"A Girl Worth Fighting For" is a song featured in Disney's Mulan and Mulan II. It is sung by Yao (Harvey Fierstein), Chi-Fu (James Hong), Mulan (Lea Salonga), Chien Po (Jerry Tondo), and Ling (Matthew Wilder). Gedde Watanabe, Jerry Tondo, and Harvey Fierstein reprised the song in Mulan II while playing the roles of Yao, Ling, and Chien Po.
Plot[]
In the original version of the song (see lyrics below), the soldiers do their best to keep their minds off the pains of marching by "talking" about their dream girls as fitting to what the society of the time believes women should be, much to the distaste of Mulan, as "Ping", who is momentarily outcasted for his/her taste for the kind of girl who is smart and speaks her mind openly. Of course, being one-of-the-guys at the time, Ling, Chien Po, and Yao cannot stop fooling around for "Ping's" amusement (only Yao manages to make Ping/Mulan smile, by secretly calling Chi-Fu a "mama's boy"). The song stops just as Ling, Chien Po, and Yao are about to start a snowball fight with Ping/Mulan, but stop at the sight of a destroyed village which darkens the mood and depresses everyone, especially when they see Captain Li Shang's father, the General, and all of his troops massacred by the Huns.
The refrain to the song in Mulan II is sung after the war is over, and the trio find an enemy they cannot beat: the Matchmaker, who throws them out and calls them a lost cause for love, before slamming the door on them (and throwing the teapot at Ling), telling them not to come back until they "get personalities" (that is, ones that women actually respect). All Yao wanted was a girl who worships the dirt he walks on (which is saying a lot on account of his ape-like structure and permanent black eye). Ling asked for a girl who loves to laugh but "tells it to him straight" in thinking him a god. Chien Po wants the kind of girl who would cook for him morning, noon, and night, and not mind if he picks off of her plate. Figuring they do not need the "snooty dragon lady" and that they could find soul mates for themselves, the trio sing the new version of the song in their first attempt to win a woman's heart, only for Ling to get beaten up when a lady is disgusted by his chopstick-nose-trick, and while mourning their failure over lunch, they end up kicked out of a restaurant for (accidentally) starting a bar-fight. The song ends there, just before Mulan and Shang give those three the assignment of being bodyguards for three princesses (who eventually become the girls of the trio's dreams).
Lyrics[]
Army: For a long time, we've been marching off to battle
Yao: In our thund'ring herd,
We feel a lot like cattle
Army: Like the pounding beat,
Our aching feet aren't easy to ignore
Ling: Hey, think of instead
A girl worth fighting for
Mulan: Huh?
Ling: That's what I said: a girl worth fighting for
I want her paler than the moon
With eyes that shine like stars
Yao: My girl will marvel at my strength, adore my battle scars
Chien Po: 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...
Mmm...
Yao: Bet the local girls thought you were quite the charmer
Ling: And I'll bet the ladies love a man in armor
Army: You can guess what we have missed the most since we went off to war
Ling: What do we want?
Army: A girl worth fighting for
Yao: My girl will think I have no faults
Chien Po: That I'm a major find
Mulan: Uh... How 'bout a girl who's got a brain
Who always speaks her mind?
Yao, Ling, and Chien Po: Nah!
Ling: My manly ways and turn of phrase are sure to thrill her
Yao: He thinks he's such a lady killer
Chi-Fu: I have a girl back home who's unlike any other
Yao: Yeah, the only girl who'd love him is his mother
Army: But when we come home in victory they'll line up at the door
Ling: What do we want?
Army: A girl worth fighting for
Ling: Wish that I had
All: A girl worth fighting for
A girl worth fighting-
Ling: Well, I don't need her to be all smug and snooty
Yao: I got a plaque right here that says I've kicked Hun booty
Chien Po: We have everything we dreamed we'd find when we came back from war
All: "Yeah!" Everything but...
(A girl walks by, and Yao, Ling, and Chien Po wait for her to go so they can continue their song)
All: ...a girl worth fighting for
Yao: "Hey! Suck in your gut!"
All: There's a girl worth fighting for
Ling: "And I think she wants us to come over!"
Ling: My girl would laugh at all my jokes, but tell it to me straight
Yao: She'll rub my head when I get sick
Chien Po: And let me pick off of her plate
If Ling can find a girl who likes his chopstick nose trick
Yao: Ooh, he'd really better just propose quick!
Ling: Well, I have to say, based on today, I'm cranky
Chien Po: (spoken) I'll just spend my life with you two
Yao: Pass the hanky!
Ling: And there's no-one there to steal my chair
Yao: And twirl around the floor
All: Wish that I had
All: A girl worth fighting for
Ling: I would be true
All: To a girl worth fighting...
Chien Po: (spoken) I'd make fondue!
All: For a girl worth fighting...
Yao: (spoken) I'd even kiss you!
All: For a girl worth fighting... for
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- In the first film, the song cuts off when the characters arrive at the burned-down village. From then on, until the reprise for I'll Make A Man Out of You, there are no more songs, to signify the tonal shift.
