Well it has been a longer than required journey, but we are finally here at the top ten! It has been a fun journey as I bleed my heart onto the floor for your amusement, but I have had a lot of fun discussing the songs of Disney as well as the movies they come from. For this topic, since the sight that shall not be named is back up, I was able to properly credit everyone to a song for so I have gotten rid of every single question mark beside a song title, hopefully that will appease the gods of Board 8 topics. I am going to make a Wiki page with all of the write-ups, which should be all nice and neat before day's end, and then I can begin the long anticipated top ten which will surely get me lynched.
Mingle amongst yourselves for now, and anyone besides Gen is free to give their comments :P
(Gen has already given a lot of hers, stop making her glow with so much pride everyone geesh)
Speaking of pride, I believe Gen won the prediction challenge. If not someone let me know, I am bad at counting.
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http://firsthour.net/screenshots/suikoden-2/suikoden-2-luca-blight.JPG The Cult of Personality.
Man, I feel like I've been being kind of a b**** lately. Part of me feels like I should dial it down a turn, but that dominant part of me is having such fun with it. Come to think of it, that side has only been the dominant one since that Disney contest. I think Chris created a monster!
Okay, time to burn through all of my board 8 obligations!
10. Son of Man (Tarzan) – Nominated by Emporer_Kazbar
The second this song starts up I get chills. Not only has Phil Collins brought his A game for this song, but the theme for this song and the music in the background are just about perfect. This is a very, very powerful song. It speaks of hardship and something very universally true. I think a lot of us have recently experienced that struggle from child to adult and this song captures that feeling so well. It lines out that it isn't easy, but if you live the right way you'll make it to where you need to be.
I almost get tired of talking about how amazing Phil Collins is, and then I listen to a Phil Collins song and remember I was just being silly. The delivery of every line of this song is perfect. There is hardly another way to describe it. There are very few singers who can elevate to this level time after time and it is a reason why Phil Collins is considered one of the best vocalists in the world. He was amazingly consistent on this soundtrack and I've said it before really made me remember Tarzan more fondly than it probably deserves.
While the message is awesome I have to admit this song got this high just because I love listening to it over and over. Sometimes it is really that simple. This is a very great song to casually listen to both because of the vocals and because of the very light and casual sound that it brings. I think it beats the other Tarzan in the top ten on pure casual listening. I like upbeat songs and this song certainly fits the bill. I also like the scenes that go along with the song a lot and it gets me hyped every time I see it. A good scene to go along with a great song. The best part is either the epic twirling into adulthood or the snake getting owned near the end of the song, either one works as a highlight really.
I am sure Gen will be partially happy with this one being lower than some of her favorites.
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http://firsthour.net/screenshots/suikoden-2/suikoden-2-luca-blight.JPG The Cult of Personality.
From the first moment we see Frollo we are treated to hype. We don't know who he is, but these people fear him. The fear and the dread is laid out for us to soak in. Then we learn his nature as he denies blame for the murder of an innocent woman. From there the child he wanted to murder grows up to believe Frollo kindly took him in after his mother abandoned him. Think about that for a second, that level of depravity borders on the absurd. Who would do something so twisted and malevolent? Frollo, that's who! Then he talks about how god is going to throw the wicked into a molten fire and he promptly goes into a molten fire. I approve.
Anyway contrary to what most of this write-up might suggest my sole purpose of this isn't to merely talk about how much of a dick Frollo is! The singing in this song is amazing and even if I were to ignore all of the personality Frollo gives to the song it is still a great song. It sets the mood any time you want to listen to a song about an honest man of the cloth having trouble with a harlot wench! I dare say there is no better song in Disney's library suited for such a subject! But really the song is very fun because of how dramatic it is. Despite the hate being spewed by the singer it is obvious some weighty matters are on the table here. There is a sense of raw passion throughout the song and for being such a bad guy Frollo sure can sing really well.
I have to be careful, I might wear down before I get to the final song from the movie where I am going to have to talk about everyone else but Frollo pretty much! I hope Genesis liked this write-up for her boy Frollo even if the song is lower than she may have wanted it to be.
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http://firsthour.net/screenshots/suikoden-2/suikoden-2-luca-blight.JPG The Cult of Personality.
9. Hellfire (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) – Nominated by Anagram
This song was actually lower until I thought about this song a little bit and really paid attention to the lyrics. Then it dawned on me: this song is bloody amazing. I have always just listened to this song and appreciated the fact that it was a great villain song sung by a complete psychopath who uses god as a cloak to shield himself from actual righteous mortal men who would stop his madness. However I realized that there are so many fire references to this song that I have to appreciate it on a whole new level. It is one thing to have an amazing villain song but this one is amazingly thematic to the whole “Hellfire” title of the song and I really love that aspect of it. I love themes of songs, as everyone should know by now, and that pushes it over the top for me.
The song fits Frollo to a tee. There is such evil in this song that I almost wish I could turn away. His character embodies a lot of the dark history of the church where clear villains could run cities into the ground with false divine rite. The song nails him in every way imaginable. He seeks help, but he also wants vengeance, but rather than vengeance he also desires Esmeralda in the most lustful way imaginable. His lust as well as his wrath physically drains him until the very end where he collapses. It speaks to the vileness of the character that he can both ask for mercy but declare so boldly that another person will either succumb to his wishes or he will literally burn her.
Frollo is an interesting character because of the duality of his personality. He is so busy throughout the movie clinging to every position of strength he has garnered for himself to gain the upper hand on others but in reality he is painfully aware, somewhere deep inside of the dark soul of his, how weak and pathetic he truly is. In this song he speaks of needing mercy, of how the devil is stronger than a man, how the gypsy cast a spell on him. Privately he will admit that he is nothing more than a weak man who needs another to try to save him from all of these supposed otherworldly afflictions. Because he is able to see himself, roughly, for what he really is I think that makes him want to hurt others even more. Bullies bully others because of how they feel about themselves, and Frollo is one hell of a bully. He has to do so much evil seeking just to distract his gaze away from himself. When you have nothing but evil within it isn't hard to see why you would believe everything you behold is tainted, because in a way it is. Your eyes, which are the windows to a twisted soul, taint everything you see.
There is not a single doubt that Frollo is an amazing villain. There is nothing to like about him other than the fact that he is a superbly done villain. He is weak, cowardly, conniving, and just pure evil. There is nothing to like about this man. I remember I said that in Treasure Planet the movie suffers from not having a good villain and similarly Hunchback is so much better because of Frollo's presence. I hate him so much, and that is how I know Disney did a fantastic job with his character.
I appreciate only great villains. I am a bit of a sap and I enjoy the good guys way more than perhaps I should. I am very harsh in my standards when it comes to a villain. If you aren't great there is no room for you. Like Gaston, Frollo passes with flying colors in this department. There is also another villain I am going to have ample time to talk about when his song comes up that is also in this tier. There is greatness here, and I think sometimes it goes unappreciated. It isn't easy to have a great villain. There is no cheapness here. There are no quick paths to our hatred. It slowly builds, just as Frollo's own madness in the film does.
Oh well. I especially like the juxtaposition of Heaven's Light and Hellfire. Quasi sings of all these beautiful things like love and happiness with his angelic voice (still a little too much vibratto from Hulce imo) right before Frollo sings of burning the.woman he's fallen in lust with at the stake if he can't have her. Really makes you think about where the two of them are bound and provides some nice foreshadowing.
And yes, Frollo's final words are pretty epic given where he ended up.
My favorite part of CotW is easily the little scale harmony permutation midway through.I believe its at the part where it says "We are all connected to each other, in a circle in a hoop that never ends"
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yE frE me Kweku Ananse Papa me:http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/1508/masterplumgm3.jpg
Colors of the Wind was the first Poca song to make it to my music library, which is pretty great considering I haven't watched Poca for more than...~15 mins? John Smith and his crew haven't even arrived yet, lol. Still, it's probably not in my Top 25.
Okay, time to burn through all of my board 8 obligations!
10. Son of Man (Tarzan) – Nominated by Emporer_Kazbar
The second this song starts up I get chills. Not only has Phil Collins brought his A game for this song, but the theme for this song and the music in the background are just about perfect. This is a very, very powerful song. It speaks of hardship and something very universally true. I think a lot of us have recently experienced that struggle from child to adult and this song captures that feeling so well. It lines out that it isn't easy, but if you live the right way you'll make it to where you need to be.
I almost get tired of talking about how amazing Phil Collins is, and then I listen to a Phil Collins song and remember I was just being silly. The delivery of every line of this song is perfect. There is hardly another way to describe it. There are very few singers who can elevate to this level time after time and it is a reason why Phil Collins is considered one of the best vocalists in the world. He was amazingly consistent on this soundtrack and I've said it before really made me remember Tarzan more fondly than it probably deserves.
While the message is awesome I have to admit this song got this high just because I love listening to it over and over. Sometimes it is really that simple. This is a very great song to casually listen to both because of the vocals and because of the very light and casual sound that it brings. I think it beats the other Tarzan in the top ten on pure casual listening. I like upbeat songs and this song certainly fits the bill. I also like the scenes that go along with the song a lot and it gets me hyped every time I see it. A good scene to go along with a great song. The best part is either the epic twirling into adulthood or the snake getting owned near the end of the song, either one works as a highlight really.
I am sure Gen will be partially happy with this one being lower than some of her favorites.
And here I was about to go on lfaqs and see where this song ended up ranked.
My favorite Disney song. Bar none. And Phil Collins is indeed amazing, especially when you consider his Genesis work.
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Will not remove this line of my signature until the Seahawks, Jazz or Rockies win a title (Started 5-16-09) SuperNiceDog: Guru winner
8. Why Should I Worry (Oliver & Company) - Nominated by Vishje3000
I love the Goo Goo Dolls, but I absolutely worship Billy Joel. My ipod is filled with his songs, I have multiple albums floating around my computer, and I don't even bother trying to rank his songs anymore, I just listen to them and sigh at how god damn amazing Billy Joel is. This song is under the “purchased” tab in itunes for very good reason: It is absolutely amazing at any time. Billy Joel is the heart and soul of this song as its vocalist, but the music itself as well ad the theme are very powerful, if not as serious as the rest of the top ten it is surrounded by.
To understand why I love the theme of this song I feel I need to give a bit of a history of myself and my favorite Disney song of all time: Hakuna Matata. I love a great fun song that has a message but doesn't take itself seriously every once in awhile. I know this song isn't as serious as even that Hakuna Matata, and that's okay, but I love the idea of letting go of your burdens every once in awhile and having some style that Billy Joel's vocals manage to pull off so wonderfully. I don't think there is another singer alive who could have pulled off this song half as well. It isn't the lyrics telling you his mood, it is the voice itself, and that is an exceptionally rare quality.
The scene in the movie is also fantastic. Dodger is taking a tour of the city while Oliver tries his best to keep up and barely managing to follow the entire time. It has some great comedy and like the character of Dodger a ton of swagger behind it. I think it is unquestionably the highlight of the movie, followed closely by the opening number. This movie started with such amazing potential with that one two combo but it was mostly wasted by film's end, but I'll get to that in a second. Anyway as I was saying the scene really is one of the special ones in all of Disney with how much it highlights the city and how unbelievably fun it is. There is a sense of pure joy I feel whenever I watch this scene and it helps sell Dodger as such a great and lovable character despite being a dick to the poor cat.
So in summation the reason this song is so high is that Billy Joel is absolutely amazing and the scene is pretty great as well. As I said, not every song this high will involve rocket science, just a lot of them.
As for the movie itself... it is not a bad movie, but it feels as if they spent all of their good music budget on the first twelve or so minutes and then just decided they didn't care enough to continue that trend. This movie probably has the greatest one two punch to start a movie for songs in the history of Disney, and it is certainly very high up if I have omitted something from my memory when thinking about it briefly. Once Upon A Time in New York City is a very powerful and rich song, and to follow it up with Why Should I Worry was a brilliant choice. From there the rest of the songs are utterly forgettable until the reprise of WsiW.
The animation is really not up to snuff, and the plot is paper thin. Dodger holds this film together as best as he can but he is the clear highlight along with Oliver's general cuteness. I don't have really negative emotions about this movie it is just so underwhelming compared to what was to come in the coming years.
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