More than a hundred million views on YouTube in less than six months – such fantastic figures can boast of an excerpt from the animated film “Frozen” presented on the Disney channel, in which Queen Elsa, in the voice of Idina Menzel, sings the beautiful song “Let It Go” (“Let It Go” ) by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and her husband Robert Lopez.
In the story, Elsa sings a song, leaving people in the mountains after they learned that her touch can freeze everything around. Now she no longer needs to hide the gift that was previously her curse, so she does not fear future loneliness and enthusiastically creates a delightful castle of snow and ice, singing “Let It Go” at the top of her voice.
However, it was originally assumed that the composition would sound under different circumstances. Here’s what Kristen Anderson-Lopez had to say about the history of the song:
Elsa was supposed to lead an army of her marshmallow-snow people down the hill and take over the city, but we wrote “Let It Go” and looked at her differently, because she suppressed her magical abilities for so long. And then they rewrote the entire film, based on the personality of the new character.
USA Today March 2014
Thus, the authors of the song, seeing in the main character not a villain, but a frightened girl, prompted the directors not only to change her image, but also to make significant changes to the script.
Robert Lopez spoke about what became the main source of inspiration for their author duet while working on the composition:
In fact, when we wrote it, we thought about our children. We have two daughters, just like Elsa and Anna, and we wanted to write a song that would give them the idea that shame and fear shouldn’t stop them from being the magical people they really are.
Inquirer March 2014
“Let It Go” was the first song on the upcoming Frozen soundtrack composed by the Lopezs. In their small studio, they recorded a demo and emailed it to Disney Animation. There, the composition was approved and given to Dave Metzger for arrangement. It was performed for the cartoon, as mentioned above, by Idina Menzel.
The authors also recorded their own version of “Let It Go”.
In early December 2013, Disney posted a video of the song on YouTube, which started its incredible popularity. And in 2014, the composition was awarded the Oscar.
Interesting Facts
The song has been performed in over forty languages and dialects. Its version is widely known, sung in twenty-five languages at once (from 2.53 – an excerpt in Russian).
Let It Go lyricsLet It Go LyricsThe snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen.
a kingdom of isolation,
and it looks like I’m the Queen
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in;
Heaven knows I’ve tried Snow shines white in the mountains tonight
Not a single trace is visible
Kingdom of loneliness
And it looks like I’m the Queen
The wind howls like a tornado inside
I couldn’t keep it inside
But God knows I tried Don’t let them in
don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal don’t feel
don’t let them know
Well now they know
Don’t let them see
Be a good girl – you always have to be
Hide, don’t show your feelings
Don’t let them know
Well now they know Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
I can’t hold it back anymore Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don’t care
what they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on.
The cold never bothered me anyway
Turn around and slam the door
I don’t care,
What will they say
Let the storm rage on
Still the cold never bothered me It’s funny how some distance
Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can’t get to me at all
Everything seems so small
And the fears that held me back
I don’t care at all anymore It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I’m free! Time to find out what I can do
Test the limit and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I’m free! Let it go, let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You’ll never see me cry
Here I stand
And here I’ll stay
Let the storm rage on
I am one with the wind and the sky
Well, let, well, let
You won’t see my tears
I’m here
And I will stay here
Let the storm continue my power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I’m never going back, the past is in the past
My soul rises around in frozen fractals
And the thought crystallizes like an ice explosion
I’ll never go back, the past is behind me Let it go, let it go
And I’ll rise like the break of dawn
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone
Here I stand
In the light of day
Let the storm rage on
I will rise like the dawn
Well, let, well, let
That perfect girl is no more
I’m here,
In the light of day
Let the storm rumble on The cold never bothered me anyway!
Song quote
We wanted to paint a portrait of a girl who lives in fear all her life.
Robert Lopez, Daily News
We wrote this song to tell a story. And we love musical stories, and it was even impossible to imagine that it would spread so widely. But every single day on Facebook or Twitter, I get some sort of testimonial from someone who says, “This song kept me from committing suicide.” Or, “This song helped me cope with my children’s cancer treatment.” And it means so much to us that our song can hug people like that.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Inquirer, 2014
