The Best of 2014: Music

 

It was a good year for music. My listening ranged freely among genres from classic soul like Marvin Gaye’s Trouble Man to Swedish melodic death metal like Amon Amarth, but despite all the groovy or brutal music with hipster cred I could name as the best music I encountered in 2014, I have to go with “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen (2013).

 

As I understand it (I haven’t seen the full movie), Princess Elsa has the ability to create and control ice. This is a cause of embarrassment and conflict in the royal family, causing Elsa to flee the palace in an emotional fit and unleash her powers to cast an eternal winter over the land. She hides herself in the mountains and erects an ice fortress where she can live as a Snow Queen openly wielding her powers.

On the surface, the lyrics suggest a moment of self-empowerment. Elsa is declaring that she will no longer restrain herself for the comfort of others. And yet it is out of weakness--her inability to stay in her home kingdom--that she has fled to her mountain refuge, dragging all her emotional baggage with her. She is overcompensating, boasting even as she breaks inside.

Altogether then, “Let It Go” is a powerful statement of the simultaneous experience of strength and fragility that is being human. I read somewhere that when the scriptwriters of Frozen heard “Let It Go,” they thought it was so wonderful that it was unsuitable for a typical villain, so they reworked Elsa’s character to be more sympathetic. The result is a charming musical number that children the world over are singing in the original English or their own languages.

 

My 3-year-old is no different. He makes ice castles with Legos, copies Elsa’s gestures, and belts out the song all . . . day . . . long. The lyrics “Let it gooooo!” are simple enough, but it’s comical to hear him sing such grown-up phrases as “The past is in the past” and “Distance makes everything seem small.” Some are a bit of a mouthful for him, like “spiraling in frozen fractals all around,” but he soldiers through. Then, when he finally stops, it isn’t over because I can hear kids a few doors down singing it!

A worldwide hit, a poignant statement of human nature, and an inspiration to children and adults alike: not much makes it to that level, so despite all the artsy, retro, indie or badass music I could pick as my personal best of 2014, I choose a showtune from an animated Disney film.