page_title: Colors of the Wind
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Colors of the Wind / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: From the materials for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909, held in Seattle. Photo of Chief Seattle &amp; copy about the Battle of Seattle (1856) and about Chief Seattle.
context_page_description: "Colors of the Wind" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Walt Disney Pictures' 33rd animated feature film Pocahontas. The film's theme song, "Colors of the Wind" was originally recorded by American singer and actress Judy Kuhn in her role as the singing voice of Pocahontas. A pop ballad, the song's lyrics are about animism and respecting nature, and have been compared to both transcendentalist literature and New Age spirituality.
  "Colors of the Wind" received a mostly positive reception from critics, with a number of them citing it as one of the best songs from a Disney film. The song would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. American actress and recording artist Vanessa Williams's adult contemporary cover of the song was released as the lead single from the film's soundtrack, and became a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100. "Colors of the Wind" would also be covered by other artists, including Ashanti and Brian Wilson, and was featured on an episode of Lip Sync Battle.
context_section_description: Following the death of Howard Ashman, the Walt Disney Company wanted to find another musician to collaborate with Alan Menken on his scores for animated films. Stephen Schwartz, the composer behind the Broadway theater hits Godspell (1971), Pippin (1972), and The Magic Show (1974), received a call from the company asking if he would like to collaborate with Menken. Schwartz had never considered working in the film industry, but agreed to do so nonetheless. Schwartz did not feel he was well-suited to the job.
  Schwartz wanted to write a song for the film wherein Pocahontas confronts the Eurocentrism of John Smith. "Colors of the Wind" was the first song written for Pocahontas. According to Schwartz, the song "influence[d] the development of the rest of the film." Schwartz said that "a story-board outline was in place before we wrote [the track]. This is often the process in animation, at least as I've experienced it, where everybody works from an outline and each succeeding piece of material, whether it is a song or drawings, influences the next." The track was inspired by Native American poetry, music and folklore, as well as a famous letter sent to the United States Congress by Chief Seattle regarding humanity's relationship with nature. Part of the letter reads: "The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. So if we sell our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers." This portion of the letter inspired the song's title, which Schwartz liked because he saw it as paradoxical and thought-provoking.
  Schwartz also drew inspiration for "Colors of the Wind" from the music of Oscar Hammerstein II and Sheldon Harnick, as it deals with issues of prejudice. Menken said that while "Colors of the Wind" was "born out of the modality of Native American music...it quickly moved to its own place, which is hard to define." Menken has noted that the song lacks humor, which he and Schwartz attempted to inject into Pocahontas and failed. Initially, the final lines of the song were "For your life's an empty hull/till you get it through your skull/you can paint with all the colors of the wind." Menken disapproved of these lyrics and asked Schwartz to rewrite them; Schwartz changed the lines to "You can own the Earth, and still/all you'll own is earth until/you can paint with all the colors of the wind." Schwartz preferred the altered lyrics. Schwartz said that this incident taught him the lesson: "If your collaborator is unhappy, it's probably because [the song] needs to be better," adding that he may not have won an Academy Award if he did not change the lyrics. Menken views "Colors of the Wind" as one of the most important songs he has written. Schwartz believed that the Walt Disney Company would reject "Colors of the Wind" for being philosophical and different from previous Disney songs. Judy Kuhn sang the song to help "pitch" Schwartz's score to Disney, and the studio embraced the track. Schwartz and Menken became friends, and later wrote music for the Disney films The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and Enchanted (2007) together.
caption: The song was inspired by the words of Chief Seattle.
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