00:00I want to hold your hand
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the musical numbers from the Fox show that still give us goosebumps to this day.
00:14Let's celebrate, remember, a year in the life of a ranch
00:21Number 10. I Know Where I've Been
00:23Recurring performer Alex Newell returns to McKinley High in splendid fashion.
00:28There's a light, burning bright, showing me the way
00:37As Unique, Newell played the first transgender character on the show, and returned to the show when Coach Beast underwent his own transition.
00:46Unique performs I Know Where I've Been from the musical Hairspray, a barn-burning anthem of social progress despite struggle.
00:53I pray the answers up ahead
00:59Cause I know where I've been
01:04Newell's soaring vocals sails over the song, highlighting its themes of persevering through hatred and historical wrongs.
01:11Most poignant, though, is that Newell is backed by a choir made up completely of trans people.
01:17There's a struggle that we have yet to win
01:25There's a lot of history and struggle on that stage, but most importantly, a lot of strength.
01:31Number 9. To Sir With Love
01:34But how do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
01:43Having spent the entire first season dreaming of success at a regional competition, McKinley High's New Directions came in dead last.
01:52Knowing this means the Glee Club will be shuttered for good, the group sings one last song to their fearless leader, Mr. Schuster.
01:59To Sir With Love
02:06Taken from the movie it's named after, To Sir With Love is their moving thank you to him.
02:11Through teary eyes, they're able to sing about just how much his mentorship has meant to them.
02:17A friend who taught me right from wrong and weak from strong, that's a lot to learn
02:25By the end, they're crying, he's crying, we're crying, even hard-hearted gym teacher Sue Sylvester is crying.
02:33Number 8. Pure Imagination
02:36Sue Sylvester may always have it in for Will Schuster and his merry band of musical misfits, but even she can't deny them after doing her this solid.
02:51When her sister passes away, she is unable to get a handle on her grief.
02:55But the Glee Club, whose existence she's constantly threatening, makes a special performance in honor of her sister.
03:02What we'll see will defy explanation
03:12Their take on pure imagination is a sonic treat. With all its beautifully layered harmonies and genuine beauty, it's what Glee does best.
03:21Out of context, it's a delight. In the context of the episode, it's devastating.
03:27There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination
03:40Number 7. Teenage Dream
03:42This is a song that I sang the first time I ever met the love of my life. So Kurt, this is for you.
03:49In a heartstring-tugging callback to the day Blaine and Kurt first met, this acoustic reprise of the Katy Perry song that brought them together is so perfect and so unfair.
03:59By season 4, things were getting rocky in the show's core relationships. Blaine had cheated on Kurt, and this stripped-down version of Teenage Dream was his soul-bearing confession.
04:10Darren Criss always had a voice like butter, but here, he trades in his usual velvety smooth style for something more raw and aching.
04:26It's a far cry from the effervescent version he sang with the Dalton Academy Warblers.
04:32We can dance until we die. You and I will be young forever.
04:41Number 6. I'll Stand By You
04:43The members of New Directions are tasked with choosing ballads to sing.
04:47Finn Hudson, nervous about becoming a father, or so he thinks, chooses I'll Stand By You by The Pretenders.
04:54Nothing you confess could make me love you less. I'll stand by you.
05:03Already a pretty song in its own right, there's something about Cory Monteith's naive quarterback performing it that's really powerful.
05:10The way he sings it seems so simple, but there's so much going on under the surface.
05:15Take me in into your darkest hour, and I'll never desert you.
05:22He's so hopeful, so sincere, and so clueless about what's coming that it gives you all the feels at once.
05:29It's yet another song that takes on even deeper meaning now that Monteith is no longer with us.
05:35I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I screwed up, Mom.
05:41It's gonna be okay. I'm so sorry.
05:46Number 5. Keep Holding On
05:49Head cheerleader Quinn Febreze's unplanned pregnancy is outed to the entire school, leaving her humiliated and isolated from her friends.
05:57Keep Holding On is the group's promise to stick by her no matter what.
06:02You're not alone. Together we stand. I'll be by your side. You know I'll take your hand.
06:12It's a moving moment for a lot of different reasons.
06:15Avril Lavigne's ballad from the Aragon soundtrack becomes one of the first group numbers where the entire Glee Club really becomes whole.
06:23Just stay strong, cause you know I'm here for you. I'm here for you.
06:32Up to this point, Quinn's just been spying on the Glee Club for Sue Sylvester.
06:36Here, she finally lets herself become a part of them.
06:40Keep holding on, cause you know we'll make it through. We'll make it through.
06:49This is old school Glee at its best.
06:52Number 4. I Want to Hold Your Hand
06:55I want to hold your hand.
07:01When Kurt Hummel's dad suffers a heart attack, the entire Glee Club rallies around him.
07:06They share songs and try to help Kurt take heart that his dad will pull through this crisis.
07:11But its most powerful song is the one Kurt sings himself.
07:15I want to hold your hand. I want to hold your hand.
07:26The slow, yearning take on the Beatles classic brings out another side to the lyrics.
07:31I want to hold your hand becomes a song from a son to a father who was always there.
07:36The flashbacks between the two is what really gets the waterworks going.
07:41And when I touch you, I feel happy inside.
07:50It goes to show that since Kurt was young, instead of running from who his son was,
07:55Burt Hummel always just accepted him.
07:58Number 3. Cough Syrup
08:00Life's too short to even care at all.
08:05It's terrible.
08:06Football jock Dave Karofsky was introduced as a villain,
08:09but his journey from homophobic jerk to out-and-proud gay man is a hard-fought one.
08:14In season 3, he almost takes his own life when he's outed to his teammates at his new school.
08:20I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down, come down.
08:29The haunting scene where he prepares the deed is underscored by Darren Criss' cover of Cough Syrup
08:34by alternative band Young The Giant.
08:37The sequence parallel cuts between Karofsky's being tormented at his new school and Blaine's song,
08:43a powerful testament to feeling lost and still waiting out the storm for something better.
08:48I'm waiting for this cough syrup to come down.
08:58Number 2. If I Die Young
09:00Sink me in the river at dawn, send me away with the words of a love song.
09:11In the aftermath of Cory Monteith's death, the show paid tribute to him through his character Finn Hudson,
09:17whose death is written into the show.
09:19The members of the Glee Club do their best to send him off with a song.
09:23Santana Lopez's offering is especially moving.
09:27Life ain't always what you think it ought to be, no.
09:30Ain't even gray, but she buries her baby.
09:34Dedicating the band Perry's If I Die Young to Finn and accompanied by a piano and mandolin,
09:40Santana's song is a beautiful tribute to a life taken too soon.
09:45What we do get is absolutely shattering as she can't even get through the number.
10:00Naya Rivera's cover went viral in 2020 after the actress' own untimely death.
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10:24Bob Dylan's love song has been recorded by several legends through the years.
10:28This one is up there with some of the best covers.
10:42The cast lost a family member when Cory Monteith died.
10:45Star Lea Michele lost her fiancé.
10:48It's arguably the moment the line between fact and fiction became thinnest on Glee.
11:04As Rachel Berry, Michele had so many moments to shine.
11:08Her big belt and star power were on full display throughout its six seasons.
11:13But here, she is pared back and raw.
11:27She's teary-eyed from the first verse, and so are we.
11:31Did these moments give you goosebumps? Let us know in the comments.
11:39Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
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