’re the type of person who’s prone to tweeting or making TikToks about the Wicked press tour, it’s safe to say that you’re precisely the target audience for this movie. You probably know the ins and outs of “Defying Gravity” quite well. I bet you’ve listened to that song intently throughout your life and have “held space” with the lyrics and music many, many times. They might have even helped you through some tough moments, and as a result maintain an important spot within your emotional landscape. Getting some jokes off is all well and good, but don’t pretend for a second that you can’t relate to anything going on in that interview, including embarrassing yourself in front of others with your love of musical theater.

I do think joy and understanding were behind a lot of the posts about “Defying Gravity.” People wanted to express affirmation and alignment with those feelings. The problem is that the internet isn’t a great place to showcase true sincerity. The best we can do is sincerity masked as ironic hyperbole. So the next time you have the impulse to do something tongue-in-cheek, try and find the real emotion underneath. If you’re going to, as Gilchrist says, “[feel] something on a cellular level” you have to engage with it directly. You can’t hold space with irony. Trust your instincts, close your eyes and leap.