Frozen 2 Soundtrack- A Semantic Review

Change, growth and maturity – A reintroduction

The Frozen 2 soundtrack centres around three main themes; change, growth and maturity. As decided by directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, “it was important to show how the characters have matured since the first movie and how time had passed” says Anderson-Lopez in a recent interview. However, they also wanted to reassure the audience that the characters we know and love from the first movie are still here and this is confirmed in the opening song “Some Things Never Change”. This song is sung by all four main characters (Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf) as we are reintroduced to them and their own individual journeys. It is an upbeat and joyful “welcome back!” song lead by protagonist Anna. As Anna received her happy ending in the first movie she reveals how tightly she is still gripping onto it by singing out the lyric “holding on tight to you”. This is an important secondary hook within the song as it foreshadows Anna’s later transformation where she is forced to let go of everybody she loves and holds dear in order to move forward in life. Whilst Kristoff takes a verse to disclose his proposal plans to Anna, Elsa follows by expressing her restlessness and unease “the winds are restless could that be why I’m hearing this call”. Here, Elsa makes reference to ‘the call’ a melodic motif that only she can hear, that is threaded throughout the movie to represent her inner voice that’s calling her…

Into the unknown!

In this song, Elsa is dramatically awoken to ‘the call’ where she proceeds to duet with herself. As no other character can hear this call but her, she grows frustrated and wrestles back and forth with it. Throughout the song, the voice gradually calls her away from everything that is comfortable and everyone she knows and loves, in order for her to journey into the unknown! Albeit difficult and challenging, it is necessary for her to take this step to find the place where she truly belongs and her sense of purpose. Similarly, songwriter Anderson-Lopez related to this as she always felt as though she had to go down a career path she knew deep down wasn’t for her and states, “it’s a metaphor for anyone who feels that restlessness in their soul – is this really what my life is suppose to be?”. Lyrically, at the start of the song Elsa rejects the call with sharp, hard hitting declaratives “you’re not a voice, you’re just a ringing in my ear”, then towards the end she can no longer resist it. She must take a leap of faith and respond to the call. At this point Elsa finally embraces her destiny and in doing so, propels the story forward. In the same way, you and I can reject and ignore all the signs, but sooner or later we have to take that leap of faith and step into something new!

Elsa’s arrival

Throughout the story we see Elsa chasing after her destiny and taking dangerous and trecherous steps to get there. Just after conquering the magic of the Dark Sea, she arrives at Atohallen where we hear “Show Yourself”. The song is kind of an allegory of self discovery and finally finding your true purpose. The song aims to expand the definition of true love. The first movie looked at expanding the definition of true to familial love, where Anna sacrifices herself for her sister Elsa in the final scene. Whereas Frozen 2 focusses on finding your OWN purpose and where YOU belong most in the world. This could be perceived as selfish but is necessary for Elsa to find out who she truly is. “Show Yourself” also has a dual meaning where Elsa is speaking directly to the voice that has been calling to her throughout the movie and commanding it to finally reveal itself to her. On the other hand the lyric could be interpreted as a reinforcing mantra that Elsa says to herself. In effect, “prove to yourself” that you can achieve anything you put your mind to, as she knows subconsciously that the external voice heard is actually hers all along! Towards the end of the song Elsa realises that she is the fifth spirit that connects magic to the people, and is filled with an overwhelming sense of confidence and fulfilment, “I am found, show yourself, step into your power, throw yourself, into something new”. The song concludes with a glorious, orchestrated crescendo and Elsa now singing out ‘the call’ (instead of singer Aurora), to show how she has taken ownership of her identity and control of her destiny.

When nature speaks, you listen

On a research trip to Scandinavia, the writers took inspiration from the culture and mystical qualities of the nature around them. They were surrounded by trees with the “darkest of hues and life giving energy” felt within the Norwegian forest, “it feels like the forest is a character” says Anderson-Lopez, which is what influenced the placement of the Enchanted forest at the centre of the story. Writer Jennifer Lee revealed that she kept tripping over and getting hurt when walking through the forest and feeling as though the forest was after her “excited her imagination” says Lopez-Anderson. This experience inspired the songwriters to create “When you’re Older”, where the enchanted forest comes alive and starts interacting with impressionable Olaf. With undertones of Gershwin, “When you’re older” is a humorous, bouncy number that Olaf uses to reassure himself that everything will be okay. Interjecting the song are harsh stabs played by stringed instruments which represent the strange happenings of the forest and chaos that Olaf is trying so hard to convince himself is not happening. It also gives off a horrorish tone to reflect the harsh realities of life. Similarly, the songwriters decided to use an ondes martenot, to create that ‘woo woo’ sound also featured in Ghostbusters which produces a comical yet spooky effect. It’s clear that Olaf operates an “ignorance is bliss” mindset to deal with his fears of the forest. The lyrics are carefully crafted to reflect the naivety of a child which is Olaf’s coping mechanism to dealing with fear and hardship. He also uses heightened optimism to access his happy or safe place, “I’ll just dream about a time, when I’m in my aged prime”. Similarly, we all have our own coping mechanisms that we use to deal with the ever increasing pressures of life, stress and strain, and although we know “when you’re older, absolutely everything makes sense” is not necessarily true maybe, taking a leaf out of Olaf’s optimistic book might grant us with a bit of escapism we all need from time to time!

The next right thing

Whilst Elsa is in the midst of her spiritual awakening, Anna is in quite a different predicament at this point in the story. Trapped in a cave with dear friend Olaf who is slowly flouring away, Anna is soon left alone and in what seems to be a hopeless situation for her. Up until this point Anna has based her self-worth and life around being connected to her sister and now that she is without her and slowly loosing Olaf, she feels completely lost “I’ve seen dark before but not like this”. So she now has to grow by letting go and she does so musically in “The Next Right Thing”. She soon finds her way out of the cave by having to be her own motivator “but break it down to this next breath, this next step, this next choice is one that I can make”. At the start of the song Anna is clearly crippled by sadness and depression which is matched with the soft, sombre strings that sound, then as she grows in courage throughout the song the musical texture thickens to convey her increase in bravery and strength. Towards the end of the song, Anna finally finds a way out of the dark cave and reaches high ground. Her success is supported with triumphant percussion and a thicker musical texture to show her growth in confidence and perseverance, “then I’ll make the choice, to hear that voice, and do the next right thing”.

I think this is an encouragement for us all, to always do the next right thing whenever we feel lost, weak or defeated. Until then, let us carry this hopeful song in our hearts and continue on, into the unknown!