Songs that feel like The Lion King (1994)
A sweeping, awestruck coming-of-age fable about grief, guilt and the courage to return home and claim your place in something larger than yourself.
- Circle of Life by Carmen Twillie: The film's own opening: a Zulu-chant sunrise that sets the awestruck, mythic tone.
- Homeless by Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Zulu harmonies and a tender sense of loss and longing for home.
- Dreams by Fleetwood Mac: Hmm
- Under African Skies by Paul Simon: Warm Graceland-era African rhythms evoke the savannah and its golden light.
- Heal the World by Michael Jackson: Sincere 90s choral uplift about hope and the next generation.
- Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira: Joyful, driving African percussion and communal celebration.
- Father And Son by Yusuf / Cat Stevens: The generational tension and tenderness between a parent and a child finding his own path.
- Fix You by Coldplay: Grief slowly turning into cathartic, swelling redemption.
- Shackled And Drawn by Bruce Springsteen: Placeholder
- Can You Feel the Love Tonight by Elton John: The film's own tender ballad, with golden-hour romance and the weight of growing up.