BMM 7 - Endless Night

Where has the starlight gone?
Dark is the day
How can I find my way home?
Home is an empty dream
Lost to the night
Father, I feel so alone 

You promised you'd be there
Whenever I needed you
Whenever I call your name
You're not anywhere
I'm trying to hold on
Just waiting to hear your voice
One word, just a word will do
To end this nightmare 

When will the dawning break
Oh, endless night
Sleepless I dream of the day
When you were by my side
Guiding my path
Father, I can't find the way 

You promised you'd be there
Whenever I needed you
Whenever I call your name
You're not anywhere
I'm trying to hold on
Just waiting to hear your voice
One word, just a word will do
To end this nightmare

I know that the night must end
And that the sun will rise
And that the sun will rise
I know that the clouds must clear
And that the sun will shine
And that the sun will shine 

And I know that the night must end
And that the sun will rise
And that the sun will rise
I know that the clouds must clear
And that the sun will shine
And that the sun will shine 

I know
Yes, I know
The sun will rise
Yes, I know
I know
The clouds must clear

 I know that the night must end
I know that the sun will rise
And I'll hear your voice deep inside
I know that the night must end
And that the clouds must clear 

The sun
The sun will rise
The sun
The sun will rise

From Wikipedia: "Endless Night" is a song written by Lebo M, Hans Zimmer, Julie Taymor, and Jay Rifkin. It premiered in 1997 as part of the musical The Lion King, a stage adaptation of Disney's 1994 animated feature film of the same name. Mark Mancina produced the song and arranged by Mark A. Brymer. Taymor wrote the lyrics based on the melody from "Lala", a song from the 1995 soundtrack album Rhythm of the Pride Lands. Jason Raize, who first performed the role of Simba for the Broadway production, first performed and recorded "Endless Night"; his version is included on the original cast recording. 

"Endless Night" is a ballad that lyrically deals with Simba grieving the death of his father Mufasa. The song includes vocals by a choir that encourages Simba to move forward. Reception to the song was mainly positive. Some commentators praised how it helped to develop Simba's character.

My own thoughts: The Lion King was never my favorite movie, but when I gave this song a try, I found myself liking it. 

It does a great job of showing how much Simba is still hurting from his father's loss, how the "Hakuna Matata" approach isn't really working, and it adds an extra layer of sadness to Mufasa's death. 

I can very easily hear a few of my own characters singing something like this.

Disney Musical May 2 - Circle of Life

Nants ingonyama bagithi baba
Sithi uhm ingonyama
Nants ingonyama bagithi baba
Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
Ingonyama
Siyo Nqoba
Ingonyama
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
(repeat)

Ingonyama nengw' enamabala (se-to-kwa!)
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala (asana)
(repeat) 

From the day we arrive on the planet
And, blinking, step into the sun,
There's more to see
Than can ever be seen
More to do than can ever be done

There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high
Through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small
On the endless round

It's the circle of life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
'Til we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle
The circle of life

Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala
Ingonyama nengw' enamabala (se-to-kwa!)
(repeat)

It's the circle of life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
'Til we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle
The circle of life 

May not be my favorite movie, but I do like this song. The whole story opens with a pretty big bang, I'll grant it that.

And Rafiki is one of the few characters I thoroughly enjoy. I deem him superior to Timon and Pumbaa because I believe in comic relief and story substance. Rafiki both makes us laugh and enriches the story, whereas Timon and Pumbaa are just there to keep the kids happy. Yeah, they prove themselves useful here and there, but I doubt we'd really miss them if they were cut out of the story altogether.

One of the reasons I hate The Lion King 1½ is they just had to show how Timon and Pumbaa were involved in this and the "humor" really cheapens the epic experience. Seriously, Disney, you gotta be kidding me.

At least Simba's Pride also has a decent opening number. The whole thing could have been a lot better than it was if they gave it more time, money, and guts.

And overall, the 1994 cartoon was done way, way better than the 2019 recycle. If I wanted realistic animals, I'd have watched a documentary. What works in a cartoon sometimes just doesn't cut the mustard in live action.

Besides, from what I hear, there was nowhere near half as much heart and soul, that the actors were a lot more monotonous. You can just tell they were doing this to get paid and nothing else.

What rankles me the most is how many pegs Mufasa's death gets knocked down. In the 1994 version, even now, you have a faint hope that he'll get out of there alive, and the aftermath hits you like a punch in the stomach. In the 2019 remake, you know for a fact he won't make it, so the whole scene becomes predictable and boring, and that's not good. Not good at all.

Okay, getting off my soapbox and moving on now.

Goodbye, Rafiki

Saddened to hear about Robert Guillaume, who passed away yesterday at age 89. I may not be the world's biggest fan of The Lion King but I did like Rafiki; he was a much better source of comic relief, and he taught us some invaluable lessons.

Pumzika kwa amani ("Rest in peace"), Rafiki.