Why is “Let It Go” such a big deal?

Anna posed this question, and I think it’s an excellent one: What is up with “Let It Go” and little girls? Why is this song such a blockbuster among the pre-K set? How did it jump the gap from presentational to participatory music? Is it the movie, or the song itself? In case you never interact with pop culture or little kids, this is the tune in question:

I posted the question on Facebook, and my friends have so many good responses that I’m going to just paste them all in more or less verbatim below.

The first answer comes from Kester Allen, father of two girls:

It’s a song about “ok, I finally get to use my awesome superpowers” aimed at girls. & super catchy. In the thick of it here

The movie is also unusually good for a Disney princess movie. We’ve had several dramatic enactments this month

Noah Fessenden:

I wish I could answer that. All I know is that even though my 3 year old daughter refuses to watch the entire Frozen movie because there are “bad guys” in it, she is constantly singing Let It Go at the top of her lungs.

Jeremy Withers, who has a son:

It’s not just little girls…

… annnnnnnnnnnnnd now I have it stuck in my head. Great. Time to go Youtube some metal.

Chris Goodwin shares my feelings:

I haven’t seen the movie, which I understand is quite good, but I definitely don’t get it with the song. Positive message, blah blah blah, but it seems like a cookie cutter Disney movie song.

Jenny Herdman Lando:

Idina.

Tamani Green begs to differ:

As someone who regularly feels constraints for reasons, I dig the hell out of this song. I just hate that Idina Menzel’s voice is so crap.

Lisa Gourd:

It’s definitely not just girls. My six-year-old boy drops whatever he’s doing when the song comes on so that he can sing along and enact it with great feeling.

I ask Tamani to expand on her feelings a bit, and she responds:

Everyone loves a big musical number?

Jenny responds to my question about why Idina is so much more special than any other Disney princess voice actress:

Idina’s voice is alive. An entity all to itself. It is way more Broadway than Disney if you must label it. The song itself is catchy. Easy words for kids. The concept, of being yourself, is empowering.

I ask Lisa what her son is reacting to: the melody, the lyrics, the general vibe, what. She responds:

Yeah, I’m not sure what’s going on. It’s generally pretty easy for my son to get into music, no matter how terrible (I think) a song is, but in this case I think it’s that he’s seen the movie and enjoys being able to picture the whole story. We don’t watch Disney in our house, but we were convinced to make an exception for Frozen, and then there’s really no going back, since it seems to be everywhere. He (and his sister) like all the songs, but “Let It Go” gets the most exposure, so I suppose that has something to do with it.

Jenny:

Agreed – the storyline for whole movie is very simple. SO the song makes sense.

Tamani:

Disagree about her voice being alive. She has a flatness of tone that annoys me no end. If you go back and listen to a classic Disney movie like Cinderella, Illene Woods has a bell-like tone that still makes me shiver, especially on Sing Sweet Nightingale. And Jodi Benson singing Part of Your World blows Let It Go away. But Let It Go is still great – lyrics and melody are phenomenal. Idina just kills it for me, especially that last note. All throat, no head. I’m surprised she hasn’t blown her larynx by now.

Jenny:

I do not have a musical background so will defer to comments RE technique and talent. However, the same way my heart beats properly when I hear U2 is the way I feel Idina’s voice is its own creature.

My 5 year old just said to say ” I like it so much and sing it all the time cuz it is my favorite song.” She also loves “Open Up The Gates” and “Olaf’s Song.”

Bibi Boynton:

This song has been coming into my play therapy sessions with preschoolers lately…I think the fascination has something to do w the fact that preschoolers are learning impulse control vs. autonomy and this song captures freedom from constraints in language they can understand…They are learning the extent of their own agency/power in the world and also learning about the limitations and boundaries put upon it by adults/society. The song is a perfect anthem for the work that’s happening at this age.

Bibi says she’s working up an article about it. That should be an interesting read. Meanwhile, apparently not all grown men are immune to the song’s charms. Laura Whitmore Dickens:

It is also my boyfriend’s favorite song…

Shira Kronzon:

What is it with “Let it Go” and my 4 year old son?

Leo Ferguson:

Also though, there has to be a social/tipping point component right? All their friends love it so they do too..?

Nathan Hartshorn has the music theoretical explanation:

I think it’s the whole I-V-vi-IV progression thing: “Let It Be,” “Don’t Stop Believing,” “No Woman No Cry,” “Take Me Home, Country Roads”–that stuff is like catnip in a hundred successful pop songs.

Elbert Garcia:

The song comes at a perfect time in the film…and I think I liked it just as much as Nadia…the songwriters are parents of two daughters…to me that – and their talent – explains a lot

Noel Raley has the feminist response:

Love all these comments! It’s definitely not just preschoolers by the way — both my (8 and 10yo) kids and their friends (though yes, mostly the friends are girls) are hooked. I too cannot stand the singer’s voice, especially after watching her sing it so poorly at the Oscars. The empowerment message is great and inspiring, but I have not spared any heavyhandedness when talking about the scene where she first sings this song — while she is creating her masterpiece, flexing the muscles of her power for the first time, and rejoicing in the freedom of using the gift she’s been shut down for all her life, she literally lets her hair down and magically changes from her normal princess dress (already somewhat sexualized, tiny waist, etc) into a slinky, tight, slit up the thigh, low cut gown. Thus her power when it is finally realized is immediately linked up to her sexiness as if they are one and the same, even though the power of ice has been hers since she was born. I have constantly harped on that one; it’s so frustrating and blatant, and not at all expected or called for in the movie. So great, you’re singing this song about not holding back your power, and the image that’s branded with it is entirely sexual. Disney still has a long way to go.

Babsy Singer, the eternal poptimist:

Uhh..the song is just awesome

Aaron Kroll:

My six-year-old daughter is OBSESSED with Frozen, and with Elsa in particular. Even though Anna is the protagonist, Elsa is the character all the little girls pretend to be. It’s definitely related to the magical ice powers.

Daniel Lipkowitz:

This may be totally unfair, but I pretty much figured that the song is popular because it’s cool, and cool because it’s popular. Kids seem to massively latch on to whatever their friends are getting excited about, and some pretty random things end up spreading like wildfire. Remember when POGs got insanely big for a year or two?

Jason Mullins:

It’s also big in the teen community – I’ve heard 13 to 17 year olds spontaneously break into song…

Emiliano Garcia:

I don’t know how far we’ll ever get with trying to deduce a rational explanation for the irrational phenomenon of fads and popularity in music. I’m not sure it can be completely explained in words. There are understandable pieces to this puzzle though. That’s why pop songs and boy bands are so formulaic. So much, however, may rest in the collective subconscious.

Kris Messer:

I have nothing new to say other than both of my kids (boys and girl) and all their classmates sing this song daily. My kids did not really seem that enthralled by the movie at all, but the song is a different story. We even sing it when they are fighting or having a fit over something.

Tamani:

Noel, I agree with Elsa’s full realization of her powers being linked to her being sexualized. But I think it’s an interesting point, nonetheless – women are still regarded as the gatekeepers of sex (speaking strictly in a cis/het context) and a strong, confident woman is usually in control of and not ashamed of her sexuality. Do I think it’s necessarily correct to sexualize children? No. But as the mother-to-be of a daughter, I definitely don’t want her to feel as if she has to suppress her femininity if that is an integral part of her psyche.

Also, as a black woman, I identify with the song because black women have always walked a really fine line between madonna/whore, mammy/sapphire. To be free of such restraint is a tantalizing thought. As adults, we tell little girls so often to be ‘ladies’. What is a lady? A soft, quiet sort of woman who is prim and buttoned up? That sort of thing can squash a rambunctious, loud happy little girl. You see it in the movie. Elsa goes from carefree and easy to a perfectly prim and suppressed young woman scared of her own natural ability.

Noel:

Yes, Tamani! I agree with you, and perhaps that is the better point to be making, especially with my girl, who is fully embedded in the early stages of puberty now. We can get at the complexity of not wanting all women’s/girls’ power to have to be sexualized, while at the same time recognizing that sexuality is powerful and it’s one of the specific elements of power for women that is often controlled. The finer points come in where anything powerful can be relegated to the realm of sexuality (not the message I want to give), where claiming your sexual power as a girl/woman is of utmost importance but not the only important part of your identity/psyche, and where walking that fine line (madonna/whore) can be harmful but asserting your feelings/identity/sexuality is empowering. The fact that Elsa’s parents’ only advice to her was “conceal, don’t feel” just opens up the opportunities for critical movie-watching, along with all of these ideas. I would love to keep talking about this with you!

I don’t have much to add, except to say that my friends are smart. If you have further thoughts, please add them in the comments.