Frozen “Let it Go” (2013)

I have a confession to make: I have never seen Frozen in its entirety. At the time the film came out, I was buried head over heels in graduate studies and barely had time to notice the film’s release, let alone go see it in the theater. Two years after this hit film became a phenomenon, I finally decided to check out clips of the film online, which is how I (finally) discovered “Let it Go.”

“Let it Go” is also known as the Disney song that little girls and boys have been obsessed with for nearly three years and counting. It’s true that “Let it Go” is one of those songs that can easily get stuck inside your head, but it remains a beautiful song regardless.

To set up the context, “Let it Go” takes place after Queen Elsa has accidentally revealed her ice powers to the people of Arendelle (her kingdom, or queendom I supposed I should say). Embarrassed and humiliated, Elsa flees the city, causing a deep winter to fall as she does so. Now wandering alone in the mountains, Elsa decides that she is sick and tired of hiding who she truly is and lets her powers loose.

The 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 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!

Let it go! Let it go!
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

Before this song was created, Elsa was going to be the villain of this story. I believe it was going to be along the lines of Anna was the good sister and Elsa became evil, or always was evil, something like that. However, after songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez created the song and brought it to Disney, the writers looked at each other and said “We can’t make Elsa a villain now, not with a song like this!” So the story was changed.

It’s funny how some distance
makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
can’t get to me at all!

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!

Let it go! Let it go!
I’m one with the wind and sky
Let it go! Let it go!
You’ll never see me cry
Here I stand, and here I stay!
Let the storm rage on

It’s fascinating to watch how quickly Elsa’s powers expand in scope. She goes from creating whisps of snow and ice, to creating a snowman (Olaf), to a stairway of ice, and finally, the ice castle. With each successful creation, you can see confidence (and joy) growing in Elsa’s face. At last she is free to use her powers without anyone to tell her she can’t. And really, the song is only “sad” for the first verse, starting with verse two “It’s funny how some distance…” the background music becomes happy, and almost playful, matching Elsa’s rising spirits.

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!

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!!!
The cold never bothered me anyway

Once the stairway is created, the tempo really begins to pick up and the scene quickly changes to the creation of the castle, beginning with that giant snowflake rapidly spreading over the ground below Elsa. And then, as Elsa raises her arms, the camera cuts back to show this HUGE ice palace rising from the ground; that moment is pure Disney magic!! Watching the palace complete itself, I felt like a little kid again after watching Cinderella’s gown appear for the first time. Disney doesn’t always succeed in creating these moments, but when they do, they really do! After her palace is finished, Elsa has one last change to make: she manipulates her powers to create a brand new dress after literally letting her hair down and proclaims an eternal winter from the completed stronghold of ice.

I am a huge fan of Idina Menzel by the way (I’ve listened to RENT and Wicked hundreds of times each), and she absolutely slays this song with her awesome voice. She actually auditioned for the role of Rapunzel in Tangled (2010) and while she didn’t get it, Disney remembered her and looked Idina up when Frozen was in pre-production.

It’s not surprising that Frozen is receiving a sequel and this time I will make sure to watch it in the theater.

That’s all I have for “Let it Go,” the song is so amazing that it really speaks for itself as to how brilliant it is. I hope you enjoy listening to it!