Colors of the Wind
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Alternate meaning: Sing-Along Songs: Colors of the Wind
"Colors of the Wind" by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz was the 1995 Oscar-winner for Best Original Song from the Disney animated feature film Pocahontas. It also won the Golden Globe in the same category as well as the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Movie. The song poetically presents the Native American viewpoint that the earth is a living entity where mankind is connected to everything in nature.
The song was performed within the movie's narrative by Judy Kuhn as the singing voice of Pocahontas. Singer/actress Vanessa Williams recorded a version for the end credits which was successfully released as a single and became one of Williams' biggest hits in 1995, earning a gold single for sales of 500,000 copies. The song has since been covered by Ashanti, Edyta Górniak (for the Polish version of the movie), Jennifer Rush (for the German version of the movie), Christy Carlson Romano, The Chipmunks, Danielle White, Lea Salonga, Arturo Sandoval, Pam Tillis and most recenly Vanessa Hudgens for Disneymania 5. The J-pop band ACIDMAN also played a remixed version of the song for their album Equal, and a tech-dance version was done by Russian techno group Harajuku.[1]
In the song, Pocahontas attempts to explain to John Smith about the wonders of the earth and nature including the spirit within all living things, encouraging him not to think of them as things he can conquer or own, but rather as beings to respect and live with in harmony. She also urges him to accept humans who are different in appearance and culture and to learn from them.
The first line of the chorus tells of the wolf crying to the blue corn moon with the second line varying with the verse context. The third line tells of singing with the voices of the mountains and the chorus concludes with the title imagery of painting with the colors of the wind.
Clips of the version of song and movie which has been produced in many languages, some dubbed in several consecutive languages have been posted on YouTube.
| Preceded by "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King |
Academy Award for Best Original Song 1995 |
Succeeded by "You Must Love Me" from Evita |
