Somewhere (song) uses elements of another "West Side Story" song, "I Feel Pretty", and the album version uses elements of "One Hand, One Heart" spoken by Chris Lowe. Somewhere (song) "Somewhere", sometimes referred to as "Somewhere (There's a Place for Us)" or simply "There's a Place for Us", is a song from the 1957 Broadway musical "West Side Story" that was made into a film in 1961. The music is composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and takes a phrase from the slow movement of Beethoven's 'Emperor' Piano Concerto, which forms the start of the melody,(actually is a quote
Stephen Sondheim told him he was working on a musical version of "Romeo and Juliet" with Leonard Bernstein, but they needed a lyricist; Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who were supposed to write the lyrics, were under contract in Hollywood. He said that although he was not a big fan of Sondheim's music, he enjoyed the lyrics from "Saturday Night" and he could audition for Bernstein. The following day, Sondheim met and played for Bernstein, who said he would let him know. The composer wanted to write music and lyrics; after consulting with Hammerstein, Bernstein told Sondheim he could write music later.