Music Archive

Music has been called the language of the soul.  It has the ability to transport us to places we’ve been and transform us into people we used to be.  Australian film director Baz Luhrmann once said that music and song take over when what we feel is too strong to be contained by words.  Music speaks with a greater voice than words alone ever could.

Walt Disney was acutely aware of that unique power.  Sound and music play a vital role throughout Disney films.  Steamboat Willie relies far more on music than words for its charm and humor. Music tells the story of The Old Mill and Flowers and Trees.  And even in Snow White, Disney chose to augment his narrative through music, music that could carry wishes, dreams, and emotion more powerfully than words or images alone. In Disney films, music does indeed take over when feelings are too strong for words. Love, fear, hope, longing are given voice through music, ringing in viewers’ heads and hearts far beyond the cinematic experience.

It was only natural then that when Walt Disney began planning his new project, the place that was to become Disneyland, music was an inherent part of the design.  If Disneyland was intended to take people to new, fantastic places, places made from dreams and stories, it would need music.  Music would turn landscaping and attraction into a new world; it would remind people of their dreams, and it would draw them back to a place of wonder over and over again.

The Disney parks are filled with music.  From the repetition of “It’s a Small World” to the rollick of “A Pirate’s Life for Me” to the sweeping strings of Soarin’, that music is something that becomes a part of the attraction and the visitor alike, forging bonds and memories that are carried through the years.  Nothing draws out nostalgia for an old attraction like its music.  Play “One Little Spark,” “Listen to the Land,” or “Tomorrow’s Child,” and we are transported to places that no longer exist, caught up in the wonder and emotion of ride experiences from our distant past.  That music reaches beyond the animatronics or the show scenes and becomes a part of us.  It is never outdated; it connects to our memories, our experiences, and it draws us back to the places it creates.

The power of music is its ability to lift us out of where we are and take us to another place.  Nothing else draws us into memory like music does, and when it comes to the happy memories and wonder of Disney, music becomes a powerful, magical element.  All it takes is the cacophony of the Tiki Room or the sweeping majesty of the Wilderness Lodge lobby music, and we are transported away from the mundane and every day; we are taken to a magical place of memory and of feeling that transcends the simple power of words.  For those of us who love Disney and pursue the magic embodied in that place, having that music is a gift.

In the Twenty-First century, we are exceedingly lucky.  We live in the age of digital recording and internet audio. Unlike the original visitors to Disneyland, we are not limited by the records made available at the parks; we can find the music that carries the magic wherever we are.  Internet radio stations like Sorcerer radio carry us back to a place of dreams, letting us relive attractions we love and remember our resort homes. A quick search on Amazon or iTunes lets us find our favorite songs so that we can sing along, and more importantly, dream along.

Indulge in that gift.  When Disney seems far away, and responsibility and frustration threaten to fade your dreams away, dial up the music.  Let the language of the soul take you to other places and times, let it remind you of the magic and restore a faith in wonder that is too big to fit into words alone.