Your thoughts on Colors of the Wind

[Alan]

I used to love the song Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas. We sang this song in 5th grade, and I remember singing it at a little "performance" at the Old Key West resort in Florida. I don't like the song as much now, I don't like Pocahontas songs as much now for some reason.

[Isidour]

Is not bad, but can´t be compared to "Be prepared", "On my way" or others

[lolopimp]

Is not bad, but can´t be compared to "Be prepared", "On my way" or others

`

As much as I love "Be Prepared", I think Colors of the Wind is a better song. As a matter of fact I just finished watching the movie and the song has a deep meaning. Many og the things it talks about is true. It's a really good song and it has become one of my Disney favorites.

[MickeyMousePal]

I thought it was excellent...

[chaychay102royal]

It's okay. I don't like Pochantas very much. I mean, it's not horrible, but Disney has done much better.

[Disney's Divinity]

I like the woman singing the song (she's got a unique voice compared to other heroines), but I really never cared for the song. I prefer "Just Around the Riverbend" over it. Personally, I think the song was outsung. The singer's voice was strong all the way through, even in the ending; although the tone got smaller her voice never got softer.

[magicalwands]

I like the woman singing the song (she's got a unique voice compared to other heroines), but I really never cared for the song. I prefer "Just Around the Riverbend" over it. Personally, I think the song was outsung. The singer's voice was strong all the way through, even in the ending; although the tone got smaller her voice never got softer.

"Should I take the smoothest course?
Steady as the beating drum.
Should I marry Cocoum?"

[inside joke as to why i posted this part of the song up]

haha, yeah i like Just Around the Riverbend and Colors of the Wind.

the Colors of the Wind song has this meaning to it, i'd rather listen to it then some emo song...seriously.

yup and it's on my ipod.

[SuicideSeaside]

I love Colors of the Wind. It's unique and very nicely written. Stephen Schwartz is a great songwriter. He wrote the songs for Pocahontas and Hunchback. Movie critics always say that the songs are boring or unmemorable. I disagree.....I bought the soundtracks.

[Disney's Divinity]

Now, I love the music of HoND. Pocahontas' music pales in comparison to it.

[Luna]

I like Colors of the Wind alot,as well as Just Around the Riverbend and If I Never Knew You....though my favorite Disney song is Reflection from Mulan....

[Siren]

Let's pick...Shall we?

You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ...

Part of the song, but essentially more a poem then lyrics, least IMO.
I like the lyrics and the tone. I like how she says it, "Perhaps I am ignorant of the places YOU'VE been, but let me show you what I know."
She also can't understand how he can look at a tree or an animal and see something so vastly different then she does. Which essentially was true at that time. American Indians saw a tree and saw a connection. They saw a bear, and in that, they saw their brother (no pun intended). She can't understand how he can be so quick to shoot a magnificant animal. Thus, she IS ignorant to him and she knows that. A touch of this scene I liked which echoed in Brother Bear. Watch the scene when John Smith raises his rifle at the bear. The bear has black eyes. And then in the next scene, where you find she is a mother, her eyes are more toon-like. Brother Bear obviously got their inspiration for this idea from Pocohontas.

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

I wonder if Schwartz perhaps did his research on American Indians. The first line of this phrase mirrors that of one of Crazy Horse's most famous quotes, "One does not sell the land people walk on.". If he didn't know that, was a fantastic coincidence, he obviously put himself in the American Indian's place. If he knew about Crazy Horse saying that, then what fantastic research

Now the rock/tree/creature etc lines. I wonder what context he meant. Did he meant rock=life, tree=spirit, and creature=name. Or did he mean rocks, trees and creatures all have life, spirit, and name? I know of no tribes refering to rocks in a life sense. Least not literally. Some believe rocks tell stories. So perhaps one can read that as being life.

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew

The first 2 lines are self-explanatory and certainly true. American Indians didn't think of people in the sense settlers did back then or people do now. People could take the form of animals and vice versa, so essentially, animals were people too.
"Walk the footsteps of a stranger". Another phrase that makes me wonder if he did a lot of homework. There is an old Cheyanne proverb "Do not judge your neighbor until you walk two moons in his moccasins.". I think it's just neat to find these things in this song.

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth

Self-explanatory. Many American Indian beliefs woven in there.

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

The first two lines are simply how they show their respect and love towards nature.
The last two lines remind me of a story told at a pow wow we attended. If you look back in just about every American Indian story, tradition, etc....It is circles, round, cycles, etc. Everything is a circle for them. An amusing story was told to me, about when Columbus first came and how they slowly learned to understand eachother, just a little. But they understood enough that the people on the other side of the ocean had thought the world flat. This amused the American Indians. Because they ALWAYS knew it was round. They didn't know if there were more people, but there was never a deffinate standpoint that they were the only people that existed. They couldn't understand how those men didn't see that the world was round. Because EVERYTHING was round. The eye, the sun, the trees, the moon, the ripples in the water, etc. For them, it was common sense.
And the reference to the hoop may be to the "hoop dance" done by many tribes.

How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind
You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind

The first two lines remind me of a bumper sticker I saw once, "Only in American Can They Tear Down Trees and Name Streets After Them".
Pretty much she's saying, "Look, your screwing up the earth and eventually, they'll be nothing left."


So politically, enviromentally, ethnically....this song was extreemly well written. It is gorgeous and has a lot of great messages, but essentially, is not preachy like so many enviromental songs can be. It gets the listener to listen. And hopefully the message is taken to heart.

[Starion]

Venessa Williams is a great singer. Judy Kuhn also sings the song.

I love the lyrics. I might buy the DVD and soundtrack CD to listen to "Colours of the Wind"