"For Good" is the second to last song in Wicked. It is sung as a duet between Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda, as a farewell to each other.

Context

The song is performed near the end of the musical, as the two are bidding each other farewell. Immediately prior to the song, Elphaba gives Glinda the Grimmerie and tells her that it is now up to her to continue Elphaba's cause. After this song, Elphaba leaves and is supposedly melted by Dorothy (this is later revealed to be an elaborate scheme to fool the citizens of Oz into thinking she was dead so they would stop hunting her). At the song's conclusion, Fiyero, transformed into "The Scarecrow" by one of Elphaba's spells gone awry, discovers Elphaba and they run away together.

It is the climax and one of the most well-known songs of the show and is reprised as part of the show's finale.

Lyrics

The song's lyrics concern how both Elphaba and Glinda have been changed by their friendship with each other. Glinda begins by saying that, while she doesn't know if it is true that people come into each other's lives for a reason, "I know I'm who I am today because I knew you." Similarly, Elphaba tells Glinda that "whatever way our stories end, I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend." Elphaba also asks Glinda to forgive her for anything she might have done wrong, to which Glinda replies that "there's blame to share", but both agree that "none of it seems to matter anymore". Schwartz commented after the show premiered that for the opening of the song, he asked his daughter what she would say if she would never see her best friend again, and her answer became the first verse of "For Good".

The lyrics rely on a play of words of the phrase "for good," which is used both to mean "forever" and "for the better."

Lyrics

Elphaba:
I’m limited
(spoken) Just look at me
(sung) I’m limited
And just look at you
You can do all I couldn’t do
Glinda
So now it’s up to you
(spoken) For both of us
(sung) Now it’s up to you

Glinda:
I’ve heard it said
That people come into our lives
For a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led to those
Who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
But I don’t know if I believe that’s true
But I know I’m who I am today
Because I knew you

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a Sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

Elphaba:
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learn from you
You’ll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have rewritten mine
By being my friend

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind of the sea
Like a seed dropped by a sky bird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

Glinda:
Because I knew you

Both:
I have been changed for good

Elphaba:
And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I’ve done you’ve blamed me for

Glinda:
But then, I guess
We know there’s blame to share

Both:
And none of it seems to matter anymore

Glinda: (Elphaba:)
Like a comet pulled from orbit (Like a ship blown off its mooring)
As it passes a Sun (By a wind of the sea)
Like a stream that meets a boulder (Like a seed dropped by a bird)
Halfway through the wood (In the wood)

Both:
Who can say if I’ve been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been changed for the better

Glinda:
And because I knew you

Elphaba:
Because I knew you

Both:
Because I knew you
I have been changed for good