Some Day My Prince Will Come
Encyclopedia
"Some Day My Prince Will Come" is a popular song from Walt Disney
's 1937 animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
. It was written by Larry Morey
(lyrics) & Frank Churchill
(music), and performed by Adriana Caselotti
(Snow White's voice in the movie). It was also featured in the 1979 stage adaptation
of the 1937 animated musical movie.
The American Film Institute
listed this song at #19 on their list of the 100 greatest songs in movie history
. Following "When You Wish Upon A Star
" from Pinocchio
at #7, this is the second highest ranked song from a Disney movie out of four, with the other two being "Beauty and the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast
at #62 and "Hakuna Matata
" from The Lion King
at #99. The song was then briefly sung on the 1971 sitcom All In The Family
by Edith Bunker
in the episode Archie's Weighty Problem.
" at the Theresienstadt concentration camp
in 1943. About that concert the author and musician Herbert Thomas Mandl
tells in his film "Tracks to Terezin
". The concert took place in the so called Coffee House of Theresienstadt and Mandl himself saw and heard it. The original title of the concert was "Music from Frank Churchill
". But the Nazis could see that title as a provocation, so it was changed to "Music from the film 'Snow White" by Walt Disney".
The song was performed in the 1948 film Mickey
as "One Day My Prince Will Come".
In 1957, the jazz
pianist
Dave Brubeck
, inspired by an anthology of Disney tunes owned by his child, included a version of the song on the album Dave Digs Disney.
The song quickly became popular amongst jazz musicians, who considered its chord sequence to be particularly satisfying. Later versions were recorded by Bill Evans
, Miles Davis
, Oscar Peterson
, and many times by Herbie Hancock
, who would use it as the basis for a virtuoso showpiece display.
The recording on the 1961 Miles Davis
album, Someday My Prince Will Come, features a pedal point
interlude between choruses that has often been imitated. Pianist Wynton Kelly
, who performed on Davis' version, recorded the track as a trio later that year on his own album of the same name
.
Lena Horne
, in 1976 sang a version with the Robert Farnon
Orchestra and Phil Woods
on A New Album
.
The Chet Baker
Trio recorded an album called Someday My Prince Will Come in 1979.
Sun Ra
's 1989 live album Second Star to the Right includes a version of the song that incorporated both vocals and an extended rubato saxophone solo.
Al Di Meola
recorded it in 1993 in his album World Sinfonia II - Heart of the Immigrants, describing it as a “tribute to Miles Davis”.
Bassist Stanley Clarke
recorded a cover on the album Jazz in the Garden
. The album features Lenny White
on drums.
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's 1937 animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
. It was written by Larry Morey
Larry Morey
Larry Morey was an American lyricist, who was responsible for co-writing some of the most successful songs in Disney movies of the 1930s and 1940s, including "Heigh-Ho", "Some Day My Prince Will Come", and "Whistle While You Work"...
(lyrics) & Frank Churchill
Frank Churchill
Frank Churchill was an American composer of popular music for films. He wrote most of the music for Disney's 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, including "Whistle While You Work" and "Some Day My Prince Will Come"...
(music), and performed by Adriana Caselotti
Adriana Caselotti
Adriana Mitchell Caselotti was an American actress and singer. She was the voice of the title character in Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Caselotti was named as a Disney Legend in 1994.-Early life:...
(Snow White's voice in the movie). It was also featured in the 1979 stage adaptation
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (musical)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a musical with music by Frank Churchill and Jay Blackton, lyrics by Larry Morey and Joe Cook, book by Joe Cook, based on the 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs....
of the 1937 animated musical movie.
Overview
This song first appears 57:56 into the movie, when Princess Snow White sings a bedtime song for the dwarfs after their small party. It later appears when Snow White is making a pie and once more in a more formal version when the prince takes Snow White away at the end.The American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
listed this song at #19 on their list of the 100 greatest songs in movie history
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs
Part of the AFI 100 Years… series, AFI's 100 Years…100 Songs is a list of the top 100 songs in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute June 22, 2004 in a CBS special hosted by John Travolta, who appeared in two films honored by the list, Saturday Night Fever and...
. Following "When You Wish Upon A Star
When You Wish upon a Star
"When You Wish upon a Star" is a song written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio. The original version of the song was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the...
" from Pinocchio
Pinocchio (1940 film)
Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the story The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It is the second film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, and it was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was released to theaters by...
at #7, this is the second highest ranked song from a Disney movie out of four, with the other two being "Beauty and the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1991 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirtieth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and the third film of the Disney Renaissance period...
at #62 and "Hakuna Matata
Hakuna Matata
Hakuna matata is a Swahili phrase that is literally translated as "There are no worries." It is sometimes translated as "no worries", although is more commonly used similarly to the American English phrase "no problem".-Jambo Bwana:...
" from The Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
at #99. The song was then briefly sung on the 1971 sitcom All In The Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
by Edith Bunker
Edith Bunker
Edith Bunker is a fictional 1970s sitcom character on All in the Family , played by Jean Stapleton. She was the wife of Archie Bunker , mother of Gloria Stivic, mother-in-law of Michael "Meathead" Stivic, and, after 1975, grandmother of Joey Stivic...
in the episode Archie's Weighty Problem.
As a jazz standard
The first interpretation as a jazz standard was performed by the "Ghetto SwingersGhetto Swingers
The Ghetto Swingers were a jazz band organised in Theresienstadt.The original amateur Czech band playing in the Cafe was led by Eric Vogel and Pavel Lipensky. Vogel petitioned the Kommandant on January 8, 1943. The personnel of The Ghetto Swingers would be Piano: Dr. Brammer, Percussion: Dr. Kurt...
" at the Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp
Theresienstadt concentration camp was a Nazi German ghetto during World War II. It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city of Terezín , located in what is now the Czech Republic.-History:The fortress of Terezín was constructed between the years 1780 and 1790 by the orders...
in 1943. About that concert the author and musician Herbert Thomas Mandl
Herbert Thomas Mandl
Herbert Thomas Mandl was a Czechoslovak-German-Jewish author, concert violinist, professor of music, philosopher, inventor and lecturer...
tells in his film "Tracks to Terezin
Tracks to Terezín
"Spuren nach Theresienstadt / Tracks to Terezín" is a film with Herbert Thomas Mandl, a survivor of the Holocaust.-Plot:The composer Pavel Haas makes a bow after the performance of his composition “Study For String Orchestra” conducted by Karel Ančerl at Terezín 1944...
". The concert took place in the so called Coffee House of Theresienstadt and Mandl himself saw and heard it. The original title of the concert was "Music from Frank Churchill
Frank Churchill
Frank Churchill was an American composer of popular music for films. He wrote most of the music for Disney's 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, including "Whistle While You Work" and "Some Day My Prince Will Come"...
". But the Nazis could see that title as a provocation, so it was changed to "Music from the film 'Snow White" by Walt Disney".
The song was performed in the 1948 film Mickey
Mickey (1948 film)
Mickey is a 1948 drama film starring Lois Butler, Bill Goodwin, and Academy Award-winning actress Hattie McDaniel. The film was based on the novel Clementine by Peggy Goodin.-Synopsis:...
as "One Day My Prince Will Come".
In 1957, the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
, inspired by an anthology of Disney tunes owned by his child, included a version of the song on the album Dave Digs Disney.
The song quickly became popular amongst jazz musicians, who considered its chord sequence to be particularly satisfying. Later versions were recorded by Bill Evans
Bill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
, and many times by Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, who would use it as the basis for a virtuoso showpiece display.
The recording on the 1961 Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
album, Someday My Prince Will Come, features a pedal point
Pedal point
In tonal music, a pedal point is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign, i.e., dissonant harmony is sounded in the other parts. A pedal point sometimes functions as a "non-chord tone", placing it in the categories alongside suspensions, retardations, and passing...
interlude between choruses that has often been imitated. Pianist Wynton Kelly
Wynton Kelly
Wynton Kelly was a Jamaican-born jazz pianist, who spent his career in the United States. He is perhaps best known for working with trumpeter Miles Davis from 1959-1962.-Biography:...
, who performed on Davis' version, recorded the track as a trio later that year on his own album of the same name
Someday My Prince Will Come (Wynton Kelly album)
-Track listing:# "Someday My Prince Will Come" - 3:02# "Gone with the Wind" - 4:15# "Autumn Leaves" [Take 2] - 4:28...
.
Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
, in 1976 sang a version with the Robert Farnon
Robert Farnon
Robert Joseph Farnon was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a famous composer of original works , he was recognised as one of the finest arrangers of his generation...
Orchestra and Phil Woods
Phil Woods
Philip Wells Woods is an American jazz bebop alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader and composer.-Biography:...
on A New Album
Lena: A New Album
Lena: A New Album is a 1976 studio album by Lena Horne, arranged by Robert Farnon. -Track listing:# "I've Grown Accustomed to His Face" – 3:55# "Someone to Watch Over Me" – 4:30...
.
The Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
Trio recorded an album called Someday My Prince Will Come in 1979.
Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
's 1989 live album Second Star to the Right includes a version of the song that incorporated both vocals and an extended rubato saxophone solo.
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
recorded it in 1993 in his album World Sinfonia II - Heart of the Immigrants, describing it as a “tribute to Miles Davis”.
Bassist Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke is an American jazz musician and composer known for his innovative and influential work on double bass and electric bass guitar as well as for his numerous film and television scores...
recorded a cover on the album Jazz in the Garden
Jazz in the Garden
Jazz in the Garden is the debut release from the Stanley Clarke Trio, featuring pianist Hiromi and drummer Lenny White. It was released in 2009 on CD and vinyl...
. The album features Lenny White
Lenny White
Leonard White III, better known as Lenny White is an American jazz fusion drummer, who is best known for playing in Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:...
on drums.
Pop covers
- Diana Ross & The Supremes in 1967 for their proposed, yet unreleased album Diana Ross & The Supremes Sing Disney Classics.
- Patricia PaayPatricia PaayPatricia Anglaia Margareth Paaij , best known as Patricia Paay, is a Dutch singer, radio host, glamour model and television personality. In the Netherlands, she is well known for her musical career, which spans over four decades...
, in 1976, released a discoDiscoDisco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
version.
- Sinéad O'ConnorSinéad O'ConnorSinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album The Lion and the Cobra and achieved worldwide success in 1990 with a cover of the song "Nothing Compares 2 U"....
, for the 1988 compilation Stay AwakeStay Awake (album)Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films is a 1988 tribute album recorded by various artists performing songs from Disney films...
.
- Cindy Lauper,in 2001 for the Cindy Lauper the Disney Classic.
- Tanya TuckerTanya TuckerTanya Denise Tucker is a female American country music artist who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13...
, on the 1996 compilation album The Best of Country Sing the Best of DisneyThe Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney-Chart performance:...
.
- Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, with altered lyrics in the 2001 DVD/Video Platinum Edition release of Snow White And The Seven DwarfsSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
; as part of a Disney medley on the CD "Barbra: The Concert" (Sony, 1994), and a studio recorded version included found on "The Essential Barbra StreisandThe Essential Barbra StreisandThe Essential Barbra Streisand is a two-disc compilation album of Barbra Streisand released by Sony BMG as part of their Essentials series. Released in January 2002, and drawing from four decades of her work, it includes all but one of her top-ten hits, and most of her top-forty hits...
" compilation (Sony, 2002).
- AnastaciaAnastaciaAnastacia is an American singer-songwriter. Anastacia has been highly successful in Europe, Asia, South Africa and South America, but has had only minor success in her native United States...
, on the 2002 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...
compilation and on Freak of Nature: Collector's EditionFreak of NatureFreak of Nature is the second studio album by American recording artist Anastacia, released in Europe and the United Kingdom on November 26, 2001, and later in the United States and Australia on June 18, 2002. It was primarily produced by Ric Wake with occasional production from Sam Watters, Louis...
.
- Ayumi HamasakiAyumi Hamasakiis a Japanese singer-songwriter, record producer, model, lyricist, and actress. Also called "Ayu" by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of Pop" because of her popularity and widespread influence in Japan and throughout Asia. Born and raised in Fukuoka, she moved to Tokyo at fourteen to...
, in 2002 as "Someday My Prince Will Come". Never for sale, the song was used by Disney in a promotional video for the re-release of Snow White and the Seven DwarfsSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
- Julie AndrewsJulie AndrewsDame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
, for her 2005 album Julie Andrews Selects Her Favorite Disney Songs.
- Ashley TisdaleAshley TisdaleAshley Michelle Tisdale is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence portraying the candy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick in Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and the female antagonist Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical film series...
, in 2006 for the DisneyMania 4DisneyMania 4Disneymania 4 is the fourth in the Disneymania series. This is the album debut of many current stars on Disney Channel, like Miley Cyrus from Hannah Montana...
compilation album with Drew Seeley on backup vocals.
- The Cheetah GirlsThe Cheetah Girls (recording artists)The Cheetah Girls were an American girl group consisting of Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan and Kiely Williams. The group was created by The Walt Disney Company, and made famous by the eponymous Disney Channel original film and its sequels, The Cheetah Girls 2 and The Cheetah Girls: One World...
, in 2008 for the DisneyMania 6DisneyMania 6Disneymania 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:...
compilation.
- Thelma AoyamaThelma Aoyama, born October 27, 1987, is a Japanese pop and R&B singer. She is part Afro-Trinidadian and Japanese.She is probably best known for her collaboration song with SoulJa, "Koko ni Iru yo", and her answer song "Soba ni Iru ne"...
, in 2009 as the B-side on her single "Todoketai.../Kono Mama ZuttoTodoketai.../Kono Mama Zutto" is Thelma Aoyama's sixth single, and her first in 2009. It was released on March 11, 2009. The CD+DVD edition of the single includes a music video. "Todoketai..." is an answer song to by Ken the 390...
".
- Tiffany ThorntonTiffany ThorntonTiffany Dawn Thornton is an American actress and singer-songwriter best known for her co-starring role as Tawni Hart on the Disney Channel Original Series, Sonny with a Chance and So Random!.- Career:...
, for the 2009 DVD/Blu-Ray release of Disney's Snow White and the Seven DwarfsSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
External links
- http://cip.law.ucla.edu/cases/case_allendisney.html - 1941 plagiarism case