A Definitive Ranking of Disney I want Songs
While I’m by no means a statistician, I have done a few these ranked lists that sample other people’s lists from across the internet to get an objective ranked list. Previously I’ve done rank lists for The Best Disney Villain Songs, Ranking All the The Disney Renaissance Movies, and Ranking all the books in the Bridgerton Series. However The Disney “I want” song list was trickier to compile and there a few things to mention before getting to the list.
First issue, What is an “I want” song? Because it’s not a clear as a villain song. There seems to be a few guidelines like the protagonist or secondary protagonist sings about wanting something. Some of rankings I sampled listed songs that I wouldn’t personally consider an “I Want” songs but they do so they were counted. Like “Let it Go” do you think it counts? Also Love as a want, or is that a love song?
For this survey, I analyzed 30 different lists ranking Disney “I want” songs there is a big however though. I couldn’t find 30 lists of dedicated “I Want” songs. So generic ranking of Disney songs were used only considering songs that “fit” into the “I want” type. So if a song I personally don’t consider an “I Want” was ranked on one of those dedicated “I Want” list it was counted for this survey for those generic ranking of Disney songs. So for example if “Let it Go” was on a ranked list that that solely “I Want” list it was in the consideration pool. And let’s say, on a generic best Disney songs list it ranked 15th overall but was the third “I want” song from the top, it would ranked third for the sample.
Also reprises are tricky. One song I counted with the its reprise. Also there a bias towards older songs because of ages of some of these lists. This really impacts two songs.
Also I DID NOT add my own personal rankings to this list. What I did do was weighted mean. So if a song appeared on all 30 lists at 9th ranking it won’t rank as high as one that was on 80% but was consistency ranked in the top three. I also considered how many times a song ranked in each position. Again, I’m not a statistician, I just like doing these more objective lists and will mostly likely do more.
There was also a very clear winner early on which appeared on but two lists and was ranked #1 eighteen times. Try and Guess if you can. (Seriously, for real life, it’s not that hard)
So which of the Disney “I want” song made the cut? Did “Out There” make it? Is this just a list of Frozen songs*?
Without further Adieu, Here is the Statically Definitive Ranking of the Ten Best Disney I Want songs
* No, it’s not all Frozen
10. “Just Around the Riverbend” (Pocahontas)
Very early on in the movie, Pocahontas sings her “I Want” song about a desire for freedom and experiencing the unknown. She seems like she wants novelty and adrenaline more than anything else than what is on offer in her life. It’s more vague a desire than some other “I want” songs and is overshadowed by Pocahontas’ other big song in the movie. But it’s quite a lovely song.
“Just Around the Riverbend” just made this list by a small margin. So maybe in future this ranking will change but for now it made the cut for this list. The song it beat out has a very similar desire as well…. which is interesting. That song in mentioned as an Honorable Mention so you won’t be left wondering.
9. “When Will My Life Begin” (Tangled)
“When Will My Life Begins” serves as a double duty song as it’s both an “I want” song as well the opening song. As Tangled’s opening song it establishes Rapunzel’s lonely existence that she fills with a myriad of hobbies that are just there to pass the time to keep her occupy. As her “I want” song, she expresses a desire to live life as well as her dream to see the floating lanterns in person.
“When Will My Life Begins” is bright, upbeat and energetic with some contrast when Rapunzel wistfully sings about seeing the lanterns adding to her yearning to get out even for just a day.
8. “Go The Distance” (Hercules)
When Hercules becomes overcome with a sense of alienation in his community he sings his one and only song in the movie, which is naturally an “I want” song. In “Go The Distance,” Hercules expresses the lengths he would go to find a place where society fully accepts him and celebrates him, a place of belonging.
“Go the Distance” has great blend of wistful longing and determination which gets Hercules off on his hero’s journey.
7. “Belle” (Beauty and The Beast)
If you read the introduction (it’s okay if you didn’t) you will recall I mentioned a song that was counted with its reprise and this the song.
The opening song of Beauty and the Beast, “Belle,” does have shades of an “I want” song as Belle expresses wanting more than the monotony of town life. However it’s in the less than a minute long reprise where she really expresses her desires for excitement and someone who understands her.
Unlike some other reprises, “Belle” and it reprise are separate but not enough for the reprise to get counted on its own on generic song rankings like “Prince Ali Reprise” from Aladdin nor is as connective like “Part of your World” which is more an extension. “Belle Reprise” does stands as very quintessential Disney “I want” song maybe if was more fleshed and longer it would have ranked higher. Still Belle singing out her heart in the meadow is iconic.
6. “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” (The Lion King)
At its core “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” is a very relatable to children, it’s about how awesome it will be to be a grown-up so you can do whatever you want. In Simba’s case when he’s grown he will be King which is doubly awesome. It doesn’t really matter that Simba has no concept of what that really when he becomes King he just thinks it will great and can’t wait.
As it, “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” is an exuberant and playful song with great visual styling to the animation. It’s just such a fun song.
5. “Almost There” (The Princess and the Frog)
Unlike many of the other Disney “I Want” songs, “Almost There” is very clear about Tiana’s goals. Tiana’s desire isn’t conceptual, it’s very tangible. She wants to open her very own restaurant, a shared dream with her father, and has spent years working and saving money for this purpose. “Almost There” expresses her excitement of her goal being nearly within her reach.
“Almost There” features beautiful stylized art deco design to the animation adding to the dream concept. It’s a another bright uptempo song.
4. “Out There” (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
Very similar to some other of the Disney “I Want” songs, “Out There” is about how Quasimodo wants a day out amongst people as he kept from apart from them. Conceptually it’s a very simple however “Out There” is not a simple song. It starts with a duet with Frollo, who gaslights Quasimodo and as result Quasimodo’s own voice is weak in this part of the song. As Quasimodo starts singing in earnest his voice get stronger, richer and fuller with use of the vibrato. The orchestration and animation also adds a lot of grandeur to showcase Quasimodo’s yearning to get away if only for that preverbal day.
In the past I was very down on this song which on re-evaluating it was unfair.
3. “Reflection” (Mulan)
While it’s more conceptual, Mulan’s “Reflection” is more about wanting her self-concept to be reflected outwardly. It’s more melancholic as Mulan feels her inner workings are not reflected and the pain it causes her self-esteem.
It’s all around beautiful song and Mulan wiping off her make-up is another great iconic moment.
2. “How Far I’ll Go” (Moana)
What is great about this Moana’s “How Far I’ll Go” is how effortlessly combines other facets of “I want” into itself. Like it a perfect encapsulation of a Disney “I want” song. It covers Moana’s internal struggles with accepting her role in society as well as her family mixed her desire for exploration and calls to adventure and purpose.
On top of that it’s a lovely song the threads the needle between bold powerful singing with delicate yearning.
Honorable Mentions
“Into the Unknown” from Frozen II just missed the list. Like it was barley under “Just Around the Riverbend.” and could in time over take 10th place.
Also “Let it Go” was on slightly less than half the sampled lists but marked high. It does seem like the first Frozen has three “I want” songs so maybe that diluted the ranking for Frozen getting listed.
Encanto’s “Waiting on a Miracle” is up an coming and over time could make more “I want” songs lists.
1. “Part of Your World” (The Little Mermaid)
Sure there were songs that are considered “I want” song prior to the Disney Renaissance but “Part of your World” from The Little Mermaid solidified the category of “I want’ as a standard part of the soundtrack for Disney Movies. It’s the Original Disney “I want” song and among one most generally highest ranked Disney songs as well.
“Part of your World” expresses Ariel’s strong interest and longing for the human word. Much like Mulan’s “Reflection” it’s an intimate song and like “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana, Ariel wants to go to a place that is forbidden to her but where she longs to be.
Ariel’s yearning is on full display and is presented as both a tangible goal and part of her self-concept making it the clear highest ranked ‘I want” Disney song by a considerable margin.
Which one of these songs do you think is the best Disney “I want” song? Is one your favorite? How would you rank them?
