10 Disney Songs We Can Relate To

Disney concept art for Tangled. (Image from Tumblr)

Here is a list of Disney songs that we all can relate to -- even without the context of the movie. Which means I'm not talking about songs where you sing about feet like you've never seen them before, or singing like you were a handsome street rat who's able to get away with stealing.

I mean, as much as we all want life to be like a Disney movie, we can't be a princess or a mermaid, or a mermaid princess. And in your daily life you wouldn't be singing about life under the sea or asking God to help the gypsies. You can't be a monkey asking about the secret of man's fire and we aren't gonna defeat the Huns and we can't all be snowmen dreaming about summer. We aren't fairy godmothers saying nonsensical magic words too. We aren't genies who can grant wishes or servants wanting more than dusting.

This means no duets; in real life, you don't just come up with a well-composed song and expect a random prince or princess to harmonise perfectly with you out of nowhere. Especially not on a magic carpet ride.

Also, I'm not talking about lame connections like singing "It's the circle of lifeeee! Humans are at the top of the food chain!" in front of your steak and have vegan friends stare at you. No.

1. Reflection (Mulan)

Look at me

I will never pass for a perfect bride

Or a perfect daughter

Can it be

I'm not meant to play this part?

I'm sure everybody can relate to Mulan when she start singing. It is so difficult to live up to the expectations of others. This is especially true for Mulan as the movie takes place in ancient China!

But I'm sure most of us can relate to Mulan. We may have traditional parents who expect us to fit into the mould of a typical daughter or son. Society also expects us to behave in a certain way, depending on your race, class, and gender. But what if we've tried, and we just can't do it? Why can't we go against social norms for a change?

2. I Won't Say I'm In Love (Hercules)

(Image from Tumblr)

If there's a prize for rotten judgement

I guess I've already won that

No man is worth the aggravation

That's ancient history, been there, done that

This is for anyone who's ever been in love. And when someone whom you like comes along, you're afraid. You deny that you're attracted to him/her. But deep down inside, you know you are. The inner voices inside your mind are like the Muses, telling you to just admit it and go for it.

Of course, unlike Meg, in the real world, the situation is much safer because at least you didn't sell your soul to Hades to save your ex-boyfriend's life before he left you for someone else. Ugh, men.

3. Colours Of The Wind (Pocahontas)

You think you own whatever land you land on

The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim

But I know every rock and tree and creature

Has a life, has a spirit, has a name 

You think the only people who are people

Are the people who look and think like you

But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger

You'll learn things you never knew, you never knew

Ah, this is a classic. First of all, Pocahontas is telling us not to be so materialistic. Why are we so  bothered about what type of house we live in or what clothes we wear? Ultimately these are just dead things that we can claim as our own, but it doesn't make us happy.

Secondly, we should not judge others based on our own expectations. For anyone who has studied history, John Smith is a typical coloniser here, judging natives by his Western standards. Yuck.

But basically, this logic still stands. What's that cliche saying? Don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes.

For all the animal lovers out there, yes, animals are people too! Well, sort of. Remember that scene where Pocahontas stopped John Smith from shooting a bear, and it turns out that she's a mother bear with cubs to look after? I love that part. Animals are living creatures with souls and feelings. Why are we always competing with nature and destroying natural habitats? We should put ourselves in the position of animals too.

4. I'm Almost There (The Princess and the Frog)

Trials and tribulations

I've had my share

But there ain't nothing gonna stop me now

'Cause I'm almost there

Tiana represents the working class. The people who put in the most amount of hard work and backbreaking kind of labour, who slog their guts out all day and all night to get what they want. This song is for people like Tiana, who will aspire to achieve success someday.

5. Go The Distance (Hercules)

I am on my way

I can go the distance

I don't care how far

Somehow I'll be strong

I know every mile

Will be worth my while

I would go most anywhere

To find where I belong

Sorry, another one from Hercules. But I love this song! With every verse, there are changes to the lyrics to show the hero's progression. He starts off with a dream, feeling unsure about his place in this world. But he knows he'll "find his way". Then his adoptive parents point him in the right direction and he starts his journey, and the lyrics change to "I am on my way". In the last verse, he is absolutely confident about himself and sings that he will "beat the odds" and "face the world". This is powerful stuff. I always get goosebumps.

6. Let It Go (Frozen)

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside

Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried

Can you blame me for including this song? I know it's been overplayed but it is still so good. We can relate to the snow queen -- sometimes we feel like we are alone, or that we have to hide how we truly feel. Obviously we don't have any deadly ice powers to hide from the rest of the world, but what if the rest of the world has been holding you back from unleashing your true power? Shouldn't we just embrace ourselves for who we are?

7. I Wonder (Sleeping Beauty)

I wonder, I wonder,

I wonder why each little bird has a someone

If you've been brought up by three fairies in a cottage in the woods you would probably be as desperate as Aurora was and start being jealous of birds as well. In reality, this happens to most of us. When we are looking for love, we see all the happy couples out there and we wonder to ourselves: when would that ever happen to me?

8. So Close (Enchanted)

A life goes by

Romantic dreams must die

So I bid my goodbye

And never knew

I feel so sad when I listen to this song! When Giselle and Robert dance knowing that they cannot be together because they come from different worlds, I just feel sad. I love this scene.

Sometimes life gets in our way. Sometimes we think that we've met the right person at the wrong time. Sometimes we are just not brave enough to take the first step. Sometimes life pulls people apart.

9. Everybody Wants To Be A Cat (The Aristocats)

Everybody's pickin' up on that feline beat

'Cause everything else is obsolete

I'm talking about this song without the racist part (why does the Siamese cat have to be some dorky Chinese talking about Shanghai, Hong Kong, and fortune cookies?). Besides, who doesn't want to be a cat?

With the Internet being crazy over cats, I think it's a pretty good time to be a cat. We humans are jealous of how cats can just lie around, be cute, and not have to do anything. And now, cat celebrities probably earn more than we do. I wish I were a cat!

10. How Far I'll Go (Moana)

See the light where the sky meets the sea
It calls me
No one knows how far it goes

I'm sure everyone has had a burning desire to get away from their usual, mundane lives. Moana feels like the sea is calling out to her for some greater purpose. Sometimes, we feel that way too. Maybe there's something wonderful out there, waiting for us. Or maybe the sea is calling out to us because we just need a vacation at the beach.

I know everybody on this island
Seems so happy on this island
Everything is by design
I know everybody on this island
Has a role on this island
So maybe I can roll with mine

Just wanted to mention that this verse sounds pretty much like Singapore, where everything seems to be running smoothly.


Other songs worthy of mention:

I was thinking about these two songs, When You Wish Upon A Star (Pinocchio) and A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes (Cinderella). The message is similar: your dreams will come true if you keep on believing. They didn't make the list because I felt that these songs are quite cliche. Instead of just having faith and wishing upon stars, get up and do something about it!

A Spoonful of Sugar (Mary Poppins) reminds us that even if work sucks, if school sucks, and if life in general sucks, we should face whatever life throws at us with a positive spirit. Find a way to make challenges fun! Come to think of it, this sounds like Whistle While You Work from Snow White. (But I can't whistle. Ah well.) Again, they did not make the list because sadly, not everything can be made better with sugar or music. (And that's the gospel truth!)

For The Time Being (Review)

Back in secondary school, my classmates and I had to analyse some poems for literature. I remember Mr. Lattif explaining to us that the message behind a particular poem was that life was transient. As a fifteen-year-old, it was a profound message. Fast forward ten years and there I was, at 72-13, watching The MadHatter Project perform their show, entitled "For The Time Being". 

I attended their third and final show, arriving at 72-13 with my colleagues after work. Most of us were hungry as we have had a long day. There was no time for us to have dinner, but thankfully we had ramen at Ippudo after that. Anyway, we received cute little cocktail umbrellas as our tickets and were handed a red plastic chair that we could place where ever we wanted to watch the show. If that wasn't strange enough, we also had to write our most favourite childhood memory on a post-it and stick it to our chairs. After reading some amusing ones written by the people sitting in front of us, I proceeded to pen mine down as well.

The show started with the first song, "Pop". It sounded like a fun and delightful song at first, but pay attention to the lyrics and you'd realise that the "pop" sound refers to gunshots. Turns out that "going to the beach" meant getting slaughtered. Most of the audience members jumped up in their seats when Jamie screamed "stop!" from the back of the room. It was really disconcerting, which I feel was the entire point since it was a reference to war. However, the meaning of the song may have been lost to others as the sound system prevented us from hearing the words clearly.

The second song, "Ashes", was a song that I've heard them play before at the Esplanade. This song has a creepy vibe as the leader singer, Mark, sounds like a ghost. After the song, the band members read excerpts from historical records. Briefly, they recount that people used to live in wooden houses and there were plenty of fires that had occurred. There were accounts in several languages: Malay, Mandarin and Cantonese. Sadly, no English subtitles were given. I could only understand the Mandarin bit about saving ducks when the Bukit Ho Swee fire broke out. This part ends with quotes from Lee Kuan Yew, assuring citizens that enough HDB flats will be built.

By this point, it is rather clear that the performance is in chronological order (as expected from history majors). "Pig #154" is an interesting jazzy song, addressing how humans pit themselves against nature. The band plays the tune from Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and the line "I'm both guilty and haram" cracked everyone up! The song also touches on our obsession with statistics, since the pig is just one out of many others and society only cares about "KPI". Similarly, "Gods and Plastic Plants" carries a similar message. Jamie is seen plucking the petals of a sunflower while a fake flower is placed in a vase. 

The Merlion Poem by Stephanie Dogfoot was hilarious. Mark really brought a lot of energy into his performance. It was amusing to see him hold up a picture of the Merlion in a photo frame, as if it had died. The part when the Merlion shook its head "from side to side" and "in slow motion" was so funny. Other humorous parts are, of course, the references to inter-species love between lions and fish. According to the poem, the Merlion has died ("Gills snapped shut, you lost your life") and it is also impossible to make love to it because it is made out of concrete just like everything else. 

There was an intermission and after that, when we came back into the room, the chairs were neatly lined up in rows. We were unable to find our original seats so we just sat in a random row. I had to pull a chair from another row to sit with my colleagues, but I noticed that I was being blocked by the videographer so I sat behind them instead. When I realised that my post-it and therefore my childhood memory was gone, I also realised that the chairs symbolised home. I honestly felt lost when I walked back in not knowing where to sit. Just as how people built their houses in whatever way they wanted, we were initially allowed to seat wherever we wanted. And when we came back, HDB flats were neatly built and we to just move in. Later on, Mark went around and made sure that the outliers sat with everyone else.

(I forgot to mention that in the first half, the audience was told to move around so that they could look at what was being projected onto the walls better. However, my sister held onto me and told me not to move because we had to subvert the norm! Thankfully, our little act of rebellion went unnoticed, though I felt like an outcast as everyone else was seated away from us. Anyway, I did not have a clear view of the band after the intermission and I noticed that many people in front of me were moving this way and that, straining their necks to catch a glimpse of what was going on in front. I wished that there was tiered seating.)

In the second half the songs were more focused on modern Singapore. I like "Shopping Mall Nation" because the visual art in the background finally makes sense to me. Okay, up to this point I have not mentioned the visual art because it didn't get it. Videos of people washing a car, ironing clothes, and exercising at the park were just mundane scenes. I get it if they are trying to depict how ordinary and meaningless our lives are, but I don't think it is necessary to show that many scenes of nothingness. We already have the Theatre of the Absurd for that. Sometimes there were words instead of scenes, but the words did not really add value to the performance. They were actually distracting because when I read the words I would miss out on part of a song. I didn't know what to focus on so after a while I just ignored what was projected onto the walls.

But in "Shopping Mall Nation", it was obvious that the videos were shot at Vivocity, obviously a shopping mall. I love the lyrics of this song as they are full of irony and contradictions. Then the band plays "City Lights", another song I'm familiar with. I'll admit it; the first time I heard "City Lights", I told John that I didn't like it. However, the song as grown on me and I like getting lost in the music. "Bishan" has a melancholic tune and the last bit was called "Umbrella". Mark recited a poem first, which explained why there were umbrellas everywhere. It's based on an old wives' tale; a Chinese belief that if you open an umbrella indoors, you are inviting a ghost into your home.

I remember that my mother mentioned this before, but she did not explain and no one really bothered. How else were we supposed to dry our umbrellas? This idea was quickly connected to how thousands of umbrellas are lost at MRT stations and the possibility that each umbrella is a shelter, a place, and each of these places contains a spirit. I think the symbol of an umbrella, at that moment, tied everything together. Umbrellas are forgotten as they act as temporary solutions to the rain, bought at Daiso for two dollars (as mentioned in the poem). Similarly, ordinary people and places are easily forgotten too.

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" This philosophical question was introduced to us by our history teacher, Mr Augustine Ng, when I was studying in Pioneer Junior College. Things are happening around us all the time, but historical records do not include every single mundane detail. Historians only choose the important facts and write about prominent people, events, and places. I like how it was used comically in the poem, when Mark asks: if an old tree gets cut down without anyone writing into The Straits Times forum about it, does it make a sound? My response would simply be no. People have never cared about things like trees, and although things around us are constantly changing, that remains the same. 

At the end of the show, the band played the video of "一支小雨伞" (A small umbrella) which had already been uploaded on their Facebook page. The subtitles were extremely amusing and Jamie was their model, posing like it was a typical, old music video. The kind of video you would watch when you sing karaoke with your friends; a video that has absolutely no meaning and is totally unrelated to the music. Were we back to the concept of mundanity and pointlessness? Or was this made just for fun? All I know is that the video was funny, and it would have been even better if the subtitles were slowly being coloured in blue from left to right as Mark sang. (And at that point, nothing else mattered but dinner)

Beauty and the Beast Songs Compared

The Beauty and the Beast soundtrack is so awesome. I'm going to list down the songs that most people are familiar with in both movies and compare them to see which version I like better. I have already blogged about how much I like the new movie but I didn't really analyse the songs in that post, so I'll be writing about the soundtrack here!

P.S. I have never watched the Beauty and the Beast Broadway musical, so this is all I know.

1. Belle

I prefer the 1991 version of this song. Many people on the Internet have expressed their disappointment over the fact that the line, "Marie! The baguettes!" was cut. However, as mentioned in my previous post, I simply did not take to Emma Watson's singing in this particular song. I like Paige O'Hara's version because she sounded bright, chirpy and the lively. Emma Watson's voice was low and seemed dull, especially at the beginning. Obviously Emma Watson already did a good job, considering how she isn't a professional singer, but still.

2. Belle (Reprise)

I'm going to give this one to Emma Watson. I like the spunk in her voice and how she cries out in frustration.

3. Gaston

Josh Gad wins, hands down. I love the the song in the live-action film so much! LeFou is awesome but the LeFou in the animated film had a slightly more annoying voice. In addition, the new song features some incredible new lyrics. Gaston sings about how he aims for the liver when he hunts and how he shoots from behind! It's gross but it makes him sound more like a coward even though he is trying to sound masculine. It causes you to respect him less, and I love it.

The song slows down at the iconic line, "I use antlers in all my decorating!" which makes this funny line more dramatic! Another addition to this song in the 2017 version is the part where LeFou tries to spell Gaston's name but realises that he is illiterate. So funny!

4. Be Our Guest

This is a hard one as they are both so good! I'm not ever going to be able to make a decision. However, I have to say that the 2017 version was a lot grander than the 1991 version. Also, the 2017 version changed the lyrics from "10 years we've been rusting" to "Too long we've been rusting". Again, this clarifies that the Beast and his servants had not been cursed for 10 years. Both songs were tastefully done.

5. Something There

I definitely like the song in the animated film better. It was hilarious that Emma Watson actually had to be hit by a gigantic snowball! But I prefer how the song was played in the background, and the characters weren't actually singing it in front of each other. The song in the animated film reflected their thoughts, which was ironically more realistic than the live-action film. Also, I like how the Beast dropped the huge snowball on himself!

6. The Mob Song

Luke Evans and Josh Gad win again! Again, both songs are almost equally as good as the other. However, the additional lines in the newer version sung by LeFou is just too perfect. LeFou sings "There's a beast running wild, there's no question / But I fear the wrong monster's been released". Although it's just a small part of the song, it helps with LeFou's character development so much. At first, LeFou is just Gaston's biggest fan. However, he wavers after seeing Gaston tie Maurice to a tree. At this moment, he is questioning who the actual beast is. He has seen Gaston lock Maurice and Belle up, intending to send them to an asylum just because he was unable to woo and marry the prettiest girl in town. This particular bit explains why LeFou switches sides later on.

7. Beauty and the Beast (film version)

I'm referring to the song sung by Mrs Potts as Belle dances with the Beast. Both songs were good, but I prefer the one in the animated film. There was no need to make the song sound overly dramatic and add that extra flair. It was just about timeless, true love, so the scene deserves a simple, sweet song.

8. Beauty and the Beast (duet)

The new version by Ariana Grande and John Legend was so dull. I thought it was rather creative for the dancers in the music video to form a red rose. Apart from that, the song was just so boring and forced. It was as if they were just singing for the sake of it. There was more depth in Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson's version. The previous version was more romantic somehow, and their voices complemented each other's extremely well.

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These are some other songs from both movies that are worthy of mention as well.

1. Gaston (Reprise)

This song is found only in the animated film. I love how it starts with "LeFou I'm afraid I've been thinking / A dangerous pastime / I know". It shows how Gaston is plotting to marry Belle by threatening to throw her father into the asylum. This song turns the upbeat song that was mainly sung by LeFou to cheer Gaston up into something more sinister. Sadly, it wasn't included in the 2017 film.

2. Days in the Sun

I love this song! It highlights each character's motivation and how they have changed due to the events in the film. The residents of the castle long to be freed from the curse and they wish to be reunited with their loved ones. Belle wants to be free too, and she realises that she has grown up a little at this point. She is no longer under her father's protection as she has decided to take her father's place as the Beast's prisoner. During her stay in the castle, Belle has come to care for the residents of the castle as they have been so kind towards her, and although she wishes to help break the spell, she does not know how.

3. How Does a Moment Last Forever

Whether sung by Kevin Kline, Emma Watson or Celine Dion, this song is just so nice! Maurice is shown tinkering with a music box and thinking about his late wife. The music box is in the shape of a windmill, which is modelled after their house in Paris. Belle later sings to this tune about growing up in that dusty attic and reminisces about her childhood.

4. Evermore

The Beast sings this song after dancing with Belle and after letting her go so that she can rescue her father. It's such a beautiful song because he's singing about how he had let her into his heart and how he would miss her now that she's gone.