The lyrics to "Part of that/your world"

Part of that/your world" is a song in Disney's Little Mermaid, sung twice by the titular Mermaid. The first time she sings it, the title line is "part of THAT world." She is responding to fantasies she has built around the wreckage of ships and the fine things she has found they contain.

The second time she sings it, she is addressing a human, Prince Eric, and he is the "you" in the line "part of your world."

I admire these lyrics, written by Howard Ashman for the music composed by Alan Menken. I'd like to say something about what I admire in them. So, here we go.

The lyrics include the following:

I wanna be where the people are/ I wanna see, wanna see 'em dancing

Walking around on those ... whatdaya call 'em? Oh, feet

Flapping your fins, you don't get too far, legs are required for jumpin' dancin'

Strolling along down a ... what's that word again? Street.

This is very clever stuff. I think Ashman showed some courage rhyming dancing with itself -- or, rather, rhyming it with "dancin'"! I also like the fact that Ashman doesn't want to let us remove this song from its context.

A farm kid could say that he wants to be where the people are: that is, where they are crowded together. Someone with a boring job and no prospect for upward mobility could say he wants to be where THE people are -- the important ones, the ones in the rooms where important decisions are made. Anyone who aspires to be in a situation better than his own can sympathize with the desire to be part of THAT/YOUR world.

But Ashman won't have it. This is not generic. His words bring us rudely and I think brilliantly back to Ariel and the specifics of her fantasy situation with the fact that she, a mermaid, has to struggle to recall the word "feet".

Also, when I first heard the song, I had the distinct impression that it was about to provide a rhyme for the phrase "get too far". Of course, as I have presented the lyrics above you can see no rhyme was necessary for "get too far," but that wasn't obvious on a first listen.

The slow tempo allows for some thought between words. When Ariel got to "strolling along down a" I was sure she was going to say "boulevard". A nice rhyme for "get too far," amirite?

Anyway, I was both disappointed and delighted when the word Ariel was looking for there was a simpler one, "street," not to rhyme with "get too far" at all but to rhyme perfectly with "feet"!

It is all very well done. So well done that we are ready for it when Ashman gets political on us, though political of course in a Disney-friendly sort of way. In idealizing the creatures of land, with their feet, who stroll down what-do-you-call-thems, Ariel says that she bets these people "don't reprimand their daughters" who are "sick of swimming, ready to stand."

Stand. The singer needs to hit that word hard.

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