Can You Feel the Love Tonight


"Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is a song from Disney's 1994 animated film The Lion King composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice. It was described by Don Hahn, Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff as having "the most diverse history" in the film. It was a chart hit in the UK, peaking at number 14 on the UK Singles Chart, and achieved even more success in the US, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was a number-one hit in Canada and France, and it sold 11 million copies worldwide. At the 67th Academy Awards in March 1995 it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The same year the song also won Elton John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

History

The song, written by Tim Rice and Elton John, was performed in the film by Kristle Edwards, Joseph Williams, Sally Dworsky, Nathan Lane, and Ernie Sabella, while another version used in the film's closing credits was performed by Elton John. It won the 1994 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. It also earned Elton John the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Within around one and a half months before the film was released in June 1994, John's recording was released throughout radio stations and as a commercial single and entered the Billboard Hot 100. It became the bestselling single. The music video of John's recording contains montages of John performing the song and scenes from the film.
In 2003, a remixed version of the song was included in the Special Edition soundtrack of The Lion King, again sung by Elton John.
In the followup The Lion King 1½, the romantic scene where the song was originally featured also had the song playing, but with a difference: interspersed with the romantic scenes were short comedic shots of Timon and Pumbaa trying to disrupt Simba and Nala's night out with the "Peter Gunn Theme" playing while they try.

Reception

The single release of John's recording peaked at number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for eight weeks. It also sold 500,000+ units in France. Aftonbladet described the song a "really good ballad". Cashbox commented, "From Hollywood’s The Lion King soundtrack comes the always welcome voice of Elton John, who takes a stab at reclaiming his talent for crossover hitmaking with this orchestrated ballad, his most affecting single choice in years. Moving performance and a heady theme add up to hits radio action as well the usual adult formats and even some classic rock attention. A winner." David Browne from Entertainment Weekly noted that John's "croon and piano skills are aging quite well". Another editor, Leah Greenblatt described the song as a "soaring Simba tribute". Expressen called it a "typical Elton ballad with echoes of several of his old successes". The Network Forty wrote that it is a "elegant ballad". In 2016, David Ehrlich of the Rolling Stone magazine ranked John's performance of the song at the 67th Academy Awards number 12. The Staffordshire Sentinel said that it "creates the perfect romantic atmosphere".

Early production

The song was planned to be sung only by Timon and Pumbaa, but Elton John disliked the comical nature of the concept. John declared that "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" was meant to follow "Disney's tradition of great love songs", and that it could "express the lions' feelings for each other far better than dialogue could". The final result was the song mainly sung by an off-screen voice with short lines from Simba and Nala, and the beginning and end parts by Timon and Pumbaa. It also included Zulu vocals that, while mostly muted in the on-screen version, were much more prominently featured in the audio-only releases.

Track listing

International versions

When the movie was first released in 1994, it numbered complexively 28 versions worldwide, including a special Zulu version made in South Africa. This is not just the only Zulu dubbing ever made by Disney, but also the only one made in any African language, other than Arabic. Over the years, the number of official versions has increased to 45 official versions, to which some unofficial versions have been added by local TV stations and studios in their local languages.

''Festival of the Lion King''

In Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom's Festival of the Lion King, the song is sung by Nakawa and Kibibi. As they sing, two ballet dancers dressed as birds dance on the stage. After the main chorus is sung, the male bird dancer attaches his partner to a harness that allows her to fly through the air.

Cover versions

English pop group S Club, Sara Paxton and Elliott Yamin all covered the song for Disneymania, Disneymania 4 and Disneymania 6, respectively. Jackie Evancho covered the song for her album Songs from the Silver Screen. Harajuku, a Eurodance band covered a dance version of the song in a 1995 release with singer Stephanie O'Hara, also known as Stefanie Obst, performing vocals. Italian trio Il Volo covered the song releasing it in the special edition of their album We Are Love. In 2017 D-Metal Stars created a Heavy Metal cover of the song on the album "Metal Disney" featuring Mike Vescera and Rudy Sarzo. Beyoncé, Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, and Billy Eichner performed the song as Nala, Simba, Pumbaa, and Timon, respectively, in the 2019 remake of The Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau. Pentatonix released an a capella rendition in conjunction with the 2019 remake. In April 2020 Christina Aguilera performed the song for the ABC's television special, The Disney Family Singalong.

We Love Disney

The song was covered in different languages for the series We Love Disney by:

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Austria 40
Belgium 87
Europe 35
France 23
Netherlands 111
Norway 6
Sweden 62

Certifications