One by One

[HasiraKali]

I think the song has to do with the way life is/was in South Africa. Lebo M is from South Africa and he was exiled. I'm sure some of you already know this. For a long time, there was/has been a severe divide between races in South Africa. Have any of you seen "The Color of Friendship"? It was on the DisneyChannel a few years ago and goes into it. I'm rubbish at explaining it. But Google it, and you should come up with some information.
As for TLKoB, One by One is used instead of an entre'act before Act II begins. Julie Taymor said she chose it because the repeated "one by one" made her picture what the audience would be doing as the song was being performed: Returning to their seats. One by one.

[DarkPaw]

Just a tidbit, my 10 month old brother loves the One By One short! He bounces up and down in front of the TV each morning. And each morning before school, we watch it 3-4 times. He loves it, and so do my other brother and I.

[Nephilim]

*blinks* Well, if it's on a LK soundtrack, then you have to accept that it has something to do with TLK. Even if it's not a direct link.

[Dare]

Originally posted by Hickoro Lioness
But there's no proof it has anything to do with the lion king.

There's no proof it has nothing to do with the TLK either. Methinks you're just looking at the surface of the song and the lyrics. You have to go beyond that and focus on the overall meaning of the song.

Anyway, found this quote:

One By One: A chant-like composition drawing from ancient African warrior songs, One by One features deep male voices that penetrate the soul. It symbolizes my personal struggle to retain strength through adversity and serves as a universal mantra for all people of oppressed nations to find power from within.

[Kiara Serengeti]

Originally posted by Simbaspirit
Scar has dark skin, Nala has white skin

:Ooo:

[Hickoro Lioness]

TLK has nothing to do with race, it's a show about animals. That's my point.

[Sombolia]

Originally posted by Hickoro Lioness
TLK has nothing to do with race, it's a show about animals. That's my point.

Um, I don't think you're getting the point here.

Lyrics translated into English, courtesy of lionking.org;

Hold on tight, my people
Don't get weary
Don't lose your strength
We can see
They wanted to hold us back
One by one
They will not succeed
One by one
We will win
One by one
They will not succeed
One by one
(Repeat)

We will win
Because
We know who we are

Because
We know who we are
(Repeat)

Come and see
The cowards are running away

The color of my skin
That is dark
I'm proud of it

The color of my skin
That is dark
I will die with it

The color of my skin
That is dark
I'm proud of it

Oh yes
It's beautiful in Africa

Only the last part talks about skin color. The whole thing isn't about race. Look at the first and tell me can't relate to TLK, hmm?

[Hickoro Lioness]

Well, I am talking about the last part. That has absoulutly nothing to do with TLK
Any I must admit, more than half the cast is African-american. Is this because TLK takes place in africa?

[Sombolia]

Originally posted by Hickoro Lioness
Well, I am talking about the last part. That has absoulutly nothing to do with TLK

Uh, well, it seems weird to take one part of the song and do that, when the song as a whole has quite a lot to do with TLK.

[eta] I mean, I could pick a random lyric out of any TLK song and say, "That has nothing to do with TLK!" It doesn't stop the whole song from being about TLK, though.

[HasiraKali]

The song is about struggle. TLK is kind of about struggle. There.

[Hickoro Lioness]

Yea, TLK is kinda about struggle, at one point. But it is mostly about remembering your responsibility, and remembering who you are.

[HasiraKali]

Yes. It's about the struggle to discover who you are and where you fit in the grand scheme of things.

[Hickoro Lioness]

I wouldn't say it was a struggle to discover yourself.

[Sombolia]

Originally posted by Hickoro Lioness
remembering who you are

Originally posted by HasiraKali
struggle to discover who you are

Same thing, pretty much.

[HasiraKali]

I wasn't refuting what she said I was saying I agreed. And thanks Sombolia.

[Hickoro Lioness]

Oh, sorry Hasirakali
thank you Sombolia

[just a girl]

"remembering who you are"...isn't that exactly what the song "one by one" is trying to tell.

I think it could not fit more perfectly into the whole lion king thing

Simba returns - he finally realizes nobody can brake him, nobody's gonna walk over him like Scar once did...and it's kind of the same with the lionesses. But there always have to be more people ( or lions in this case - it's the whole point of Disney's animated movies - animals with the exact same understanding of social behavior patterns as people) to be able to stand up for themselves.

And on the other hand it's the whole LK musical idea - People of different races who have suffered in the past or still do now...given a chance to show the world who they are. If you think really hard...how many, let us say, black people get a chance to play in a musical, apart from LK? Well not much I suppose, cause there are not many shows to include an African-American, native American... character.

It's the right thing tho...LK is about African animals, about African culture and therefore about African people too. Who else would be able to perform it with so much love and so much devotion. At the end that's what "one by one" is all about: spirit of Africa.

huh, sorry for this...got carried away

[Hickoro Lioness]

- People of different races who have suffered in the past or still do now...given a chance to show the world who they are.

But why through a show about ANIMALS?!

[Katse]

Because it's in Africa and the characters are played by African peoples, silly.

Three pages and you still don't get it.

"One by One"=song about oppression
Scar's Reign in the Pridelands=times of oppression
Simba's case=inner oppression because he's trying to get over what happened to Mufasa

[Sombolia]

Originally posted by Hickoro Lioness
But why through a show about ANIMALS?!

It's called SYMBOLISM. Say it with me, now. Sym.. bol.. ism.