The next right thing (Song)

"**The Next Right Thing**" is a song from the 2019 animated Disney film *Frozen II*. It is performed by Kristen Bell as Anna, and the music and lyrics are written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The song is about Anna's descent into depression. The song has received praise from critics for its message and meaning and peaked on the Kid Digital Songs chart at number 7.

## Contents

* 1 Synopsis
* 2 Production
* 3 International versions
* 4 Reception
* 5 Charts
* 6 References

## Synopsis

At the darkest moment of the film, Anna is faced with uncertainty about what to do next after apparently losing both her beloved sister Elsa as well as Olaf, a snowman created by Elsa's magic. She sings "The Next Right Thing" and expresses her depression. Later in the song, she concludes when not knowing to do, one must do "The Next Right Thing".

## Production

Bell told director Jennifer Lee she wanted to see Anna "face her codependency head-on" and "a song about what she's going to do when she doesn't know what to do". Anderson-Lopez and Lopez drew inspiration from personal tragedy in the lives of two people that worked on *Frozen* and *Frozen II*; co-director Chris Buck lost a son, and Andrew Page, a central figure in the music production of both films, lost a daughter. Buck's son died around the time when Buck needed to begin the interviews and press tours to promote *Frozen*; the Lopezes witnessed how Buck insisted on going through that highly public process and the subsequent awards season even though he was dealing with such a terrible personal tragedy at the same time. Anderson-Lopez stated when writing the lyrics, she "really just thought about them, and wrote it for them." Bell said she drew inspiration from her own mental health.

## International versions

In the English version, Kristen Bell sings "The Next Right Thing"

As it happened in *Moana* with a Tahitian, Māori and Hawaiian version, the Sami version was an exceptional dubbing made specifically for the movie, given the inspiration it took from Sami culture.

## Reception

Multiple critics have praised "The Next Right Thing" for its meaning and message. *MEAWW* argues the song provides "one of the movie's most inspiring messages about dealing with pressure". The *Los Angeles Times* deemed it the best song of *Frozen II*. *Hypable* stated that the song was the "most valuable thing *Frozen 2* has to offer". Jonathan Groff, who voices Kristoff in the film, said hearing the song "brought [him] to tears".

## Plot

After the deaths of Elsa and Olaf, and believing Kristoff has abandoned her, a tearful Anna struggles to go forward but resolves to do the next right thing of breaking the dam in order to free the Enchanted Forest.

## Lyrics

I've seen dark before

But not like this

This is cold

This is empty

This is numb

The life I knew is over

The lights are out

Hello, darkness

I'm ready to succumb

I follow you around

I always have

But you've gone to a place I cannot find

This grief has a gravity

It pulls me down

But a tiny voice whispers in my mind

"You are lost, hope is gone

But you must go on

And do the next right thing"

Can there be a day beyond this night?

I don't know anymore what is true

I can't find my direction, I'm all alone

The only star that guided me was you

How to rise from the floor

When it's not you I'm rising for?

Just do the next right thing

Take a step, step again

It is all that I can to do

The next right thing

I won't look too far ahead

It's too much for me to take

But break it down to this next breath

This next step

This next choice is one that I can make

So I'll walk through this night

Stumbling blindly toward the light

And do the next right thing

And with the dawn, what comes then

When it's clear that everything will never be the same again?

Then I'll make the choice

To hear that voice

And do the next right thing

## Videos

Lyric video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6g1yQV0dIY

Videoclip- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFkClV2gM-s