Song 13 - When you wish upon a star by Harline & Washington

I hesitated with putting this song into the jukebox because it is so well known but the fact that the version from Pinocchio will still give me goosebumps when I listen to it suggest that it should definitely be there. "When you wish upon a star your dreams comes true". Perhaps there is a message in there for everyone that you should never give up on your dream no matter how difficult following them can be. Even more fitting is stars make bright the darkest of nights. I also have a live version of the song being sung by the EELs live at the Albert Hall, which is fantastic; and gives the song a rustic feel, which shows the brilliance of the song.

Written in 1940 by Lee Harline and Ned Washington it is sung by Cliff Edwards on the soundtrack recording of Pinocchio. Pinocchio was the 2nd film released by Walt Disney after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The song is featured at the start and the end of the movie. Jimmy Cricket becomes the conscience of Pinocchio and guides him through the adventures of the movie to reunite Pinocchio with Geppetto and Gideon the cat. The song went on to be the first song from a Disney movie to win an Oscar and has become a musical reference to everything Disney. It is funny to thing that the song makes you think of princess and the magical castle logo of Disney and yet there were no princesses involved with the singing of the song. What's also lovely about the original version recorded for the soundtrack is the orchestration of the middle part of the song, which supports the animation of the film; which takes you into Geppetto's workshop where you first meet the main characters of the film. The strength of Disney no matter what film you're watching the music is always as strong as the animation and that why a song which is over 70 years old still spark happy memories to a kid who is 5 years or a 40 year old today. I know there is Disney in my DNA and I would never remove it.


To listen to the original one;
When you wish upon a star, sung by Cliff Edwards

For the Eels' version:
When you wish upon a star, sung by Eels

Written by: Lee Harline and Ned Washington
Song by: Cliff Edwards
Recorded: 1940