[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I9msnGWFBY]
"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 filmPocahontas. It also won the Golden Globe in the same category as well as theGrammy Award for Best Song Written for a Movie. The song poetically presents theNative 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 single 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").[1]
Described as a "stirring anthem to animism",[2] 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"[3] 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.
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