Kyle
Elizabeth Robert
EXP
201 – 012
Professor
O’Dell
Blog Post | Analysis of Frozen’s “Let It Go”
“Let It Go” is the most popular song
in Disney’s very popular animated feature film Frozen, which came out in November of 2013. The song was composed by Kristen
Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, who are a husband-and-wife songwriting
duo. The original version of the song,
the version created for Queen Elsa, the film’s main character, is sung by
American actress and singer Idina Menzel.
A second version of the song, a pop version which was played at the
beginning of the closing credits for the film, was also composed by the couple
and was performed by singer Demi Lovato.
The song is about one of the main
characters in the film, Queen Elsa, who has just abandoned her kingdom after
her magical ability to create and control ice and snow is exposed to the
public. She goes to the mountains, far
away from her kingdom and the people who now know her secret, and she realizes that
she no longer needs to hide her powers, which she has done since
childhood. She rejoices in letting go
and creates a giant snowman that is living and an ice castle because she can
now use her powers without any limits.
“Let It Go” was extremely popular
with audiences, and received huge acclaim from film and music critics. Young children and adults alike have a sort
of “obsession” with the film and the song itself. The song has won many awards, including an
Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Critics’ Choice Award for Best
Song. It is the first song from a Disney
animated musical to reach the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 since “Colors of the Wind” hit number four on the
chart in 1995. As of August 2014, the
song has sold 3,430,000 copies in the US.
Although the target audience for the
movie and the song is young children, specifically young girls, they seem to
appeal to so many more people than that!
I think the fact that Frozen and
“Let It Go” are such a big phenomenon means that the genre of children’s
musicals is quickly rising in pop culture.
Disney movies are no longer just for little kids; it is now acceptable
for people of all ages to enjoy films like Frozen.
There
are so many reasons why this song has gained so much popularity, one of the
most obvious being that adults, teenagers, and children alike can all relate to
the theme that the song is tapping into.
Everyone has a reason to feel shame and fear, and in this song, Elsa
overcomes both of these feelings, in exchange letting her unique power out and
accepting that she no longer needs to live in fear of what she has been dealing
with for her whole life. People
everywhere can relate to this positive message of learning to love oneself just
the way you were made, and learning to overcome life’s challenges. It doesn’t matter the situation, everyone can
bring their own interpretation of the song to action in his or her own life,
and this is one of the reasons for the overwhelming popularity of the song in
today’s modern culture.
The message of this ballad resonates
well with almost everyone. Kids who are
hiding their differences in order to be accepted by others, who want to let go
and show the world who they really are, or better yet, find out who they really
are, can look to this song for guidance.
People in the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender community who have yet to
come out and let the world know about the secret they have been hiding in order
to feel more “normal” or accepted can use the lyrics of “Let It Go” as a
reminder that it is absolutely okay to be who you truly are and to show
it! The lyrics “Conceal, don’t feel,
don’t let them know/Well now they know!” speak to the LGBT community in saying
that now is the time to “let them know.”
This song has been seen as an extension of the popular “It Gets Better”
videos in which a member of the community who has “come out” tells members who
have yet to “come out” that it is okay and that their lives will eventually
“get better.” These videos are a
comforting outlet for LGBT people who have not yet “let it go,” and “Let It Go”
has been powerful in spreading the message that these videos are sharing even
further.
I think that the hype for this song has
a relation to the hype for other famous pieces and musicals, such as “The Rocky
Horror Picture Show,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Wicked,” “High School Musical,”
and other movies and shows that have had huge followings over the years. I think that in each of these shows and
movies, there is are songs that have risen to the top, and they are usually
about overcoming obstacles. For example,
in “Wicked,” the song “Defying Gravity” received so much acclaim and a huge
following because it is about being yourself and not being afraid, which is the
same message that Frozen’s “Let It Go”
wants to give the audience.
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