Waiting in the Wings

Waiting In the Wings
Composer	Alan Menken
Lyrics	Glenn Slater
Performers	Cassandra (Eden Espinosa)
Chronology
← Previous	Buddy
Next →	Livin' The Dream
Video

Waiting In the Wings is a song sung by Cassandra in the Season 2 episode, "Rapunzel and the Great Tree".

Later, it is revealed that she used to sing this song as a girl, expressing her loneliness at keeping the cottage where she and her mother lived until she was taken in by the loving Captain of the Royal Guard at the time of Princess Rapunzel's kidnapping.

In "Rapunzel's Return" a reprise of it is sung alternately, then together, by Cassandra and her younger self.

Lyrics

Guess we all are born with parts to play;
Some of us are stars and some are just in the way.
I know I was meant for glory,
But that's never what my story brings—
And yet I keep on waiting.

When you have the passion and the drive,
You expect your moment center-stage to arrive.
I show up with heart a-blazing,
Ready to achieve amazing things,
But I'm left waiting in the wings.

I hear my cue
And yet I'm kept there waiting—
Know what to do
And still I stand there waiting.
It's always someone else who sings,
While I'm left waiting in the wings...

And so I keep on keepin' on.
My chances come and then I blink and they're gone—
Always overlooked unfairly,
While pretending that it barely stings,
But it stings, yes, it stings
And

I'll shed no tears!
I'll only keep on waiting.
If no one cheers,
Well, I can keep on waiting.
Who cares how loud the silence rings?
You'll find me waiting in the wings.

Reprise

Toddler Cassandra
Guess by now I oughta know my place:
Do your humble duty with a smile on your face!
Mother knows how much I love her,
But she's always doing other things,
So I'll keep waiting in the wings.

Cassandra

I craved so much
And yet I kept on waiting—
One glance, one touch—
And I just kept on waiting...

Both

And, when it came,
It came with strings...

Cassandra

So I kept waiting in the wings.

Trivia

• It is later revealed to have been a song from Cassandra's very lonely childhood as a four-year-old toddler, a tune that was played on her favorite music box.
• An instrumental reprise plays during Plus Est En Vous when Cassandra goes on her journey to travel the world and discover her destiny.
• The way Lance is sleeping during this music video is similar to the way Rapunzel's awkward sleeping position in The Return of Stronhgbow and it also references the way Anna sleeps in Frozen.