"He Lives in You" is a song written and performed by Lebo M

Lebo M

Lebohang “Lebo M.” Morake, known professionally as Lebo M, is a South African composer most famous for arranging and performing music for the Lion King movies and stage productions. He was recommended to Disney by Hans Zimmer, the score composer of The Lion King, and was later hired to form and...

 and his South African Choir for the CD Rhythm of the Pride Lands

Rhythm of the Pride Lands

Rhythm of the Pride Lands is an audio CD released on February 28, 1995 by The Walt Disney Company, a "sequel" to the original motion picture soundtrack of the animated film The Lion King. The CD, was originally an independent project developed by Jay Rifkin and Lebo M and included songs and...

. A shorter version of the song was used in the opening of The Lion King II. This song was co-written by Mark Mancina

Mark Mancina

Mark Alan Mancina is a U.S. composer, primarily for Hollywood soundtracks, such as his collaboration with Trevor Rabin on the soundtrack for Con Air. He arranged many of the songs behind Disney's The Lion King including the Broadway musical...

 and Jay Rifkin

Jay Rifkin

Jay Rifkin is a music and film producer.Rifkin created the company Media Ventures with Hans Zimmer, a childhood friend, whom he partnered with to produce and compose with. Media Ventures is a diverse entertainment group that includes music, new media, film and television...

. It is also performed twice in the musical version

The Lion King (musical)

The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice along with the musical score created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well...

 of The Lion King.

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

The song is used in the opening sequence of the 1998 film

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride is a 1998 American direct-to-video animated film released by Walt Disney Home Video on October 27, 1998. The film is the sequel to the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King...

, sung by Lebo M

Lebo M

Lebohang “Lebo M.” Morake, known professionally as Lebo M, is a South African composer most famous for arranging and performing music for the Lion King movies and stage productions. He was recommended to Disney by Hans Zimmer, the score composer of The Lion King, and was later hired to form and...

. Animals are shown traveling to Pride Rock to witness the presentation of Simba

Simba

Simba is a lion character and the protagonist of Disney's most successful animated feature film, The Lion King. He is the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, nephew of Scar, mate of Nala, and father of Kiara. He has golden fur and when he grows into an adult, he has an auburn mane...

 and Nala's daughter Kiara. The main theme of the song is that Mufasa's legacy will never die, despite his death. Mufasa's ghost is also seen watching over the presentation.

A longer version of the song was recorded and presented on the Rhythm of the Pride Lands CD. As stated, both the short and long versions of the song are composed by Hans Zimmer

Hans Zimmer

Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...

, the same music composer who scored the original Lion King film.

A pop version of the song was recorded by Tina Turner

Tina Turner

Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...

 and was featured on the compilation album, The Lion King Collection

The song features English lyrics mixed in with some Zulu

Zulu language

Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...

 lyrics, similar to some of the lyrics sung in the song Circle of Life

Circle of Life

The song was re-recorded in 2003 by the Disney Channel Circle of Stars, a group of actors and actresses who have appeared in Disney Channel television series and original movies...

, including the lyrics "Ingonyama nengw' enamabala" (Here is a lion and a leopard) and the background lyrics of "Hela hey Mamela" (Hey, Listen)

The Lion King musical

The song is used twice in the musical based on the film, once in each act. During the first act it is performed by Mufasa to young Simba as They Live in You. The lyrics were changed slightly to represent the Great Kings of the Past. Mufasa, during the song, shows Simba that he is never alone as there is always someone watching over him.

In the second act the song is sung by Rafiki, the chorus and adult Simba as He Lives in You. The first part of the song is fairly subdued and sung by Rafiki and the chorus as Rafiki summons Mufasa's ghost. Mufasa's ghost appears and instructs Simba to return home and take his rightful place as king. After Mufasa's ghost fades, Simba realizes that he must take responsibility and return home. At this, there is an instrumental break, after which the song becomes livelier and Simba joins in the celebratory singing.

Cover versions

Tina Turner

Tina Turner

Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...

's version was featured on the compilation album, The Lion King Collection

Diana Ross

Diana Ross

Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...

 recorded the song for her 1999 album Every Day is a New Day

Every Day is a New Day

-Album:-Singles:...

. Lonnie Gordon

Lonnie Gordon

Lonnie Gordon is a female Hi-NRG, house and soul singer-songwriter from New York's Bronx, who has scored many chart hits during the 1990s and 2000s.-Early life and career:...

 recorded a house

House music

House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...

 version for her album No Regret and released it as a single in 2001. A Eurobeat

Eurobeat

Eurobeat is a form of italo-disco/hi-NRG music that developed in the late 1980s.In the United States, Eurobeat was sometimes marketed as Hi-NRG and for a short while shared this term with the very early freestyle music hits....

 rendition of the song was recorded for Eurobeat Disney, Vol. 1 with vocals by Brian Ice. Elijah Kelley

Elijah Kelley

Elijah Kelley is an American actor, singer, and dancer. Kelley has appeared in the films Take the Lead and 28 Days , and co-starred in the musical film re-adaptation of Hairspray , in which he portrayed the character Seaweed J...

 from the movie version of the musical version of the movie Hairspray

Hairspray (2007 film)

Hairspray is a 2007 musical film produced by Kolaja Productions and distributed by New Line Cinema. It was released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2007. The film is an adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John...

covered it in 2008 for DisneyMania 6

DisneyMania 6

Disneymania 6 is the sixth installment in the Disneymania series. It features contemporary performers' takes on classic Disney songs. It was released on May 20, 2008.-Track listing:...

.

They Live In You and He Lives In You have been rendered for cast recordings of the musical including The Lion King: 1997 Original Broadway Cast and The Lion King: Original Japanese Cast They Live In You was used by Johnny Mathis

Johnny Mathis

John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...

 for his 2000 album Mathis on Broadway.

In 2010, Helene Fischer

Helene Fischer

Helene Fischer is a German singer and entertainer. Since her debut in 2005 she has had won several awards, including three "Echo" awards and three "Krone der Volksmusik" awards.-Upbringing and education:...

, a German singer, performed the song on her "So wie ich bin"-Tour.

Micheal Castaldo

Micheal Castaldo

Michéal Castaldo is an Italian-born Canadian, and now a New York City resident classical crossover tenor, music producer and composer.-Early life and musical career:...

 recorded an Italian version of the song, call 'Lui vive in te' on his Aceto album.