Fun Home’s songs tell cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s story through three versions of her, Small Alison, Medium Alison and adult Alison, with highlights like “Ring of Keys”, “Changing My Major” and “Days and Days”. Here is every song in order, who sings it and what it reveals about Alison and her father, Bruce.
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Fun Home has music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, based on Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic memoir. It premiered at The Public Theater in 2013, then opened on Broadway at Circle in the Square on April 19, 2015, where it won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score (IBDB). Tesori and Kron were the first all-female writing team to win the Tony for Best Original Score. The show runs about 1 hour 45 minutes with no intermission (Playbill).
Content note: Fun Home deals with coming out, a closeted parent and a death that the memoir treats as a probable suicide. We describe the story plainly but without graphic detail.
What songs are in Fun Home?
Because the songs are woven tightly into the scenes, the original Broadway program did not print a song list. The best guide is the cast album, whose track list follows the Broadway running order. Some tracks are full songs, and others are sung scenes named after their first line. Here is the order, with who sings and what each moment is about:
| # | Song or scene | Who sings | What it’s about |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | It All Comes Back (Opening) | Small Alison, Bruce, Alison, company | Adult Alison starts drawing her memories of her father |
| 2 | “Sometimes my father appeared to enjoy having children…” | Alison, Bruce, Helen | Bruce’s obsession with restoring the family’s old house |
| 3 | Welcome to Our House on Maple Avenue | Helen, Alison, Small Alison, Christian, John, Bruce, Roy | The family scrambles to look perfect for a visitor |
| 4 | Not Too Bad | Medium Alison | Alison arrives at college and tries to sound fine |
| 5 | “Just had a good talk with Dad…” | Alison, Medium Alison, Bruce, Pete, Small Alison, John, Christian | Short scene linking the time periods |
| 6 | Come to the Fun Home | John, Christian, Small Alison | The kids make up a TV-style ad for the family funeral home |
| 7 | Helen’s Etude | Alison, Roy, Bruce, Small Alison, Helen, John, Christian, Medium Alison | Helen practices piano while the household’s secrets play out around her |
| 8 | “Thanks for the care package…” | Medium Alison, Joan, Small Alison, Bruce | Alison’s letter home leaves out what matters |
| 9 | Party Dress | Small Alison, Bruce, Medium Alison, Alison | Bruce makes Small Alison wear a dress |
| 10 | Changing My Major | Medium Alison | Alison’s joyful, awkward morning after her first night with Joan |
| 11 | “I leapt out of the closet…” | Alison, Small Alison, Bruce, Helen | Alison comes out to her parents by letter |
| 12 | Maps | Alison | How small her father’s world really was |
| 13 | “Read a book…” | Bruce, Small Alison, Alison, Helen | Bruce’s reply is about literature, not about her |
| 14 | Raincoat of Love | Bobby Jeremy, company | A sunny ’70s TV-family fantasy |
| 15 | “Clueless in New York…” | Alison, Small Alison, Bruce | A family trip to New York City |
| 16 | Pony Girl | Bruce | Bruce sings Small Alison a lullaby before slipping out |
| 17 | “A flair for the dramatic…” | Alison, Joan, Medium Alison, Bruce | Alison’s parents respond to her news |
| 18 | Ring of Keys | Small Alison, Alison | Small Alison sees a butch delivery woman and recognizes herself |
| 19 | “Let me introduce you to my gay dad…” | Joan, Medium Alison, Alison, Bruce, Small Alison | Medium Alison learns the truth about Bruce |
| 20 | “Shortly after we were married…” | Helen, Medium Alison | Helen begins to tell her side |
| 21 | Days and Days | Helen | Helen on the marriage she gave her life to |
| 22 | “You ready to go for that drive?…” | Bruce, Alison | Father and daughter’s last outing |
| 23 | Telephone Wire | Alison, Bruce | Alison tries and fails to say the important thing in the car |
| 24 | “It was great to have you home…” | Bruce, Alison | The goodbye |
| 25 | Edges of the World | Bruce | Bruce falls apart in his final moments |
| 26 | “This is what I have of you…” | Alison | Alison accepts what she knows and doesn’t know about him |
| 27 | Flying Away (Finale) | Alison, Medium Alison, Small Alison | All three Alisons together, in a remembered moment of balance |
Track titles in quotation marks are sung scenes named after their opening words, not standalone songs. That is why “how many songs are in Fun Home?” has no single answer.
Who sings each song in Fun Home?
- Alison (adult, 43, the narrator) is on stage almost the whole time, drawing. Her big solos are “Maps” and the final “This is what I have of you…” section, and she sings “Telephone Wire” with Bruce. Beth Malone created the role.
- Medium Alison (19, a college student) has “Not Too Bad” and “Changing My Major”. Emily Skeggs played her on Broadway.
- Small Alison (a young child) leads “Ring of Keys” and joins “Come to the Fun Home”. Sydney Lucas played her Off-Broadway and on Broadway.
- Bruce Bechdel, her father, an English teacher and funeral director, sings “Pony Girl” and “Edges of the World”. Michael Cerveris won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical.
- Helen Bechdel, her mother, sings “Days and Days” and anchors “Helen’s Etude”. Judy Kuhn created the role.
- Christian and John, Alison’s brothers, join Small Alison in “Come to the Fun Home”.
- Joan is Medium Alison’s first girlfriend. Roy is one actor playing several young men in Bruce’s life, including Bobby Jeremy in “Raincoat of Love”.
Why are there three Alisons in Fun Home?
The memoir is told by a grown-up cartoonist looking back, and the musical puts that device on stage. Adult Alison, at 43, is trying to draw her way to the truth about her father. Medium Alison and Small Alison are the memories she is drawing. Because all three can be on stage together, the show can cut between childhood, college and the present in a single scene, and the grown-up can watch herself not understand something yet.
The three Alisons also give the show its shape. Small Alison’s story is about noticing who she is, Medium Alison’s is about saying it out loud, and adult Alison’s is about what that cost her father. They finally sing together in “Flying Away”. For a broader look at the show and its family, read our Fun Home: Ode to Family overview.
What is Ring of Keys about?
In “Ring of Keys”, Small Alison is in a diner with her father when a butch delivery woman walks in. Alison is stunned. She has never seen a woman who looks like that, and she recognizes something of herself without having the words for it yet. The song is famous for its halting, half-finished phrases, which capture a child’s wonder. It became the breakout moment of the show when Sydney Lucas sang it on the 2015 Tony Awards broadcast (NPR). We explain the song line by line, without reproducing the lyrics, in Ring of Keys lyrics meaning.
What is Days and Days about?
“Days and Days” is Helen’s only big solo, and it lands late in the show. After Medium Alison learns her father has had relationships with men, Helen tells her what the marriage has really been like: years of keeping the house, the children and the appearances going while her own life slipped away. She ends by urging her daughter not to give her own days away the same way. It is quiet and devastating, and it reframes everything Helen has done in the background up to that point. Read more in our post on “Days and Days” from Fun Home.
The third song fans search for is Medium Alison’s “Changing My Major”, a giddy, nervous love song about Joan that is as funny as it is tender. Our “Changing My Major” post covers it.
Which Fun Home recording should I listen to?
There are two original-cast albums. The first, recorded with the Off-Broadway cast at The Public Theater, came out in 2014. The Original Broadway Cast Recording (2015) follows the Broadway running order used in our table, has Emily Skeggs as Medium Alison, and was nominated for the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. Start with the Broadway album if you want the version that won the Tonys. Because so much of Fun Home is sung dialogue, the album works best heard in order, like a radio play.
If you like song guides that follow a story from start to finish, try our Rent songs explained next.
Want to play these songs yourself? Helen literally practices piano on stage in “Helen’s Etude”, and Tesori’s score is full of piano-led ballads. Pianoforall teaches chords and accompaniment patterns so you can start playing songs like “Ring of Keys” from a chord chart. Try Pianoforall.
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Frequently asked questions
How many songs are in Fun Home?
The Broadway cast album has 27 tracks, but several are short sung scenes rather than full songs. There are about 15 standalone numbers, depending on how you count.
Who wrote the music for Fun Home?
Jeanine Tesori wrote the music, and Lisa Kron wrote the book and lyrics. Both won 2015 Tony Awards for the show.
Is Fun Home based on a true story?
Yes. It is adapted from Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic memoir about growing up in her family’s funeral home in Pennsylvania, her coming out, and her father Bruce, who was secretly gay and died a few months after she came out.
Does Fun Home have an intermission?
No. Fun Home is performed in one act, without an intermission.
Is Fun Home suitable for teens?
That depends on the teen and the production. The show deals frankly with sexuality, a closeted parent and a death, though it isn’t graphic, so check the age guidance for the production you plan to see.
