For those who don't know, I'm going to major in the music field, and my favorite part of any movies growing up were the songs. I didn't really pay attention to the stories that well, so I just had the music to look at. And over the years, my taste for these songs has only seemed to grow that much more. So, lets start it off with a bang:
#10 on this list is "Everybody wants to be a cat" from The Aristocats. Every other song in this movie didn't feel as lively or animated as this. It starts off in sort of a swing jazz style, and it's pretty slow, almost like a waltz-jazz. It's very melodically good, if that's even the right way to phrase it. Right around the first minute and a half, this song kicks everything up and turns into a straight big band-Benny Goodman Swing, Swing, Swing style. It's very, very good, except for 1 thing. It DIDN'T need the harp scene towards the end. It TOTALLY kills the mood for what it was about, which was about how cool it was to be a cat. But, I guess it makes sense if you analyze what it actually means to be a cat, which is lazy, hyper, back to lazy, to hyper again. They shift quite a bit, and this song is no different. A good song, and a good movie to boot.
#10 on this list is "Everybody wants to be a cat" from The Aristocats. Every other song in this movie didn't feel as lively or animated as this. It starts off in sort of a swing jazz style, and it's pretty slow, almost like a waltz-jazz. It's very melodically good, if that's even the right way to phrase it. Right around the first minute and a half, this song kicks everything up and turns into a straight big band-Benny Goodman Swing, Swing, Swing style. It's very, very good, except for 1 thing. It DIDN'T need the harp scene towards the end. It TOTALLY kills the mood for what it was about, which was about how cool it was to be a cat. But, I guess it makes sense if you analyze what it actually means to be a cat, which is lazy, hyper, back to lazy, to hyper again. They shift quite a bit, and this song is no different. A good song, and a good movie to boot.
#9 is "Prince Ali" from Aladdin. Now, I'm just going to say it, I think I loved EVERY song from Aladdin. They did a really, really good job with everything from that movie. From the character development, to the music. Now, I know Robbin Williams hated the roll of the Genie of the Lamp, but he does a fantastic job in this song staying in character. From the lyrics right down to the general mood of the song, it's pure bliss. The lyrics depict all sorts of lies about our Hero Aladdin to win try to win over his sweetheart Princess Jasmine, and the Genie's lyrics and magic make "Prince Ali" quite the catch. The thing with these hero songs, is that they tend to slow down towards the end, whereas the Villian songs get more intense as they go on, but Prince Ali doesn't lose that intensity for me.
#8 is "One Jump Ahead" from Aladdin also. The beginning song in the movie (if you don't count the "Arabian Nights" song), which tells all about the life of our Hero, who is a street rat, stealing to make his living with his trusty side-kick Abu. The song is really fast and upbeat, never sparing a moment to slow down until the very end, and I love every minute of it. Not much else to say about this song, other than it's a great way to introduce our hero.
#7 is "The Gospel Truth" from Hercules. To be honest, I really have NO idea why I like this song so much. I've been thinking about it for a while, and really honestly analyzing it, it's ranked this highly because it's the beginning to my favorite Disney movie. The song itself is quite the ear worm. It's a shame it's so short, I would've loved this song to be longer.
Rolling into #6 is "Be Prepared" from The Lion King. I believe this was my first Disney movie, but I can't be sure. I remember being terrified at this part when I was a kid because of how scary the scenes were and how nasty the lyrics were. Honestly, Scar is terrifying. He's a malicious, brutal murderer. He turns a bunch of lazy, good-for-nothing Hyena's into the effing 3rd Reich. I don't think that there is a moment in this song that I don't enjoy, it's pure evil at it's best, as far as Lion King goes.
#5 on the list is "One Last Hope" from Hercules. Now, this is my favorite Disney movie, and this song kind of solidified my idea of this movie. The really good parts of this song lie within the lyrics and the music score. It's all about how Hercules is Phil's last chance at achieving his dream. And, really, it's no more basic than that.
There are two for the #4 spot, because I feel the same way about them both. "Hakuna Matata" from Lion King and "Bear Necessities" from Jungle Book. BOTH of these songs are very memorable, and as a kid, my dad and I would constantly sing Bear Necessities. I once got an entire class in High School to sing different parts of Hakuna Matata. Really, they're both about not caring about the ordeals of others and just trying to have as much fun as you can. While that does have the negative side of having implications of being selfish, but really, when you're a bear, a whateverthehell Timone is, and a warthog, who gives a shit about what others say? And by that, I mean, why should you care what others think of you or what they're doing? If they don't directly impact you or someone you're close to, just let them be.
The #3 spot goes to "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid. I really shouldn't have to explain this one in full detail, really. It's good. Yup.
#2 spot goes to "Friends on the Other Side" from The Princess and The Frog. Up until this point in the film, there were some already good songs, but this one really took the cake for me. It's bright and colorful and really showcases the animation style that I've missed from Disney, along with their ability to REALLY make some decent songs. My ONLY complaint about this song is that it never really stays in a constant tempo for longer than a minute. It jumps around quite often, which is okay I suppose, but for me, I REALLY love the upbeat parts. It's still a REALLY, REALLY good song, otherwise it wouldn't rank this high. The tempo part is really what decided that this wasn't first, compared to the #1 spot, which is:
"Why Should I Worry" from Oliver & Company. Most people I talk to, have NEVER even heard of this movie, let alone heard of this song. A little background, the secondary main character, Tito, is voiced by Billy Joel, and that's who sings this song. The rest of the movie is rather blah and it's above average as far as Disney went back in those days, except for this song. To me, it's very memorable. The lyrics basically tell how little Tito worries. It's much like Hakuna Matata and Bear Necessities, in-fact, I think it's both combined. From the beat down to the singing voice of Billy Joel, this song is just utterly brilliant.
And there you have it. I could go deeper into the songs, but simplicity is best.
