Falco sits alone in Falco Tower, dejected. Sloane returns during the song, with no explanation. It’s possible that this scene is supposed to be a reunion only in Falco’s mind, since it’s a song about not being able to get over a relationship and Sloane is in no way involved in the conversation that follows the song. However, it could also be that they both feel that way and that’s why they are getting back together even though what we last saw of Sloane was her freeing the Lost and then running away from Falco with Zahara. The former definitely makes more sense to me, but I’m really not sure how to read it.

This song is, in a way, the end of the Steinman story. Its first appearance anywhere seems to be in the Dream Engine performances in 2006, which means it is the latest-debuting Steinman song. It then appeared at the Total Eclipse: The Songs of Jim Steinman show in 2015, which makes this version the first and only recording of it. I find it difficult to believe that Steinman didn’t write anything after that, but it’s possible from what evidence we have that this is the last new song he ever wrote. My guess is that his health was worse in those later years than anyone knew and that robbed him of his ability to work, but it’s just a guess.

But if this was his final song, he at least went out on a high note.

After a brief piano riff, Rob Fowler opens the song with a vocal that sounds absolutely crushed. He sings the chorus with only soft piano, ambient synth, and some hints of synth flute, emphasizing how he has been left alone with his daughter and his wife both having abandoned him in favor of the Lost. Sharon Sexton (Sloane) walks in and the rhythm section joins him for another time through the chorus, with the piano also louder.

She joins in with him on the last repeat of “What part of my body hurts the most?”

He responds (just as in the first chorus) with, “Come a little bit closer,” joined by a quiet-but-noticeable trumpet.

And then together they finish with “Come here now, let’s see.”

They trade off sequences a few times with the same piano and rhythm backing before singing a bit together before a great crescendo of a chorus that they sing together, joined by the horn section and electric guitar.

Then we get a call-and-response bridge between the two, her listing body parts and him referencing what he can’t do with them now, with the soft verse backing behind them again. Falco then sings another section about how he can’t get away from his feelings for her, and they sing the chorus together one more time, with the same backing as before.

Then everything else cuts out and Fowler sings “For crying out loud/Oh come a little bit closer/Come here now/And let’s see,” on top of the piano and synth string backing again, breaking down as he sings.

It’s a relatively short and slight song for Steinman, with one real verse and a rather short bridge, but it otherwise has Steinman’s trademarks throughout. It’s dynamic, melodramatic, and filled with intense imagery. The lyrics aren’t terribly deep, but they are evocative of the feeling of intense loss and pain accompanying Falco’s loss of Sloane and Raven.

The vocals are of course fantastic. I love every time Sharon Sexton opens her mouth in his show, Fowler is really good, and they are absolutely fantastic together. Fowler is definitely the star of this song, and his delivery at the beginning and end of the song is absolutely heartbreaking–this is an absolutely emotionally destroyed man, and that’s clear without any context at all.

“What Part of My Body Hurts the Most” is a more than worthy song, and frankly stands out as a highlight even in this musical that serves as something of a highlight real of Steinman’s career already. Because of its brevity, it kind of feels to me like an incomplete song for Steinman, but it’s got an absolutely great melody, a really good bridge, and of course this performance is fantastic.