Which song from SP is your fav?

[Simba]

"He Lives in You" is my favorite that was in the movie, but just on the original soundtrack, Return to Pride Rock, my favorite is "I Want to See the Moon". but We Are One, the bilingual English/Fon version by Angelique Kidjo, is up there too among the ones I love. and that "Song for the Children" from Return to Pride Rock has an awesome beat to it that I love. I use it on a couple of my TLK sites as background music.

[Kovu]

One Of Us is definately my favourite. (It's just called 'One Of Us', as opposed to 'Not One Of Us' - at least on the SP special Edition Soundtrack.)

The only one I didn't like was Upendi - I just didn't really seem to fit with the rest of the film.

- Kovu

[Mike]

Oh goodness We are one takes the cake, though Love will find a way was moving as well

[Majordomo]

Well, I suppose the Major music snob shall rear his ugly head once more. I guess I'll just say what I think of each of the songs individually, and THEN you can throw tomatoes at me. How's that sound? I'll go in order:

1. He Lives In You.
This song was well done, though I don't think Lebo M.'s voice did it justice as well as Sam Wright did in TLKoB. Really, I thought the song needed to be sung by a baritone, not a tenor, to give it a much more resonant timbre and spiritual feel. Someone sounding like Mufasa would be even better for the voice.
They also went a little too crazy with the chromatic percussion, but that's not so big a deal.

2. We Are One.
I admit, this song is probably the catchiest in the movie, apart from Upendi. The premise for the scene was cute, the singer they got for Simba was phenomenal, and the arrangement had a nice, simple, African feel to it. The only complaint I really have is the lyrics. I've looked through them, and they're not one complete thought. It's funny, because at the end, Simba asks "Now do you understand Kiara?"
I'd probably reply, "Absolutely not! You still didn't answer my question 'Can I follow my own heart or am I just a part of some big plan?' "
But the lyrics are my only beef with that song.

3. My Lullaby
This was an awesome concept for a villain's song. "The villainess training her tools through the mask of kindness and gentleness." But they somehow got away from that.
Some of the lyrics were good. I like the part where she says "The sound of Simba's dying gasp, his daughter squealing in my grasp, his lioness's mournful cry, that's my lullaby." It's got the right touch of poetry and a hint of Zira's sadistic personality. Then, the drama and creepiness are eclipsed by low-effort rhymes like "'Cause it soothes my inner kitty / And it helps me get some rest" and out-of-context phrases like "The pounding of the drums of war".
The other thing I don't like about it is all the unnecessary movement on Zira's part. Scar was much creepier of a villain, and he only ever used one paw in Be Prepared, and even then he did it rarely. Zira, however, was standing on her back legs and using vain gestures to communicate something she could have just as easily done with facial expressions and posture.

4. One Of Us
Again, we run into the problem of great drama being eclipsed by unintentional humor. That hippo's voice is just asking for some kid to bust up laughing. Also, there's some more out-of-context (or nearly so) phrases like "He can't change his stripes" and "See you later, agitator!"
The song itself started out with promise (apart from the hippo) in my opinion, but as the lyrics got to their best point, the music reached it's worst. The song originally had a complex rhythm and interesting melody. Once we reach "Born in grief / Raised in hate", the music suddenly turns to one of the most basic rhythms and chord progressions out there. The rhythm is so slow, basic and strict, like something predating the Baroque period, and the melody goes from a minor 4th to minor dominant to minor 5th to minor dominant. That is THE most basic chord progression in the book. And the solution is even simple. It was an agitated part of the song, so why not add a few fun Djembe and Conga drum rhythms to make it move along and even sound a tad more African?
The last thing I don't like is the action. The animals merely march in place for a good portion of the song. They don't even take advantage of any characteristic behaviors of any particular species in the background. (And no, those antelope didn't take on antelope characteristics, they took on the characteristics of a goat.)

5. Love Will Find a Way
It will. It really will.
*ahem* Anyway, this was a good song. But, I still don't feel like it belongs in SP. It's sort of a step up and across from SP. It's not in the same plane. The song was great, the lyrics were great, but the music was Classical in an African setting. All that needed to be done to this song was change the vocal styling (easy thing to do) to something more African and add a bit of percussion.

6. Upendi
OK, who put the reggae in here? This is Africa, not Jamaica, and (despite popular belief) Rafiki's accent is Nigerian NOT Jamaican. Also, Rafiki is a wise and practical baboon, not some crazed psychopath that only comes around to hold children precariously over the edges of cliffs. I think that if they understood Rafiki's character more, it could've been a decent song.

OK, NOW you can throw tomatoes. Just try to hit a dancing target!

[Moka]

Wow, Major! That's like a review for each song

1. He Lives In You.
I agree, but was Sam Wright the one who sung They Live in You or He Lives in You? The He Lives In You (Reprise) was much better than the movie version in my opinion. I do like the drum beat and I think it fits because a lot of African music comes with an "exotic" beat. But I guess if they were going for exoticism they wouldn't have had some of the instruments that they had.

2. We Are One
I agree with you about the lyrics. For me, this song is a little too sweet and cute (even though it is Disney).

3. My Lullaby
Zira's body language is a little extensive, yes, but this is common with female villains (especially if they're crraazzay! like Cruella de Vil). I think they did a good job, but overall Simba's Pride definitely has more "body language" and human-like movements than The Lion King.

4. One of Us
Hehe, I can't exactly say much. I'm not a student of music.

5. Love Will Find a Way
Let's just say I like "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" much better. I agree that this song is a little out of place (Sounds like it belongs in Beauty and the Beast).

6. Upendi
Ugh..I don't even want to start with this song.

All in all, I think I should listen to the songs before reviewing them.

[NalaLionQueen]

Not One Of Us << Sad Song , We Are One<<< Meaning We Are Only One & My Lullaby<<< Evilness Most Fav Songs

[Mike]

Nice reviews Major You've got quite a few points that I was feeling, but didn't exactly know how to say.

[Annie]

My lullaby <3 I love Zira ^^

[Majordomo]

[quote="Moka"]Wow, Major! That's like a review for each song

1. He Lives In You.
I agree, but was Sam Wright the one who sung They Live in You or He Lives in You? The He Lives In You (Reprise) was much better than the movie version in my opinion. I do like the drum beat and I think it fits because a lot of African music comes with an "exotic" beat. But I guess if they were going for exoticism they wouldn't have had some of the instruments that they had.[/quote]
Yeah, Sam Wright did "They Live In You", but I wasn't necessarily saying 'get him to do it'. I just said that it needed a baritone rather than a tenor. And I wasn't objecting to the drums. What I didn't like was the marimbas. They were doing too much in my opinion, especially at the beginning. I still think they should've played, but constant 32nd notes are a little too hard to listen to and take note of (ha, pun) fast enough.

[quote]3. My Lullaby
Zira's body language is a little extensive, yes, but this is common with female villains (especially if they're crraazzay! like Cruella de Vil). I think they did a good job, but overall Simba's Pride definitely has more "body language" and human-like movements than The Lion King.[/quote]
That's the thing. She can use body language while STILL being leonine. Standing and gesturing never added anything to Zira's character, and so it was unnecessary. There were a few gestures I think they could've kept, but they were only one or two amidst dozens.

[Zeke]

You guys think about it too much Its music, just relax and enjoy it