Originally there was no song for Princess Jasmine other
than, she's in "A Whole New World"
And we had written one early on when it was a
buddy picture where she was just a ditzy princess
because the first time around
it really was a buddy story, less than a romance.
My initial agenda when we brought the show to
Broadway was, I really want to bring in the songs that I,
Howard and I had written and it didn't make it into the movie.
It hit the skids very early on because there were others,
there were other moments that were more of a priority,
but we still had this song. So he said, "how about that
these suitors coming in and she's going to pretend
to be a spoiled princess to scare them off.
Both in, in both of her out of towns we had this song in place.
She sings this very spoiled song, "Go Call Me a Princess."
"Call me a princess, I don't care. Call me obsessed
with nails and hair. Only concerned with what to wear
Shallow and so blase.
Go ahead and call me "royal pain"
I'm unimpressed with your disdain
Let me repeat one sweet refrain, princesses get their way
The effect was we were not really establishing enough
of an emotional connection with Jasmine that
was the thought. So while we were in Toronto we knew
that we wanted a new song.
So we, I remember we all came up to my hotel room.
It was Tom Schumacher and, and of course
Casey Nicholaw and Chad Beckylyn and Chris Montana,
and we started to, okay what's the moment and what do we need?
She is so hemmed in by all these rules
so I said, well the verse is gonna be like a list.
"I can't do this and I can't do that"
So the verse is how she feels straight jacketed and then
when we get to the chorus we open up into
"Beyond the Palace Walls"
Now, you know, sometimes you come into a song from
a stylistic place. This really comes in
from a physical manifestation of what it feels like to be hemmed in.
"Suitors talk of love, but it's an act merely meant
to throw me."
And also, remember, this starts under the dialogue:
"I can't do this, and I can't do this
Suitors talk of love, but it's an act
merely meant to throw me"
"How can someone love me when, in fact,
they don't know me.
They want my royal treasure..."
"when all is said and done.
It's time for desperate measure, so I wonder..."
"why shouldn't I fly so far from here,
I know the girl I might become here..."
"sad and confined and always locked behind
these palace walls.
So you could just do one little chorus and right back to,
"no, I'm trapped."
The first time around, as I remember, the lyrics were more about the rules,
and we made it more about suitors because again
it's all about dramaturgical nuts and bolts.
We had a different verse, "all these obligations,
all these obligations, rules and regulations."
Da da da da da da, lyrics coming at this pace
It's a much more overarching theme.
You're holding on a tonality.
Now you're released, and it almost is like
the door, the windows have opened and now she's free.
And that was the whole concept of the song.
"Why shouldn't I fly so far from here?
I know the girl I might become here
Sad and confined, and always locked
behind these palace walls."
Sometimes you start with the architecture of a song
and then okay, you know, like with building a house
whatever, that's the entrance and it's a
good entrance, but wait a second, really
do we need that many stairs? A song is
like that. You just, you're continually shaping until time
runs out. You know, opening night!