Once Upon a Dream (Sleeping Beauty song)


"Once Upon a Dream" is a song written for the 1959 animated musical fantasy film Sleeping Beauty produced by Walt Disney. Its lyrics were written by Jack Lawrence and Sammy Fain while the music is adapted by George Bruns. The song's melody is based on the "Grande valse villageoise", from the 1890 ballet The Sleeping Beauty by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
"Once Upon a Dream" serves as the film's main theme, and as the love theme of Princess Aurora and Prince Philip. It is performed in the film by a chorus as an overture and third-reprise finale, as well as in a duet by Mary Costa and Bill Shirley, who voiced the roles of Aurora and Philip, respectively.

Notable covers

American girl group No Secrets recorded the song "Once Upon Dream", whose chorus is based on "Once Upon a Dream", in 2003 for the two-disc DVD release of Sleeping Beauty.
"Once Upon a Dream" was covered by Emily Osment in October 2008 for the Platinum Edition release of the film. Osment's rendition was included in the 2008 compilation album Princess Disneymania.

Lana Del Rey version

"Once Upon a Dream" was covered by American singer and songwriter Lana Del Rey for the dark fantasy film Maleficent, which serves as a re-imagining of the original 1959 film. The song was released on January 26, 2014; it was made available as a free digital download during its first week of availability by the Google Play Store. On February 4, the digital download was made available for purchase.

Critical reception

The cover received generally positive reception. Forbes called the cover "moody and low-key" while Stereogum described it as "swoony" and "spaced-out". Hypable said the cover was "much darker" than the original and pointed out the "slight radio effect" over Del Rey's and called her performance of the song "haunting": Spin said of the song snippet from the trailer: "Smoky vocals, a bewitching come-hither delivery, and delicate piano turn the 1959 fairytale song into a haunting lullaby." Complex remarked that Del Rey's cover had a "somber and sinister" feel in comparison to the original.

Chart positions