My Lion King Forum

This has been bugging me for a while.

Early on in the song Kiara sings ‘I may not be brave or strong or smart, but somewhere in my secret heart’...

I read a comment years back that this was some of the most clumsy, poorly written lyrics in a Disney movie. It’s hard to disagree with that. I like the song otherwise but it feels like the person who wrote the lyrics tried really hard to write something that rhymed but failed at it and made Kiara look like a doofus unintentionally.

I’ve also heard interpretations that it was Kiara lacking confidence.

So, what do you think? Poorly planned lyrics or a good way at showing Kiaras lack of confidence?

I actually like the lyric. The whole point of the song is that Kiara's feeling down, she's feeling lonely, but still hopeful that things will turn around. I think the lyric conveys that, with a nice rhyme that flows nicely with the music.

I don't think it makes her look like a doofus. I think it makes her look super bummed out and down on herself, which she was, right? I mean, it's not like the general bar for music in SP is *hem* super high (except He Lives In You), so this doesn't strike me as jarringly low-quality or anything.

I suppose

but

What does ‘my secret heart’ even mean?

I haven’t seen the movie in a while, but it wasn’t really a secret that she loved kovu. Mufasa knew about it. Rafiki knew about it. All the other animals in upendi knew about it.

How did Mufasa know about it?

I've always thought of it as similar to 'heart of hearts'. Just a colorful way of saying 'somewhere deep down inside, I know that love will find a way'.

[quote="Azdgari"]I've always thought of it as similar to 'heart of hearts'. Just a colorful way of saying 'somewhere deep down inside, I know that love will find a way'.[/quote]

Yeah. She's saying that, in spite of her inefficiencies and doubts, deep down, she knows for sure things haven't truly fallen apart and it'll all be rectified. A more blatant and self-deprecating way to put it would be "I may be dumb, but even I know things will definitely turn out alright."

I have always interpreted that line as Kiara having low confidence and self-esteem. She`s putting herself down because she doesn`t believe in herself - at least, during her heartbroken search for Kovu.. Even if she doesn`t feel strong or smart in that moment, she knows she can still believe in the love that she and Kovu share, and that love will indeed find a way.
As for "my secret heart," that is a phrase that I, as a non-native English speaker, has always found a bit odd. I don`t think it`s a poorly written lyric though - this song is intended to be a bit sappy.

There’s a sentimental quality to the song, yes, and “my secret heart” fits in nicely within the lyrics, though I agree it does sound a bit odd, since matters of the heart are already secretive in nature. Still, it’s wonderfully written. The overemphasizing of it resonates with the whole theme of doubting oneself but believing that love can indeed find a way. Definitely perfect for Kiara. The part where she considered herself as not “smart” got me taken aback too at first, since that sounded like an old school stereotype about Disney female characters being so quick to fall in love but with Kiara, it felt like a lack of confidence before the song took on a positive, uplifting turn.