The Little Mermaid: Songs From the Sea Album Review
Theme Song by Brian Setzer and owned by Walt Disney Records
Mermaid Month comes to a close today. We close this event by looking at an album that was released in 1992(the same year as Splash Hits and the TV show). This album is very unique. This album actually tells its own self contained story with each song in the album adding to the story. I consider this the lost episode of the television show even though this album was simply used to promote the show. In the show’s timeline it would have to be the series finale because of Scuttle’s presence on the album. The great thing about this album in my opinion is that virtually every song is great! The music is very retro. The songs ooze 80s and 90s music, but that’s the cool thing about it. The retro songs are really cool to listen too.There’s no song that you would just skip. There are one or two songs that are just okay, but every single one of them is worth listening to. Now let’s dive into the sea one last time for the greatest Mermaid album: Songs From the Sea.
This is a nice introductory song. The world of Atlantica is reestablished and Triton is saying his usual “I hate Humans” speech and this time it’s reflected in the people of Atlantica as well. This is contrasted in the song by Ariel who sings about what else? Being on land. I love the counter melody that Ariel’s sisters sing to contrast what Ariel is singing about. The phrase that describes this song best is “Welcome back to Atlantica”.
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE A MERMAID
The story of the album actually begins with Ariel finding a letter in a bottle from a human girl who is just like Ariel except she’s curious about the merpeople. The girl wants to know “what it’s like to be a mermaid” so Ariel sings an initial response to the question. This song is really fun. With a great tune, a lovely singer (Jodi Benson if you haven’t guessed already), clever and snappy lyrics, and with a great theme of different cultures and togetherness you have a song that’s worth listening to again and again.
The story continues with Ariel going to see Scuttle to learn how to write a letter. Atlantica has a mailing system and she doesn’t know how to write a letter? Maybe she’s going to see him on how to write a letter in the “human format”. As usual Scuttle sings false information to her and adding to his stupidity he sings about his arrogance about how he knows everything and how “he shows off politely” by doing “the Scuttle Strut”. This song is the weakest on the album, but it’s worth listening to to get the full story that was written for this album.
The story continues with Ariel’s sisters getting ready for an event called “The Mermaid’s Ball”. They lament the fact that Ariel is the different one and wonder why she can’t be like them. As the song progresses they come to accept her antics and come to the conclusion that “There’s Only One Ariel”. I like this song because it shows how Ariel’s siblings really feel about her and the conclusion that her different behavior and view of the world is what makes her so special and a great sibling.
The song begins with Ariel being sad about how her sisters don’t welcome her different way of life(she left before the end so she didn’t hear her sisters acceptance) then Sebastian comes along to cheer her up. What follows is a really sweet song that Ariel sings about her friendship with Sebastian. This song is where Ariel sings about how she truly feels about Sebastian. Every lyric is heartfelt and Jodi Benson sings them with such sincerity, making the relationship all the more real. One of the best songs on the album. Sebastian then reminds Ariel that she better get ready for the Mermaid’s Ball.
The story continues where Ariel wonders if human’s have events similar to the Mermaid’s Ball. She then proceeds to have a dream Cinderella might have about going to the ball and having fun and being in a world of magic and bliss. Maybe even falling in love to make the evening more magical. The listener is in the dream with her and creates a mystical dream like atmosphere that kept me listening over and over again.
The Mermaid’s Ball is finally here and everybody starts to party. Ariel sings about how awesome this party is and how everybody should come over and join in the fun. It even has Sebastian’s band playing 90s music (cue 90s KID) This song is a ton of fun and it made me want to go to that party. Ariel then leaves the party early to write her letter.
Ariel retreats to her grotto where she thinks about what to write in the letter and wonders if the girl has a place like the grotto. Ariel sings about something that we can all relate to. A place where we all go to get away and be ourselves. Ariel sings about how precious and special the grotto is to her and it is a great soothing song.
This is where Ariel actually sings what she’s going to write in the letter. This is the “Part of Your World” of the album. It doesn’t capture the same magic, but it’s still a good song. Ariel finds out that even though they come from different worlds and cultures that dreaming is what binds the world’s together.
Oh my God! Words can’t describe how awesome this song is! This song is fun, awesome and extremely catchy and entertaining!!!!!!!!!!!!! This song alone is worth the purchase of the entire album!!! This song is Ariel singing about how wonderful it would be to just swim in her “blue backyard” with her human pen pal.
This is the song that accompanies the finale. This song is just okay. There’s nothing technically wrong with it. It just is a little too koombaya and corny for me. And coming from a comic book geek and Disney fan that’s saying a lot. This song is about how humans and merpeople share the planet and are connected and all the mushy stuff we’ve seen 100 times. It’s nothing special, but it’s definitely worth a listen.
Another AWESOME song!!! This is a perfect finale to a Mermaid album. Ariel sends out the letter in the bottle on the ocean current and hopes the currents will carry it to the girl and Ariel says farewell. The song is sung by the mermaid chorus and it evokes the mysticism and dreamlike serenity that the sirens cast on the sailors in mythology. It’s beautiful and brilliant. This should have been the ending theme to the TV show. This song captures the magic of the undersea realm almost as well as Anderson’s descriptions in the original story. Plus Ariel singing the song in the background is especially haunting. An absolutely brilliant song!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is the best Mermaid album ever!!!!! Virtually every song is worth listening to and none of them are terrible or even bad. This album is also very unique because it tells its own self contained story with all your favorite characters. Absolutely brilliant!!!!!!!
VERDICT: 5 messages in bottles out of 5
BEST/ WORST
Here we go again. Sorry Paw this must be done. For worst I’ll go with “The Scuttle Strut” the song isn’t terrible or anything it’s just the least entertaining. I’m not going to be entertained by Scuttle telling us how great he is when he obviously is an idiot who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. For best it’s a tie between “H20 What a Feeling” and “Where Mermaids Dwell”. One captures the pure fun and excitement of residing in the undersea realm. That fun and excitement is the reason I love this universe in the first place. “Where Mermaids Dwell” is a song that captures the wonderful world perfectly and I think it showcases the world better than “Under the Sea”! I know that sounds sacrilegious, but this captures the magic of Atlantica better and is a pure joy to listen to!!!!!!!!! Â I thank everyone of my readers who made Mermaid Month a blast to work on!!! Thank You!!!!!
