"Knowing What I Know Now" is a song in Disney's 2023 animated feature film Wish, sung by Asha, Queen Amaya, and the cast.
The song was written by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Julia Michaels and Grammy-winning producer Benjamin Rice, who also wrote the other original songs for the film. The song is performed by Ariana DeBose, who voices Asha, the main protagonist of the film, Angelique Cabral, who voices Queen Amaya and other members of the film's voice cast, including Jennifer Kumiyama, Harvey Guillén, Della Saba, Jon Rudnitsky, Ramy Youssef, and Evan Peters. The song was recorded at the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California, with David Metzger as the composer and orchestrator.
The song takes place in the second act of the film, after Asha discovers that King Magnifico, the ruler of Rosas, has lied to the citizens about Asha being a traitor. He grants Simon's wish after he informed him about Asha, but, he also brainwashed him into revealing his other friends as traitors to Rosas, giving the citizens an order to find Asha and her friends. Asha reveals Magnifico's true intentions of using the magic of the wishes he is keeping for his own gain to her friends, who are initially skeptical, but soon join her in a plan to rebel against him. They are interrupted by Queen Amaya, who surprises them by joining in their cause, having realized that she was blinded by her love for Magnifico and he has betrayed everything their kingdom stood for. The song expresses the characters' determination and courage to fight for their dreams and their freedom, as well as their regret for not knowing the truth sooner.
Lyrics[]
Asha:
You've been deceived
Magnifico is not the man he claims to be
He's more vicious than I could have ever comprehended
When I made a wish and Star came down
This is not what I expected, or intended
But now it's happened I don't regret it
'Cause now I've seen him show his true colors
In shades of green
Saying that your wishes aren't safe because of me and
That's a lie lie lie lie
And I know I can't do this on my own and
If it's not us then who and when?
If we don't fight, he knows he wins
Not allowed
Knowing what I know now
The lengths he'll go
There's no amount
I won't sit back
Watch this play out
That's my vow
Knowing what I know now
Dahlia:
Get up yah!
Know I'm not the only one that's
All:
Yah!
Dahlia:
Fed up
All:
Yah!
Dario:
Wait til' they hear our feet go dun dun dun dun
All:
Yeah!
Hal:
I don't think he's prepared for what's coming
All & Ensemble:
A revolution hit the ground runnin'
Asha:
If there's one thing he can't keep down
All:
Uh-huh
Asha and Dahlia:
It's us and the strength we've found
It's too loud
All:
Loud
Asha:
Knowing what we know now
All:
Knowing what we know now
Gabo:
And who, who knows if we'll succeed?
All:
But we
Hal:
Won't stop and we won't retreat, or turn round
Knowing What I Know Now on the Wish Wiki
