It started as a song from a 1950s musical. Decades later, Barbra picked it up in the studio and turned it into something else: a message to herself about change, hope, and the feeling that “something” big is still on the way.
On paper, it is just a song from West Side Story, written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim in 1957. In her hands, it becomes a small time machine. You can hear the young Barbra who once sang show tunes in tiny New York clubs, and the grown woman who has already conquered Hollywood and pop. Both of them live inside those 2 minutes and 56 seconds.
It was never a safe choice. “Something’s Coming” was originally sung by Tony, a hopeful young man waiting for his life to change. Barbra takes that nervous, electric feeling and makes it universal.
Something’s Coming
Years after that tight, 3-minute studio burst on The Broadway Album, Streisand proved “Something’s Coming” was not just a one-off experiment, but a thread she would carry into a new century. When she built her massive Timeless concerts in 2000, she chose this same song to help open the show, right after a tender intro and “You’ll Never Know.” Surrounded by full orchestra, lights, and a sold-out arena, the lyric about change and destiny suddenly feels even bigger.
Barbra Streisand – Timeless – Live in Concert – Opening, You’ll Never Know & Something’s Coming
Before Barbra turned “Something’s Coming” into her own quiet message about change, it belonged to someone else. In 1957, it was Tony’s song in West Side Story, sung by a young man who feels, deep in his bones, that his life is about to flip overnight. The tempo is quicker, the orchestra is raw and jumpy, and the mood feels like New York itself is buzzing around him.