Can't Fight This Feeling (from Glee) (adapt. Alan Billingsley): SATB Choral Octavo

An 11-page SATB arrangement of a song your students already know creates immediate engagement without sacrificing musical substance. The Glee version expanded this ballad's reach across generations, and this edition captures that fresh energy while respecting the original's emotional architecture. It's the kind of repertoire that makes students want to come to rehearsal.

Earnest and unshakeable. The song doesn't perform vulnerability; it lives in it, building from quiet confession to a moment of genuine conviction. There's a rock sensibility running through the harmonic language that keeps sentimentality from sliding into schmaltz.

Choirs seeking contemporary repertoire that bridges popular culture and concert programming. This works for high school and college ensembles, as well as community choirs that want to include recognizable material without sounding like a karaoke collection.

• Balance the dynamic arc carefully; this song lives in the space between restraint and release, and rushing toward the climax will flatten the emotional journey.
• Treat the alto and tenor lines with the same weight you'd give the melody. Davis and Anders designed the harmonies to move independently, and burying inner voices makes the arrangement sound thin.
• Nail the rhythm section lock if you're using the accompaniment recording. Even slight hesitations in the bass and drums will expose imprecision in your vocal parts.
• Use your rehearsal time to isolate the key modulation moments. Songs like this often shift tonally, and your sections need to know exactly where they're going.

Pair this with other contemporary arrangements to build a modern music set, or use it as an emotional anchor in a concert that spans multiple genres. It also serves as a bridge for choirs introducing rock and pop repertoire to audiences who might otherwise tune out contemporary music.

• Singing sustained legit tones over rock accompaniments
• Maintaining phrase direction in ballad tempos
• Navigating key changes smoothly
• Balancing harmonic independence with unified expression
• Rhythmic precision with recorded backing tracks