Poor Unfortunate Souls

"Poor Unfortunate Souls" is the fifth song of Disney's 1989 animated feature, The Little Mermaid. Written by the Academy-Award winning composer, Alan Menken and the late lyricist Howard Ashman and performed by Pat Carroll, it was sung to Ariel by Ursula. In a style that combined Broadway Theatre with Burlesque, Ursula used it to seduce Ariel into trading her voice for the chance to temporarily become human and be with Eric. There was dialogue interruption, in which Ursula told the mermaid about her full plan.

A short melodic reprise of the song was featured later in the original Disney movie being sung by Vanessa, Ursula's alter ego, voiced by Jodi Benson (as she had stolen Ariel's voice). In it, she sang about how she was going to control the ocean and capture Ariel. This reprise was the final song in the film (not counting the finale for "Part of Your World"), and serves as a reprise of "Poor Unfortunate Souls".

Lyrics
First= Ursula: I admit that in the past I've been a nasty They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch But you'll find that nowadays I've mended all my ways Repented, seen the light, and made a switch (True? Yes.)

And I fortunately know a little magic It's a talent that I always have possessed And here lately, please don't laugh, I use it on behalf of the miserable, lonely and depressed (pathetic)

Poor unfortunate souls In pain, in need This one longing to be thinner That one wants to get the girl And do I help them? Yes, indeed

Those poor unfortunate souls So sad, so true They come flocking to my cauldron Crying "Spells, Ursula, please!" And I help them? Yes I do

Now it's happened once or twice Someone couldn't pay the price And I'm afraid I had to rake 'em 'cross the coals Yes I've had the odd complaint But on the whole I've been a saint to those poor unfortunate souls

[dialogue interruption]

The men up there don't like a lot of blabber They think a girl who gossips is a bore! Yes, on land it's much preferred for ladies not to say a word And after all, dear, what is idle prattle for?

Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation True gentlemen avoid it when they can! But they dote and swoon and fawn on a lady who's withdrawn It's she who holds her tongue who get's a man!

Come on, you poor unfortunate soul Go ahead! Make your choice! I'm a very busy woman, and I haven't got all day It won't cost much. Just your voice!

You poor unfortunate soul It's sad but true

If you want to cross the bridge, my sweet, you've got the pay the toll Take a gulp and take a breath, and go ahead and sign the scroll Flotsam, Jetsam, now I've got her, boys The boss is on a roll! THIS POOR UNFORTUNATE SOUL!

Beluga sevrgua, come winds of the Caspian Sea Larynxes glossitis ad max Laryngitis la voce to me Vanessa: What a lovely little bride I'll make, My dear, I'll look divine! Things are working out according to my ultimate design! Soon I'll have that little mermaid, and the ocean will be mine! Come on, I know you need a little magic And magic is my specialty du jour Don't just stand there looking sick Would I kid you? Play a trick? Like I told you, I don't do that anymore
 * -|Reprise=
 * -|Deleted verse=

So I think you ought to take my little bargain Yes, I think you ought to make my little deal Sure, it's hard to leave your life But you could be a prince's wife Why don't you let me take that dream and make it real?

Oh, oh, oh— Come on, you poor unfortunate soul Poor child! Poor fish! Aren't you glad you brought your problem To a lady you can trust? Won't you let me grant your wish?
 * -|Deleted chorus=

You poor unfortunate soul Poor sweet! Poor dear! Aren't you lucky that I'm ready with a potion and a plan? Aren't you glad you came and asked If I could help you? And I can When a mermaid comes to Ursula, she always gets her man

You poor unfortunate soul! My scheme is working out. Soon I will rule the sea. That mermaid and the ocean's realm, will soon belong to me! [URSULA]
 * -|Reprise (comic adaptation)=
 * -|Broadway musical=

I admit that in the past I've been a nasty They weren't kidding when they called me, well, a witch But you'll find that nowadays I've mended all my ways Repented, seen the light, and made a switch True? Yes.

And I fortunately know a little magic It's a talent that I always have possessed And here lately, please don't laugh I use it on behalf Of the miserable, the lonely, and depressed (Pathetic!)

Poor unfortunate souls In pain, in need This one longing to be thinner That one wants to get the girl And do I help them? Yes, indeed!

Those poor unfortunate souls So sad, so true They come flocking to my cauldron Crying, "Spells, Ursula, please!" And I help them Yes I do!

Now, it's happened once or twice Someone couldn't pay the price And I'm afraid I had to rake 'em 'cross the coals Yes, I've had the odd complaint But on the whole I've been a saint To those poor unfortunate souls

[Spoken Dialogue]

[URSULA] You'll have your looks... your pretty face... and don't underestimate the power of body language!

The men up there don't like a lot of blabber They think a girl who gossips is a bore! Yet on land it's much preferred for ladies not to say a word And after all, dear, what is idle prattle for?

Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation True gentlemen avoid it when they can But they dote and swoon and fawn On a lady who's withdrawn It's she who holds her tongue who gets a man

Come on you poor unfortunate soul Go ahead! Make your choice! I'm a very busy woman And I haven't got all day It won't cost much Just your voice!

You poor unfortunate soul It's sad, but true If you want to cross the bridge, my sweet You've got the pay the toll Take a gulp and take a breath Go ahead and sign the scroll! Flotsam, Jetsam--now I've got her, boys The boss is on a roll You poor unfortunate soul!

Beluga, sevruga, come winds of the Caspian Sea... Larynxes, glaucitis, ad max laryngitis, la voce to me!

Now, sing! Sing your voice over to me!

[ARIEL] Ah-ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah...

[URSULA] Sing and keep singing!

[ARIEL] ...ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah, ah-ah-ah-ah....

[URSULA] Now swim, swim, swim! Swim for your life, human child! Ha ha ha... Mascara, tiara Yea, winds of the tropics appear Catharsis, lavorious Et qua manicurus mutato me here! KING TRITON "Ursula!"
 * -|Musical reprise (demo)=
 * -|Musical reprise=

URSULA "Brother darling! You're right on cue."

KING TRITON "Give Ariel back to me!"

URSULA "Not on your life!"

It so happens that your daughter signed a contract,

KING TRITON "No!"

URSULA Even drew a little heart above the "i" ''Is it binding? Goodness, yes!'' Unbreakable, unless...

KING TRITON "Unless?"

URSULA "There is a little somethin' we could try."

KING TRITON "Go on."

URSULA Yes, Perhaps we can arrange a sort of tradeoff,

KING TRITON "What?"

URSULA Maybe swap your daughter's soul for, say, your own Sign the scroll and set her free Or else she comes with me To suffer through eternity alone...

"The mute little hatchling, drowning in her own sorrow, with no voice left to cry out your name... Well? I'm waiting."

KING TRITON "It's not my soul you're after-it's my power."

URSULA "Which would you rather be?" "The King of the Sea... or a father to his little girl?" "Finally! The oceans belong to me!"

And now you poor unfortunate soul! ''Time's up! You're through!'' Now the power of Poseidon Has been once again made whole All the magic of the trident And the shell in my control! And now dark shall reign forever Over ocean, sea and shoal!

Now see for yourselves how banishment feels!

You poor unfortunate soul! I admit that in the past I've been a nasty They weren't kidding when they called me kinda strange But you'll find that nowadays I've mended all my ways Repented, seen the light, and made a change
 * -|Jonas Brothers=

And I fortunately know a little secret It's a talent that I always have possessed And dear lady, please don't laugh, I use it on behalf of the miserable, the lonely, and depressed (pathetic)

Poor unfortunate souls In pain, in need This one longing to be thinner That one wants to get the girl And do I help them? Yes, indeed!

Those poor unfortunate souls So sad, so true They come flocking to me crying "Will you help us, pretty please?" And I help them? Yes I do!

The men up there don't like a lot of blabber They think a girl who gossips is a bore! Yes, on land it's much preferred for ladies not to say a word And after all dear, what is idle prattle for?

They're not all that impressed with conversation True gentlemen avoid it when they can But they dote and swoon and fawn on ladies who withdrawn It's she who holds her tongue who gets a man

Poor unfortunate souls Go ahead! Make your choice! I'm a very busy person and I haven't got all day It won't cost much Just your voice!

Those poor unfortunate souls So sad, so true If you wanna cross the bridge, my sweet, you've got the pay the toll Take a gulp, take a breath, go ahead, sign the scroll Nick and Kevin, now I've got her, boys The boss is on a roll

You poor unfortunate souls In pain, in need This one longing to be thinner That one wants to get the girl And do I help them? Yes, indeed!

Those poor unfortunate souls So sad, so true They come flocking to me crying "Will you help us, pretty please?" And I help them? Yes I do!

Those poor unfortunate souls

Development
Poor Unfortunate Souls underwent little changes from storyboard to the final cut. One segment in the beginning of the scene was cut out from the final film, when Ursula beckoned Ariel to come in. She toyed with her hair for a bit and then explained to Ariel how she's been banished for attempting to, "elevate" her station in life. Which Ariel claimed, was attempting to overthrow her father.

Then, there's another change that was made, in that an entire segment of the song was completely omitted from the final version of the scene which was meant to convince Ariel that going with Eric was the right thing, despite having to leave her family behind.

At this point, the storyboarded version of the film cut off to Ursula explaining her price to Ariel, however, there was another version that went just a little further. It was Howard Ashman's demo version, which drastically lengthened Poor Unfortunate Souls length.

Comic adaptation
In the official comic book, Vanessa sang her reprise of the song, but with a new set of lyrics for the moment. Instead of dancing around her room in this version, Vanessa was sitting on a chair and brushing her hair while using a hand mirror instead of the large one in the film.

Musical version
The original version of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" was left intact for the Broadway play, aside from the occasional ad-libbed line from Sherie Rene Scott.

Two versions of a full reprise of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" were written for the Broadway adaptation. The first version, used for the demo workshop and performed by Emily Skinner, contains lyrics implying that it is meant to be sung before Ursula transforms herself into Vanessa, with the above spell incantation.

The above demo reprise was scrapped when Ursula's temporary transformation into Vanessa was removed from the storyline of the Broadway show. It was replaced with a different reprise, sung by Ursula to King Triton to force him into taking Ariel's place in the agreement.

Jonas Brothers cover
The Jonas Brothers covered "Poor Unfortunate Souls" for The Little Mermaid two-disc special edition of the soundtrack, released on October 3, 2006 to correspond with the two-disc The Little Mermaid Platinum Edition DVD. The Special Edition Soundtrack includes a music video for the song, where the boys are singing around a public swimming pool of the "Boring Hills Country Club," where a sign forbids running, yelling, or fun.

Although the song mostly stayed true to the lyrics of the original, certain lines have been changed to prevent any reference to magic or gender. Also, the second verse and ending have been omitted. Instead, the song ended with a reprise of the chorus following the first verse, and the middle brother, Joe, does not mention Flotsam and Jetsam, but is talking to his brothers, Nick and Kevin instead.

The song is also featured on Disney's On the Record along with "Part of Your World", "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl" of songs from The Little Mermaid.

A portion of the song is performed twice in the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Halloween-themed fireworks show HalloWishes during Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.

Trivia

 * Howard Ashman recorded a version of the song with himself in the role of Ursula, to send to Carroll to convince her to take the role, which it did. This version was released in the four-CD set The Music Behind the Magic. Carroll admits that she borrowed some of the inflections she used in the song from Ashman's performance, and that he had been delighted she had done so.
 * Carroll's original rendition of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" was included on a 1995 compilation CD of songs performed by or about various Disney villains called Rascal Songs. The CD was released as part of a four-disc Disney song series as a McDonald's promotional item.
 * During the song, Ursula pulls out a contract, laying out the terms of the deal. The movie spares a moment to glance over the words of the contract, but speeds from the top of the scroll to the bottom at fast speed. If one were to slow down the movie at this part, they would notice that the contract is made up of garbled words, and a Hidden Mickey can be seen as well.
 * The French translation is quite similar to the original. However, the literal translation of the name would be Pauvres âmes infortunées, but they have chosen to replace it by Pauvres âmes en perdition (more or less translatable by Poor souls in distress), which is a clever pun because en perdition can mean in distress, but also (talking about a ship) about to sink, which makes sense in an underwater story, and âme en perdition can mean soul in perdition in a religious meaning, which also makes sense given that Ariel is about to conclude a faustian deal in that song.
 * Before this song was written, Ursula would sing a song called "Silence is Golden". The lyrics of this were partly reinjected into "Poor Unfortunate Souls".
 * An episode of Once Upon a Time ("Poor Unfortunate Soul") is named after this song.
 * During the reprise, an error can be seen when Vanessa stomps on a bottle on the vanity. In one shot, the bottle is seen as being blue, but in a close up, we see another bottle that is purple, which she steps on. After the shot pans out, both the blue bottle and purple one are gone.
 * In the comic book adaptation of the film, Vanessa sings the reprise when the shell necklace is not shown, implying that she can still use Ariel's voice so long as the necklace is intact.
 * Vanessa was Jodi Benson's first role as a villainous character in film. She would not go on to voice a villain-like character until the video game Grandia II, when she plays the role of Millenia.
 * In the Cantonese dub of the film, the dubbers did not translate the reprise; instead replacing the lyrics with a sample of Jodi Benson's vocalization.
 * In the Greek 1998 version, Vanessa's middle laugh in the reprise is not dubbed at all; instead, she stays silent.
 * 15 years after the release of the film, "Poor Unfortunate Souls (Reprise)" finally got a release for the Walt Disney Records Legacy Collection Soundtrack. Before then, it was unofficially called "Vanessa's Song".