☆ Six stars (0)

The Lion King : 1994 / Disney

Geoff Hoyle, Samuel E. Wright, and Scott Irby-Ranniar—The Morning Report
Music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice

It’s an honor and a privilege, a duty I perform
With due sense of decorum and with pride
With deference and great respect very much the norm
Plus a hint of sycophancy on the side
To lay before my ruler all the facts about his realm
To fill him in on all the beastly news

Yes, yes, Zazu, get on with it!

In order that His Majesty stands sturdy at the helm
Aware of all the fauna’s latest views

Zazu! The morning report!

Er– yes, Sire– the morning report

Chimps are going ape, giraffes remain above it all
Elephants remember, though just what I can’t recall
Crocodiles are snapping up fresh offers from the banks
Showed interest in my nest egg but I quickly said “No thanks!”
We haven’t paid the hornbills and the vultures have a hunch
Not everyone invited will be coming back for lunch

This is the morning report
Gives you the long and the short
Every grunt, roar, and snort
Not a tale I distort
On the morning report

What are you doing, son?

Pouncing

Let and old pro show you how it’s done

The buffalo have got a beef
About this season’s grass Stay low to the ground
Warthogs have been thwarted
In attempts to save their gas
Flamingoes in the pink and Yeah, stay low!
Chasing secretary birds
Saffron is this season’s color
Seen in all the herds Shh, not a sound
Moving down the rank and file Take it slow
To near the bottom rung One more step
Far too many beetles are
Quite frankly in the dung Then pounce!
Aaaaaak!

This is the morning report
Gives you the long and the short
Every grunt, roar, and snort
Not a tale I distort
On the morning report

This is the morning report
Gives you the long and the short
Every grunt, roar, and snort
Not a tale I distort
On the morning report
————————————————

Engineer Jay Rifkin; Paula Jones

Producers: Hans Zimmer, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Chris Thomas.

Compilation producer: Steven Stern. Principally recorded at Media Ventures and Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles, California;
Townhouse Studio, London, England; BPO Studios, Mmabatho, South Africa.

All songs written by Tim Rice and Elton John.

Instrumental score written by Hans Zimmer.

“Can You Feel The Love Tonight” won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance;

“Circle Of Life” won the Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals; and THE LION KING won the Grammy for Best Musical Album For Children.

“Can You Feel The Love Tonight” and “Circle Of Life” were also both nominated for Song Of The Year and Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion Picture Or Television; and the album’s instrumental tracks were nominated for Best Instrumental Composition Written For A Motion Picture Or For Television.

The heady influence of Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, David Byrne–and all the other musicians who’ve introduced pop fans to the sounds and style of Africa–resonate subtly throughout the Hollywood flourishes of THE LION KING.

Part of THE LION KING’s appeal can be traced to Hans Zimmer’s imagistic evocative instrumental score.

Instrumental excerpts such as “This Land” and “Under The Stars” are a vibrant amalgam of lush orchestral passages with flashes of idiomatic African vocal colors and ceremonial percussive textures (while “King Of Pride Rock” echoes elements of Mozart’s REQUIEM and traditional African six-beat rhythms).

But it’s THE LION KING’s comic operetta songs and the Elton John/Tim Rice pop miniatures that ultimately distinguish this soundtrack and give it fresh legs for all holiday seasons. John’s philosophical ruminations on “The Circle Of Life” are framed by power pop on a grand scale, with huge reverberant drum accents and massive sampled choruses and strings.

But “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” is this collection’s most engaging song, a sort of Afro-Rockabilly groove, tinted by the gospelish drive of John’s Little Richard style piano

Nit Music ManiaClub … Angel’s Wings
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