This is our arrangement and adaptation of Randy Newman's melancholy ballad, "When She Loved Me" written for Sarah McLachlan's silky voice. She sang it as an eye-watering feature of the Toy Story 2 film (1999) where it narrated the backstory of cowgirl Jessie, a toy left behind when her owner outgrew her.
We've played around with our version for a while, and finally decided it worked best with Ella and Danielle singing...with the rest of us offering a well-intentioned musical backdrop that was a bit muddy because the long-awaited summer holidays, an untrained puppy, and the UK's recent release from lockdown have made it hard to pick instruments up!
Hugging was something we didn't really think about, and took for granted, at the start of 2020, but we never will again. So we reworked the lyrics to reflect that, and to try to shift the song from a bittersweet lament to something more celebratory and reflective. We hope that it still captures the vibe of a good, long hug - which so many of us missed with friends and family during the pandemic, and many are still having to go without around the world.
In response to your many questions and comments, we're pleased to say that Monty (the bigger dog) is very much still with us, but he didn't feature in this one because his howling was too loud. But he'll no doubt wander into future songs, as Boo (the puppy) does here. On which note, we're just taking a moment to assess what we've done and how we might move forwards, so look out for an update soon in case you are interested - and thanks for the many suggestions that have come our way, especially from Australia & New Zealand!
The lyrics we adapted into our arrangement are below:
When somebody hugs you
Everything is beautiful
Every hour spent together
Lives within your heart
And when we are sad
They can help to dry our tears
And they make us happy for a while
When they hug you
Through the winter and the fall
Hugging was impossible
Just couldn’t be together
Like we were meant to be
And though we were lonely
It was such a comforter
As we knew how we hugged you
In the years gone by
Each small embrace
We had stacked them all away
Hiding unbeknown
Still we waited for the day
When we’d say, “I’m allowed to hug you”
Cannot be forgotten
Printed on our memory
How you smiled at me and held me
Just like you used to do
‘Cause we love you
When we hug you
When somebody hugs you
Everything is beautiful
Every hour spent together
Lives within your heart
When they hug you
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