JUKEBOX: “A Girl Worth Fighting For” from Mulan

Mulan singing with Ling, Yao, and Chien-Po

Hi everybody! It’s Kimberly here for my thirtieth post for the genre “Children’s Music.”

When little girls used to say, “I want to be a princess,” that used to mean that they simply wanted to wear a pretty dress and be swept off their feet by a handsome prince. Even though that may still be true, the meaning behind the words “I want to be a princess,” has expanded to mean something more (as shown in the Disney “I Am a Princess” commercials). Today, Disney and Pixar princesses like Merida, Rapunzel, and Elsa have shown little girls what it means to stand up for yourself and be brave (pun-intended). Just over 16 years ago, Disney released Mulan, who although isn’t technically a princess, showed that a girl can be strong and fight for her family. If you’ve read my past reviews, you might know that I sometimes review songs that may not be the most known songs from a particular movie. Following that trend, I will be reviewing, “A Girl Worth Fighting For,” from Mulan.

The music for “A Girl Worth Fighting For” was composed by Matthew Wilder. In fact, he’s behind all of the music in Mulan including fan favorites such as “Reflection” and “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.” Wilder has also worked on songs for projects such as Hannah Montana and even wrote the music for “What Dreams are Made Of” from The Lizzie McGuire Movie. David Zippel as the lyricist is no less impressive than Matthew Wilder. Not only did he write the lyrics for all the songs in Mulan, but he also worked on projects like songs in Ella Enchanted, Captain America: the First Avenger, and Hercules (particularly “I Won’t Say I’m in Love.”) The pair of Wilder and Zippel has proven to be quite successful.

Since Mulan has just celebrated its sweet sixteen, I’m going to give a brief summary of it just in case you forgot what it’s about. When China is in need of soldiers, they seek male representatives from each family. To protect her father, who isn’t as strong as he used to be, Mulan steals his armor and takes his place disguised as a man. “A Girl Worth Fighting For” is what the army sings as they trek through China to defeat the Huns. The melody includes many oriental themes that tie the song into its setting of China. The song flows well and is upbeat, yet slow like an army marching to battle. The lyrics are well-written and funnily express what the soldiers want in a woman. I particularly like Chien-Po’s part where he sings, “I couldn’t care less what she’ll wear or what she looks like. It all depends on what she cooks like. Beef pork chicken mmmm.” Overall, the melody and lyrics make for a nice transition song. I’m giving “A Girl Worth Fighting For” 4 records because its melody and lyrics are good, but aren’t as memorable as the other songs in Mulan like “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.”

I hope you enjoyed my review of “A Girl Worth Fighting For,” and thank you for checking out JUKEBOX. J

Below is the clip of “A Girl Worth Fighting For” from Mulan.