| "Part of Your World" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Jodi Benson as Ariel from the album The Little Mermaid: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack | ||||
| Released | December 13, 1989 | |||
| Genre | Pop, show tune | |||
| Length | 3:15 | |||
| Label | Walt Disney | |||
| Writer | Alan Menken (music) Howard Ashman (lyrics) |
|||
| Producer | Alan Menken, Howard Ashman | |||
| The Little Mermaid: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack track listing | ||||
|
||||
"Part of Your World" is a song written and composed by the songwriting duo of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. It was originally featured in the 1989 Disney film The Little Mermaid, and is also featured in the Broadway musical adaptation of the film. The song is sung by Ariel, the title character, while in her hidden cavern which holds all of her treasures, most of which are human objects. It reveals how Ariel longs to be human and live among their culture, and how she's tired of being a mermaid living under the sea. In the film the song was performed by Jodi Benson.
Contents |
Howard Ashman wrote the song with the belief that, in a musical, it is necessary for the heroine to sit down and sing about what she wants, referring to it as the "I Want" song.[1][2] After reviewing Ashman's lyrics, co-directors Ron Clements and John Musker suggested some rewrites, as Ashman had included terms that would be unfamiliar to someone who gets their "information [about the human world] from a seagull."[2] Ashman complied and replaced his previous lyrics with more off-beat terminology.[2] During recording, Jodi Benson asked that the lights in the studio be dimmed to give the correct atmosphere.[3] Howard Ashman stood by Benson, giving suggestions to benefit her performance.[1]
During production of The Little Mermaid it was suggested by some that the "Part of Your World" song slowed down the story and should have been deleted from the final cut, but Howard Ashman insisted that it be kept in.[3]
Janet Maslin of The New York Times called the song the "first musical bull's-eye" among a half-dozen in the film.[4]
Other Disney renditions of the song include one by Jessica Simpson on DisneyMania. The song has also been performed by Olivia Newton-John, Miley Cyrus, Brenda Song, Faith Hill, Skye Sweetnam, Chely Wright, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, Darren Criss and Esmee Denters. The Broadway musical version of the song is sung by Sierra Boggess, which is on the Original Broadway Cast album. The pirate-themed rock band Captain Bogg and Salty also recorded a hard rock version of the song in 2006, facetiously claiming it to be a "mermaid lullaby" which was used to lure helpless sailors to their deaths.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||