What's your favourite Disney movie song?

Today is 9th July...I'm house-bound...with all the news of road blocks and wire fences all around KL, I figured that I'd better layan other things..(not that I actually planned to go anywhere in KL). 

Anyway,...what is your favourite Disney movie songs? I thought of writing about it since a couple of days ago, after watching Tangled. These animated features, they are funny, crazy, friendly, and with good, memorable songs, they'll sure to last in our mind for a long time, and reminding us of our childhood memories. Personally, not all Disney movies enchanted me, but there's a few which really tickle my senses..(if the phrase even exists ;) ). And each comes with a favourite song.

So, here I list out some of my favourites...

a. "Be Our Guest" ~ Beauty and the Beast (1991)

www.imagedisney.com

 On Belle's first night as captive in the Beast's castle in exchange with her father's freedom, she was very sad and hating the Beast so much that she rejected the Beast's offer to dine together. Later, when she felt really hungry and tried to look for some food, the friendly tools and utensils all performed a feast for her because they were so overjoyed by having a guest after years of living in seclusion. At this time, I was captivated by French and I really loved to hear the way Lumiere, the candelabra speaks, especially when he said "Sacre bleu!", a french expression for astonishment. This song is fun!

Watch on Youtube

b. "Beauty and the Beast" (1991)

Tale as old as time...true as it can be..barely even friends, then somebody bends...unexpectedly..

This is when Belle and Beast is already liking each other and dancing in the ballroom. Nice song...I love it both in the movie when Mrs. Potts sang it, and also the soundtrack release sung by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson. A simple but lovely lyrics. Watch on Youtube

c. "Something There" ~ Beauty and the Beast (1991)

This is when Belle and Beast were warming up to each other. Belle and Beast were contemplating their feelings for each other. True as they say, when you have something in common, you can slowly accept someone although it seems impossible at first. The key is finding out what he or she likes, but you have to be sincere. There may be something there that wasn't there before.

Watch on Youtube

d. "A Whole New World" ~ Aladdin (1992)

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This romantic song is when Aladdin first took Princess Jasmine for a magic carpet ride. I remembered that I was wondering how to spell 'indescribable' when I first heard the song. I like both versions of Brad Kane/Lea Salonga in the movie and Peabo Bryson/Regina Belle in the soundtrack. Watch on Youtube

e. "I'll Make A Man Out of You" ~ Mulan (1998)

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The first Mulan movie is probably the one I preferred most from all its sequels. This is a heart-thumping one and suitable for a warrior song. When Captain Li Shang tried to train his 'saddest bunch' of new troops, he felt like it's going to be a failure, especially for Mulan. However, Mulan, determined to honour her father and to prove that she can do anything, finally able to use her wits and wisdom to be successful in the challenge. Seeing her success (without knowing that she's disguised as a man) the other men became high-spirited and motivated and finally the captain succeeded in training them all by the end of the song. It's a nice pairing of voices between the captain's character voice and his singing voice of Donny Osmond as they are very similar, handsome voice, if I may say. Watch on Youtube

It is true in real life, that sometimes we need someone that we can make them as our motivator or our role model. Perhaps, if we see someone who is already established or already a well-known person for his/her ability and strength, we might think, Nah...he/she's already there, he/she's already great..and all, I am not great, I am far down below...then we might be distancing ourselves from the others. But, if someone who is our peers, and started in the same way, the same level as us, and then rise and shine in what he/she does...it might give a boost to ourselves, and we can think, Why, we are peers, if he/she can do it, I can do it too. We started the same way and I have seen his/her effort. So I can do the same. Hope you readers can understand what I mean. 

Tranquil as a forest, but on fire within...Once you find your center, you are sure to win.

Alright! Now we have come to the numero uno songs of my favourite list....not that I listed the a. to e. songs in order of least favourites to the most..I like them all the same, but the two songs that I am going to tell you in a little bit are my most favourite ones so far!

f. "Go The Distance" ~ Hercules (1997)

www.imagedisney.com

Hercules is on the search of his true identity and on learning the truth and to go back and see his parents for real, he has to become a real hero. But what is a real hero? This is one of the most uplifting song I've ever heard in a movie. In the movie, the song is sung in little parts, and between dialogues, so I searched for this video, so that you can hear the song from start to finish. And also because I prefer the Roger Bart's version in the movie compared to Michael Bolton's version in the soundtrack. However, the soundtrack version has the complete lyrics and it's actually also a really great one. ..and I won't look back, I can go the distance...and I'll stay on track, no. I won't accept defeat...it's an uphill slope, but I won't lose hope...till I go the distance, and my journey is complete...but to look beyond the glory is the hardest part, a hero's strength is measured by his heart....

g. "I Saw The Light" ~ Tangled (2010)

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The newest. The loveliest. There's no other version but one since the voice actors are also the singers. And I love it. Enjoy the video! Rapunzel is always yearning to see the flying lights that she always saw from her window on her birthday night. And at this moment, she could see them for real with the help of a dashing rogue thief, Flynn Ryder. And so, this is their most romantic moment.

So, there you have it. My own personal Disney favourites. What's yours? :)

memories of the shing-a-ling-a-ling...

When I was in primary school, my older brothers and sisters have already grown up and in their late teens-early adulthood era. My eldest brother already started working as a teacher. I remembered every evening I would always go back home from school with him, and he always played his favourite songs in the car. Everyday the same routine, which I think where my first influence in music started. Basically, I could say, these artistes are some of my earliest favourites....

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Money, money, money....always sunny, in the rich man's world... Yes, that's one of ABBA's hundreds of famous songs all through the years. They have so many catchy songs and my brother has many compilations of them.

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Roxette, another Swedish star like ABBA, with songs that I still like to hear until now.

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Perhaps my brother is a loyal hardcore fan of hers for a long time...I'm not sure about now, though. He has almost all albums of hers, and also his own compilations. For me, I sure like her songs during the 90s when she was still a rocker compared to now when she started going 'mellow'..

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Karen Carpenter's soothing voice never fails to calm the listeners. The Carpenter's brother and sister duo produces soft, melodious music that's very nice to enjoy. Many of their songs became my favourites back then.

Well, those were the artistes who had entertained my journey home from school every day. My brother had many more collections of his own i.e. Lobo, Black Dog Bone, Allahyarham Sudirman and many more. A good song is the one that can stand the test of time and we as the listeners, never get bored listening it. 

Till the next post.

(p/s: the chick pox is still making me feel miserable, but last night was the first night of getting enough sleep since I first had it..Alhamdulillah...)

i've figured it out ...

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A musical evening @ Book Xcess

On the 4th and 5th March 2011, the Book Xcess bookstore organized what I call a mini live gig at their store in Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya. They call it Music Appreciation Night. The place is just a stone's throw from my office and about 15 minutes drive from home so I thought of paying it a visit and tried to see what was it all about. The bonus was that if we RSVP for attending the event through their Facebook, we'd get a free membership and a book thong that night and if we're already a member, we'd get a free gift of pre-selected books. The free membership is rather cool, isn't it? So, why not? Furthermore, I was intrigued as who would be the local young talents whom they brought out to the spotlight in the first ever event of its kind for the bookstore.

The gig started off a little after 8.00pm after sound checks and equipments testing. It all happened in that little, cute space that they have in the middle of the bookstore where they had gracefully put the newly acquired piano. The opening band was The 'A' Band which consists of 6 young guys who I assumed as friends of each other. They had 2 female back up singers with them that night. They sang several songs; Baik Baik Sayang (Wali Band) and Kau Ilhamku (Man Bai), just to name a few.

The 'A' Band

The second talent to perform was probably my favourite of the night, a 17-year-old kid named Herman Ramanado. Oh, he belted out cool songs like Fix You by Coldplay and Wonderwall (Oasis) so effortlessly while playing his guitar. He has a really nice voice and successfully spiced up the tunes in his own way which I enjoyed. His taste, I think, was well suited with various groups of listeners as he also chose to do a classic Frank Sinatra number, In Other Words (Fly Me To The Moon). Interesting choice of songs. And preferring genres like funk, soul, reggae and real R&B for a young kid like him is interesting, in my opinion.

Herman Ramanado

Another talent worth rooting for is the young band hailing from Klang, How Should I Know. The band captured my heart with their cover of Taylor Swift's Back To December, which is my current favourite song right now. They performed several more songs afterwards including a Malay song. These guys might probably be no more than 18 years old as in the introduction the MC said that they were friends since 4 years ago when they were merely 14-year-olds. And yet they have already won several competitions around Klang. They can go further up if things going on good.

How Should I Know

The final act of the day would be my first encounter with Mr. Azmyl Yunor. I've never heard of him before and yet when I read the introduction of him that night, I had a feeling that he's going to be fun to watch. And indeed he was. Equipped with a guitar and harmonica, Azmyl performed five of his self-written English and Malay songs with great energy, yet he maintained a modest, laid-back presence, with occasional playful, good-natured remarks. Perhaps dear readers can find him in the internet domain well enough as he has his own website, Myspace and Facebook, and also featured in Wikipedia to know who he is. He promoted his latest independent cd that night and I got the chance to meet him in person, had a small conversation and bought the cd with his autograph on it. Yeah, I could say that I was quite stoked in a way. A really nice guy.

Azmyl Yunor

In the end, it was really a night of appreciation of good music. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the second night for some reason, headache and fatigue being two of it. Therefore I cannot make a review of it here. However, I was glad to attend this event. Good music brings good vibes. Haha...me and my vibes!    

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p/s: I'm thinking of uploading the videos I recorded, so until I've finished figuring it out, keep yourself posted to this blog if you are interested in watching.. :)  

Music : PadaMu Kubersujud

One day, during the early morning of 'sahur', I was alone in the house, I turned on the tv and surfed the channels, then settled for TV3. By that time the drama "Janji Kekasih" was on air, I wasn't really interested to see the drama but I love to hear the OST, where hereby I lay down the lyrics, for its simple yet beautiful words and its lovely musical arrangements made this piece a friendly treat that travels deep to the heart and soul...

Ku menatap dalam gelap
tiada yang bisa ku lihat
selain hanya nama-Mu, 
Ya Allah

Esok ataukah nanti
ampuni semua salahku
lindungi aku dari
segala fitnah

Kau tempatku meminta
Kau beriku bahagia
jadikan aku selamanya
hamba-Mu yang selalu bertaubat

Ampuniku Ya Allah
yang sering melupakan-Mu
saat Kau limpahkan karunia-Mu 
dalam sunyinya aku bersujud 
pada-Mu


(The lyrics and arrangements for this song is rightfully owned by its respective lyricists and composers, whom I am unable to find out by the time this post is published.)

Music: "For Your Entertainment" Adam Lambert

This album is the first music cd I bought after several years of not doing so and after several years of not keeping up with the latest tune on the scene. For some quick info, this singer is the first runner-up of the American Idol Season 8 ( a show which I never follow..the same with other singing reality shows..) and first conquered the music scene with the first single "For Your Entertainment", an OST for the movie "2012" and this album. Truth be told his first single didn't amaze me that much to buy the album. Anyway, it was the second single and a little bit Youtube browsing of his live performances that made the call. Well, I am a fan of live music. Anybody with a great live performance is my favourite. So yeah...and here is my two cents in this album..track by track.

Music Again
The rocking intro of this track quickly set the pace and make you start moving right away. At some point I thought he sounded like Mika..but anyway, it's a good fast tune. My favourite line from this would be "But now you're giving me back my raison d'etre, and I'm inspired again.." which made me learn a new phrase, raison d'etre, meaning reason or justification for being or existence. It is inspiring to meet or find something that make you bounce back to life and make you feel like a brand new person, isn't it?

For Your Entertainment
Most probably this track does not mean anything to me other than the singer's statement that "I'm here and gonna rock your world with my music". Good tune to dance. But not my favourite.

Whataya Want From Me
When I first heard this track on the radio I didn't know yet who's the singer but I already like it. This is one of my favourites in this album. Just that I like the music and part of the song is about keep holding on to love and try to work it out, which is somehow connected to my life at the moment.

Strut
This is a fast tune but honestly, I didn't quite like this one more than the others. However, hearing through the lines..."....and get yourself some validation. You got something to say, your hands are tied. Open your mouth, open it wide. Let the freedom begin." Yes, liberation is what I want...

Soaked
Listening to its grandioso intro, I thought I am in an orchestra...feels so 'orchestratic' if the word even exists. Then the tune start to mellow and even feels like crawling...at once I thought the sound seemed familiar. Like a Muse song. Looked for the songwriter and it's Matt Bellamy..of course, that's why I thought there's a Muse influence there. I don't like the slow crawling rendition but I love the 'orchestratic' part but all in all, it's not my favourite.   

Sure Fire Winners
Kinda like this one. I can keep replaying this track. Hearing it feels like it's a song with boosting confidence and going all out in this world with high self-esteem. One of my favourite fast tunes.

A Loaded Smile
This track is obviously about a fading love to someone or a love turn sour...I felt so stuck in my mind with this slow number...can't go anywhere..so melancholy..the keyboard solo is not to my liking..so, not liking it so much. Probably a person who can get connected with the story inside would feel more about this song.

If I Had You
A nice tune to dance but not one of my favourites. Other than that, I am quite neutral about this track. Nothing more to comment.

Pick U Up
This is Rivers Cuomo (Weezer)'s song. I like this track. Really, I actually don't quite get the meaning of this track but how I understand it is probably about waiting for something good to happen to you but you can enjoy all the things happening right now..cherish the moment, have a blast. The track has the 'let go' feeling, nothing stressful. Free.

Fever
This is the song that he collaborated with Lady GaGa. Not so much to my liking. I can skip this track anytime. I learned another new phrase in this song, though....ménage à trois, hah, what a meaning..I don't have the heart to write it here, please find it yourself. But it is as silly as the line goes "Just you and me and the bar, silly ménage à trois..." lalala..

Sleepwalker
One of my favourites. The music is rather haunting, a Ryan Tedder (OneRepublic)'s work. It is about still being haunted by old memories after a break up...or at least that is what I understand. Though the meaning is not connected to me in any way, but I like the music. And great guitar solo there too.

Aftermath
My numero uno song in this album! And it happens that the singer himself wrote this strong, beautiful track. The first few lines of this track, at first I thought his voice sounded like Daughtry. There are some parts in here where his voice is a little bit deep and the whole piece is well-rendered. I really want to hear this being sung live, couldn't find it anywhere yet in the Tube. But I'm guessing that with a terrific vocal ability that he has, I doubt that I will be disappointed. "..Take a step before you leap, into the colors that you seek. You get back what you give away, so don't look back on yesterday." Love this song.

Broken Open
The longest track in this album. This one also has the haunting and mysterious feeling when I heard it. I am quite neutral about this song too. It's just too mysterious to me that I keep wondering what it is about. " I know the battles, chasing the shadows, of who you wanna be..." Uff, hit the spot there.

Time For Miracles
This is the bonus track, the OST for the movie "2012". Like it. Another song about not giving up on something that you hold so dearly.

So, that's it. It's cool that the singer co-wrote many of the songs in here. And to me with half of the tracks here are my favourites, I think the album is not too bad. Enjoy.

A Thousand Winds

I started to like this song since I first heard it at the Japanese Song Contest, TBIC...

It's a hit song by Akikawa Masafumi in 2007, probably based on an English poetry as below, but I'm not so sure as I couldn't understand the documentary in Youtube...however, it's a beautiful piece of poetry and musical instrumentation arrangement..I could feel what the message was even before I know the meaning of this song..

A Thousand Winds (author unknown)

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds of circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I do not die.

(.....I think there is more to this poem...)

See the original singer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFSZH5QTa7U