I think most people's special songs are probably from their favourite band but mine is actually from a musical: The Lion King musical, to be exact. It's called Endless Night and it's a solo sung by Jason Raize, who originated the role of 'adult Simba'. I was devastated to find that Jason Raize committed suicide in 2004. You can tell from interviews and performances that he was a friendly, good-hearted person with extreme amounts of talent.
I first became a fan of The Lion King when I was ten. I watched the film with my sister and I remember how much it made me think after, now that I was old enough to fully appreciate the story. It somehow led me to have the most epiphanic realisations of my ten-year-old life. Good old Disney.
Ever since then I've remained a fan -- I've seen the musical on the West End, I have it on special edition DVD (Though I only watch it maybe once or twice a year, to keep it special)and I even sleep with Simba teddy my friend bought for me last Christmas.
One night, a few years ago, I was laying in bed, extremely sad. I don't remember why. I felt very alone and like nothing would ever get better. Then this song played on my iPod, and it lifted my heart and somehow it made me feel so relieved. It gave me hope. And ever since then, when I'm lying in bed feeling empty, I play this song, and it helps me feel again and I can usually sleep a lot easier that night.
I have depression and there are periods of time where I find my depression especially hard to deal with, for a mixture of reasons. This summer was particularly bad for me, I really felt I had no future and I hated myself more than ever, and nothing was going right and I couldn't keep myself busy so every day was a struggle. Then, to my suprise, at the end of summer my mother told me she had booked us a holiday to Tunisia, as a birthday present to herself.
I had always wanted to go to Africa. It's probably something that is due in part to The Lion King, but I'm a travel nut anyway and I've always felt a deep connection to Africa especially. I've wanted to go since I was very young. I was obviously very excited but anyone who has depression knows that it won't give you a break just because you're going on holiday, unfortunately.
When I was in Tunisia, I loved it, yet I still found myself lying awake with dread every night. My trusty iPod had run out of charge so I took to going down to the beach at night and meditating infront of the sea to clear my head and to calm me. And sometimes's I'd pray. I should probably explain, I'm not religious, but I know what I believe in, and when I pray, I usually just pray help me keep my faith in it. Because it's what keeps me living.
I made friends with some of the hotel workers in Tunisia. They were 'entertainers' and they were called Titi, Momo, Alex, Coco, Josef and Rico. (They called me 'Shakira' or simply, 'England'). One night, I was sitting on the beach, just listening to the sea, and Coco came over and told me to come to the beach stage later because they were putting a show on. The Lion King. Of course, I didn't want to miss that, so I agreed and bought my family along to it too.
The entertainment team who put on the show. I never really spoke to the girls cos they were in charge of the younger childrens clubs so I don't know their names but the guys used to do the pool/beach activity stuff and they were eager to practise their English so I ended up spending a lot of time with them. Thats Momo at the back, and then Alex, Coco, Titi, Rico and Josef. I miss them incredibly but we do Facebook/Skype occasionally. They work so much though that they're hardly ever on :(
I wasn't expecting much; I thought they'd simply sing-along and dance to the more popular songs, like Hakuna Matata, or they'd do a jokey play version of the film. But when it started I was suprised to hear the Broadway version of the Circle of Life blaring out from the speakers. They played every song from the musical and then acted the parts in between. Coco was Scar, Titi (a little person) was young Simba and my beloved Rico was adult Simba. I realized Endless Night would come on and that it was sure to overwhelm me. I know it seems silly, but at that moment it just hit me that I was under a starry night sky, in Africa (which is also the very setting of the scene that the song is performed in) and the song that meant so much to me was about to be blared out across the beach.
The moment Endless Night started, and Jason Raize's voice rang out louder than I'd ever heard it, I was crying. I couldn't help it and my family couldn't understand what was wrong with me.
It just seemed really magic :3 And it was enough leave me with a feeling of reassurance that everything would be okay, which lasted the rest of the holiday.
So I want to ask you: Do you have a special song? If so, what is it, and why is it?