If you close your eyes and think of 1989, you probably hear a very specific, breathy "I want." It’s the sound of a red-headed mermaid hiding in a cave filled with forks and broken clocks. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine Disney surviving the 80s without it. But here’s the kicker: the most famous ariel the little mermaid song lyrics almost didn't make it into the movie.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was the big boss at Disney at the time, actually wanted to cut "Part of Your World" entirely. Why? Because during a test screening, a kid dropped his popcorn. Seriously. One kid got restless, and Katzenberg figured the song was too boring for children.
The Song That Saved Disney
Imagine a world where Ariel never sang about her "whozits and whatzits." The Disney Renaissance—that massive explosion of hits like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin—might never have happened. Howard Ashman, the genius lyricist behind the film, fought like hell to keep it in. He knew that for an audience to care about a girl who gives up her voice for a guy she barely knows, we had to hear her heart first.
He called it the "I Want" song. It’s a Broadway trick. You put a song in the first fifteen minutes where the lead character tells the audience exactly what they’re dreaming of. If you don't do that, the character is just a flat drawing moving across a screen.
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Breaking Down the Ariel the Little Mermaid Song Lyrics
The lyrics are kinda weird when you actually look at them. I mean, who uses the word "thingamabobs"?
- The Specifics: Ashman was obsessed with details. He didn't want Ariel to sing about "treasures" or "gold." He wanted her to sound like a teenager who didn't know the names of things. So, "feet" became the mystery word she had to find.
- The "The" Controversy: There’s a funny story about the line "I wanna be where the people are." One of the directors, John Musker, thought saying "the people" sounded too political—like a stump speech. He wanted to change it to "where people are." Ashman shut that down immediately. He knew the rhythm mattered more than a director's weird political anxiety.
- The Reprise: The version of the lyrics everyone remembers from the rock on the beach is actually much more intense. "I don't know when, I don't know how..." That's where the longing turns into a mission.
People have spent years analyzing these lyrics. Some see them as a classic story of teenage rebellion. Others, including many in the LGBTQ+ community, see them as a metaphor for the "closet" or gender dysphoria—the feeling of being trapped in the wrong body and wishing to be part of a world where you can finally stand on your own two "feet."
Why the 2023 Live-Action Changed Things
When the remake came out, people got protective. You've probably heard that some ariel the little mermaid song lyrics were tweaked for modern audiences. While "Part of Your World" stayed mostly the same, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and "Kiss the Girl" got a makeover.
Alan Menken, the composer, worked with Lin-Manuel Miranda to update lines about consent and a woman's "place." In the original "Poor Unfortunate Souls," Ursula tells Ariel that "on land it's much preferred for ladies not to say a word." In 1989, that was clearly a villain lying to a girl. In 2023, the filmmakers felt it was better to avoid the message altogether so kids wouldn't get the wrong idea.
The Howard Ashman Legacy
You can't talk about these lyrics without talking about the tragedy behind them. Howard Ashman was dying of AIDS while he wrote them. When you listen to Ariel sing about wanting to go "up where they stay all day in the sun," it hits differently knowing the man writing those words was losing his life to a disease that, at the time, forced people into the shadows.
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He never even got to see the finished movie. He died before he could witness how his words changed animation forever.
What to Do With This Info
If you're a fan, a singer, or just a trivia nerd, here’s how to actually use this:
- Listen to the Demos: If you can find the Howard Ashman demos, do it. He sings the part of Ariel himself, and it’s heart-wrenching. You can hear exactly how he wanted the lines phrased.
- Watch for the "Breath": Jodi Benson, the original voice, purposely sang "Part of Your World" with a lot of "air" in her voice to make it sound intimate, like she was whispering a secret. Try to catch that next time you watch.
- Read the Subtext: Next time you’re looking at ariel the little mermaid song lyrics, think about them as a diary entry. It’s not just a song about a mermaid; it’s a song about anyone who feels like an outsider.
Check out the original 1989 soundtrack on your favorite streaming platform and compare the phrasing of the reprise to the main ballad. You'll notice the tempo is slightly faster in the reprise, which signals Ariel's shift from dreaming to acting.