"When I Grow Up" was the first song that Tim Minchin wrote for Matilda, attempting to find a tone for the entire musical, drawing inspiration from his own child. He also drew inspiration from a childhood memory in which the adults on his grandfather's farm would fiddle with the padlock to a gate, whereas Minchin went out of his way to hurdle the gate, promising to himself to never open the farm gate.
Synopsis
The song "sees children and adults flying high on swings" as they explain when it will mean to grow up. Even the adults feel they haven't yet grown up. New York Magazine notes that in the song, "they dream of being old enough to handle the burdens that life, with its rude sense of humor, has already given them". The New York Times writes "Matilda’s schoolmates sing of a time when they’ll be strong enough to carry the burdens forced upon them and to flush out monsters from under the bed. Grown-ups know that some burdens crush even the broadest shoulders, that there will always be some kind of monster to worry about, and that happy endings are at best only provisional."
Critical reception
described the song as "the exuberant second act opener", yet noted "it’s impossible to miss the poignancy of inchoate feelings of loss and hope flooding beneath the surface". The Hollywood Reporter wrote "Only the most chronic misanthrope could fail to get misty-eyed when these mistreated kids glide back and forth on long rope swings singing “When I Grow Up.” That song’s soul-stirring mix of yearning and escape encapsulates what makes Matilda such a joy." New York Magazine wrote "It must be a relief for the young actors — I know it is for the audience — when at the beginning of act two they get to sing a lovely, simple, Beatles-like tune called “When I Grow Up” while flying on rope swings high above the stage". The New York Times noted many adults said they cried during this song, "the show’s most conventionally pretty number". New Jersey Newsroom described it as "jubilant". Chicago Tribute said the song was the "most remarkable moment" of the show, "simple", and "gorgeous". TimeOut wrote "“When I Grow Up” is a particularly affecting, wistful number that captures kids aching for adulthood, blissfully ignorant of its pains and burdens.". Entertainment Weekly named it "the second-act show-stopper", and said the song "takes a simple, round-like melody and artfully sketches a pint-size perspective on the supposedly absolute freedoms of adulthood". Out named it "the barn-raiser song".
