When Stephen and I discussed Wicked, particularly the song "What is This Feeling," he suggested an amalgamation of influences, possibly from singer-songwriter Sting and from the musical Chess - music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (of ABBA) and lyrics by Tim Rice.

Carol de Giere: ...You've talked about the "mishmash" of influences.

Stephen Schwartz: All this stuff is around in your head, and I never know how it's all going to reconstitute and come out.

...I'm a huge fan of Sting and he was very very influential in many ways on my writing. "Stranger to the Rain" in Children of Eden is so influenced by Sting. There's a song by Sting he does with the Police (The Very Best of... Sting & the Police - Amazon.com link) [new browser window] called "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic." But again it's not like he ever used those chord changes or that particular rhythm but it's the sensibility.