Colors of the Wind
Encyclopedia
"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 humankind 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 disc
for sales of 500,000 copies, and reaching number four on the U.S. charts. For her version, Williams received a Grammy nomination as Best Pop Female Vocal Performance in 1996 (she lost to Annie Lennox
's "No More I Love You's").
melody span a musical interval of a major sixth
. Overall, the span of the melody reaches an eleventh
. Because the melody spans a slightly larger range than some instruments, such as the Native American Flute
,
can reach, alternate versions of the melody have been arranged that span a more modest interval.
", this song is Pocahontas' exhortation 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 second time the chorus is sung in the single version, the second line becomes "Or let the eagle tell you where he's been" from the original "Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned," likely because the latter phrase refers to imagery in the movie of a fictitious
constellation which resembles a bobcat. The third line tells of singing with the voices of the mountains, as the fourth line concludes with the title imagery of painting with the colors of the wind.
Alan Menken
Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...
and lyricist Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz (composer)
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell , Pippin and Wicked...
, was the 1995 Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winner for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
from the Disney animated feature film, Pocahontas
Pocahontas (1995 film)
Pocahontas is the 33rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to selected theaters on June 16, 1995 by Walt Disney Pictures...
. It also won the Golden Globe in the same category as well as the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Song Written for a Movie
Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
The Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media has been awarded since 1988 and is awarded to songs written for films, television, video games or other visual media...
. The song poetically presents the Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
viewpoint that the earth is a living entity where humankind is connected to everything in nature.
The song was performed within the movie's narrative by Judy Kuhn
Judy Kuhn
-Life and career:Kuhn was born in New York City and grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. She attended Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C.She entered Oberlin College in 1976. Although she was very interested in singing and theater, she began Oberlin in the College, not the Conservatory. After taking...
as the singing voice of Pocahontas. Singer/actress Vanessa Williams
Vanessa L. Williams
Vanessa Lynn Williams is an American pop-R&B recording artist, producer, dancer, model, actress and showgirl. In 1983, she became the first woman of African-American descent to be crowned Miss America, but a scandal generated by her having posed for nude photographs published in Penthouse magazine...
recorded a version for the end credits which was successfully released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
and became one of Williams' biggest hits in 1995, earning a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
for sales of 500,000 copies, and reaching number four on the U.S. charts. For her version, Williams received a Grammy nomination as Best Pop Female Vocal Performance in 1996 (she lost to Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
's "No More I Love You's").
Melody
The first two notes of Alan Menken'sAlan Menken
Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...
melody span a musical interval of a major sixth
Major sixth
In classical music from Western culture, a sixth is a musical interval encompassing six staff positions , and the major sixth is one of two commonly occurring sixths. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two...
. Overall, the span of the melody reaches an eleventh
Eleventh
In music or music theory an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh....
. Because the melody spans a slightly larger range than some instruments, such as the Native American Flute
Native American flute
The Native American flute has achieved some measure of fame for its distinctive sound, used in a variety of New Age and world music recordings. The instrument was originally very personal; its music was played without accompaniment in courtship, healing, meditation, and spiritual rituals. Now it...
,
can reach, alternate versions of the melody have been arranged that span a more modest interval.
Lyrics
Described as a "stirring anthem to animismAnimism
Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....
", this song is Pocahontas' exhortation to John Smith about the wonders of the earth and nature, including the spirit
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
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 second time the chorus is sung in the single version, the second line becomes "Or let the eagle tell you where he's been" from the original "Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned," likely because the latter phrase refers to imagery in the movie of a fictitious
Fictitious
For literary uses see FictionFor Legal uses see legal fiction*Fictitious defendants*Feigned action*Ejectment - an action to recover land*John Doe - commonly named as a fictitious defendant....
constellation which resembles a bobcat. The third line tells of singing with the voices of the mountains, as the fourth line concludes with the title imagery of painting with the colors of the wind.
Cover versions
Due to the popularity of the song, many versions of it exist by different artists and in several languages. Cover artists include:- Sara RamirezSara RamírezSara Ramírez is a Mexican-American singer/songwriter and actress. She is known for her role as Callie Torres in Grey's Anatomy and as the original Lady of the Lake in the 2005 Broadway musical Spamalot, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.-Early life:Ramírez...
- Simone Egeriis (DanishDanish languageDanish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
) - Edyta GórniakEdyta GórniakEdyta Górniak is one of the most popular female singers from Poland.- Beginnings :At the age of 14 Górniak formed a band and was playing at private parties and evening dances. After taking singing lessons, in 1989, aged 16, she gave her first public appearance on a Polish television talent show...
(PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
) - Daniela MercuryDaniela MercuryDaniela Mercury , is a Latin Grammy Award-winning Brazilian axé, samba-reggae and MPB singer, songwriter and record producer. Since her breakthrough, Mercury has become one of the best known Brazilian female singers, selling over 20 million albums worldwide...
and Kika Tristão (Brazilian PortugueseBrazilian PortugueseBrazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
) - Rita (HebrewHebrew languageHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
) - Susana FélixSusana FélixSusana Félix is a Portuguese singer, songwriter, musician, actress, producer.In 2006, she was the artistic coordinator of the show Sexta Feira 13 - O Musical Xutos & Pontapés, after the Portuguese band Xutos & Pontapés. Susana was also the Portuguese voice of Pocahontas, the Disney character...
(PortuguesePortuguese languagePortuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
) - Sumi Jo (KoreanKorean languageKorean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
) - Jennifer RushJennifer RushJennifer Rush is an American/German-based pop/rock singer, best known for the million-selling single "The Power of Love", which she co-wrote and which went on to be covered by Laura Branigan and Celine Dion.-Career:...
(GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
) - Fiona Tzavara (GreekGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
) - Anita SkorganAnita SkorganAnita Skorgan is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. She was once married to Jahn Teigen, another successful Norwegian singer-songwriter...
(NorwegianNorwegian languageNorwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
) - Daniela CastilloDaniela CastilloDaniela Castillo Vicuña is a Chilean female pop singer and actress born in Santiago. She debuted in 2002 as a solo artist on the Chilean TV show Rojo: Fama Contra Fama. She studied four years at the Alicia Puccio Academy where she met the casting crew for the TV show Rojo...
(Chilean SpanishChilean SpanishChilean Spanish is the variety of Spanish spoken in most of Chile. Though still entirely mutually intelligible with standard Spanish, Chilean Spanish has distinctive pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and slang usage...
) - Arja KorisevaArja KorisevaArja Sinikka Koriseva is an award-winning Finnish singer. She first came to fame as a tango singer; now her repertoire includes evergreens, Finnish pop, musical theatre, and sacred music....
(FinnishFinnish languageFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
) - Winnie HsinWinnie HsinWinnie Hsin is a Taiwanese singer. She is best known for her crystal clear soprano voice.-Biography:In 1976, Hsin was admitted to the Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School, and in 1979 she studied music in the Chinese Culture University in Taipei. After graduating, she became a music teacher in the Yamaha...
(Mandarin) - Coco LeeCoCo LeeCoco Lee , born on 17 January 1975, also known by her official English name as Ferren Lee, is a pop singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. Coco started her career in Hong Kong but, after becoming popular in Taiwan, she was widely considered to be a Taiwan artist. She was born to a Chinese...
(Mandarin) - Pia DouwesPia DouwesPia Douwes is a Dutch musical theatre actress who is extremly successful in Europe.- Biography :Douwes was born in Amsterdam, North Holland as Petronella Irene Allegonda Douwes, to an arts dealer and a social worker and the grandniece of Doris Day...
(DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
) - Tuba Önal (TurkishTurkish languageTurkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
) - AshantiAshanti (singer)Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, actress, and model. She rose to fame in the early 2000s. Ashanti is most famous for her eponymous debut album, which featured the hit song "Foolish", and sold over 503,000 copies in its first week of release...
(feat. Lil' Sis Shi Shi) on DisneymaniaDisneyManiaDisneymania is the first of a series of albums released by Walt Disney Records featuring various musical artists performing Disney songs. The original album, released on September 17, 2002, featured contemporary Disney classics...
and DisneyremixmaniaDisneyRemixManiaDisneyremixmania is Disney's 1st remix album in the Disneymania series. It features 14 Disneymania songs from the past 3 volumes remixed to create dance versions of Disney classics. Additionally, there is a 15th song, the "Disneyremixmania Mega Mix" contains 3 Disneymania 3 songs mashed into a... - Ning BaizuraNing BaizuraNing Baizura binti Sheikh Hamzah , popularly known as Ning, is a Malaysian pop and R&B singer, who records and sings in languages, including Bahasa Malaysia, English, Japanese, Italian, French, Mandarin and Cantonese...
- Whitney HoustonWhitney HoustonWhitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
- Michael CrawfordMichael CrawfordMichael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
- Christy Carlson RomanoChristy Carlson RomanoChristy Carlson Romano is an American stage and film actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the sitcom Even Stevens and the animated series Kim Possible, in which she is the voice of the title character, as well as the voice of Yuffie Kisaragi in Kingdom Hearts and Final...
on Disneymania 3DisneyMania 3-Track listing:# Raven-Symoné - "Under the Sea" - 3:15# Jump5 - "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" - 3:04# Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson - "A Whole New World" - 4:11... - ATC
- The ChipettesThe ChipettesThe Chipettes are a fictional group of anthropomorphic chipmunk singers first appearing on the cartoon series Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1983. In this and related materials, the Chipettes served as female featured characters in their own right, starring in numerous episodes...
- Danielle WhiteDanielle WhiteDanielle Marie White is an American singer, songwriter, and occasional actress who was raised in Bradenton, Florida...
- Peter BroggsPeter BroggsPeter Broggs is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is a successful artist in Jamaica and well-known in the international reggae scenes....
- Peter MoonPeter MoonPeter Moon may refer to:* Peter Moon , Australian comedian* Peter Moon , author of books relating to the postulated Montauk Project* Peter Moon , Hawaiian musician...
- Lea SalongaLea SalongaLea Salonga-Chien is a mezzo-soprano singer and actress from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards.She was the first Asian to play the roles of Éponine and...
on Songs from The ScreenSongs from The ScreenSongs from The Screen is Lea Salonga performing with the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra - Performed Live at PICC Plenary Hall, Manila Philippines. Her accomplished brother, Gerard Salonga, serves as the Conductor/ Musical Director.- Track listing :... - Amy Jo JohnsonAmy Jo JohnsonAmy Jo Johnson is an American actress, singer, songwriter and musician.She is best known for her roles in the televison series as the constable Jules Callaghan in the Canadian CTV television series Flashpoint, the famous jockey Tina Sharp in the ABC Family's original show Wildfire, the rookie cop...
- Arturo SandovalArturo SandovalArturo Sandoval is a jazz trumpeter and pianist. He was born in Artemisa, in the newest renamed Artemisa Province, Cuba....
- Pam TillisPam TillisPamela Yvonne "Pam" Tillis is an American country music singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of country music singer Mel Tillis....
- Vanessa Hudgens on Disneymania 5DisneyMania 5Disneymania 5 is the 5th installment in the Disneymania series. Its was released on March 27, 2007. The album features 4 of the stars from High School Musical: Vanessa Hudgens, Lucas Grabeel, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu and from High School Musical: The Concert, Drew Seeley among others. The album...
and Princess DisneymaniaPrincess DisneyManiaPrincess Disneymania is Disney's first compilation album in the Disneymania series. It was released on September 30, 2008. The album features various artists renditions of classic songs sung by the Disney Princesses... - ACIDMANAcidmanAcidman is a Japanese Rock group. The band was formed in 1997 with four members, Shiibashi Takeshi, Urayama Ichigo, Satou Masatoshi, and Ohki Nobuo, who first met in a military academy in Saitama. The four went to a college in Shimokitazawa, where together they formed Acidman...
, a J-Rock band also played a remixed version of the song for their album Equal - Gheorghe ZamfirGheorghe ZamfirGheorghe Zamfir is a Romanian pan flute musician.Zamfir is known for playing an expanded version of the traditional Romanian-style pan flute of 20 pipes to 22, 25, 28 and 30 pipes to increase its range, and obtaining as many as eight overtones from each pipe by changing the embouchure.He is...
(Instrumental) - Thia MegiaThia MegiaThia Megia is an American singer from Mountain House, San Joaquin County, California. Megia finished in the top 11 of the tenth season of American Idol...
on the tenth seasonAmerican Idol (season 10)The tenth season of American Idol premiered on January 19, 2011 and concluded on May 25, 2011, on Fox. The show underwent a number of changes from season nine, including the reduction of the judging panel to its original number of just three judges , a returning executive producer, a new music...
of American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
. - Ivana WongIvana WongIvana Wong was born on 18 June 1979. She is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer-songwriter.-Biography:Wong's first public performance was at the CASH Song Writers contest in 2000 in which her Mandarin piece "It is just misunderstanding and not tragic at all" placed first...
- Brian WilsonBrian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
covered "Colors of the Wind" on his album In the Key of Disney, which was released on October 25, 2011.
Peak positions
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
16 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
16 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... Singles Chart |
25 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
21 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
4 |
| US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
2 |
| US Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks Adult Top 40 is a variation on the United States Billboard charts... |
10 |
| US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
53 |
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
9 |
| Gfk Dutch Charts | 9 |
| Flanders Flanders Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp... Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... |
38 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1995) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 31 |