Anywhere But Here
Recording Artist: Bryan Adams
Writers: Jim Vallance
Bryan Adams
Date Written: September 2017, New York
Released: February 19, 2022 (Bryan Adams YouTube channel)
Album: Bryan Adams - Pretty Woman: The Musical (March 11, 2022)
Audio:
 
Bryan Adams: all vocals and instruments
 
Produced by Bryan Adams. Recorded and mixed by Hayden Watson at The Warehouse Studios, Vancouver, Canada. Mastered by Bob Ludwig.
Comments:
 

Samantha Barks as Vivian Ward

As newcomers to Broadway, Bryan and I were on a steep learning curve.

Among other things, we were alerted to the importance of the "I Want" song, which traditionally appears early in Act One. This is where the lead character reveals their motivating desire, setting the emotional parameters for the rest of the show. Examples of "I Want" songs from other musicals include "The Wizard and I" (from "Wizard") and "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" (from "My Fair Lady").

Writing an appropriate "I Want" song for "Pretty Woman" presented a significant challenge. Over a two-year period we wrote three different songs for this scene before arriving at "Anywhere But Here".
Back-story:
"Pretty Woman: The Musical", opened in Chicago and New York in 2018, Hamburg Germany in 2019, London England in 2020 and Milan Italy in 2021.

A USA touring production hit the road in 2021, stopping in every major American city and continuing into 2022, and a UK cast toured Engand, Ireland and Scotland for most of 2024.

Bryan Adams and I spent three years writing the 21 songs that appear in the production ... a typical time-line for a Broadway show. A "cast album" was recorded in New York in 2018 with nine musicians and 19 singers.

The version above is Bryan's interpretation of "Anywhere But Here", recorded 2021-2022 at the Warehouse Studio in Vancouver Canada.

Lyrics:

I look around and what I see
Is you don't belong here, it's clear to me
What have you become
You're really not this girl

There's more to this, so what's it gonna take
To get you off the street, when do you get a break?
It's not what you wanted
This is not your world

I know where you'd choose to go
If you could disappear

Anywhere but here
Anywhere but here
You can feel somethin's comin'
You long to be free
You just wanna be
Anywhere but here

This sidewalk doesn't suit your soul
It's time to make some changes and take control
Find some room to move
Feel the wind in your hair

A clear blue sky and air to breathe
You know it's time to fly, and I believe
That there's so much more
And it's waiting for you out there

I can see where you wanna be
And it couldn't be more clear

Anywhere but here
Anywhere but here
You're waiting for somethin'
It's easy to see
You just wanna be
Anywhere but here

No more landlord, no more rent
Just a place of your own where you'd be content
To share it all with someone
Who'd share it all with you
I believe somehow some day this will all come true

Anywhere but here
Anywhere but here
You can feel somethin's comin'
You long to be free
You just wanna be

Anywhere but here
Anywhere but here
You're waiting for somethin'
It's easy to see
You just wanna be

Anywhere but here