I See the Light is a featured article, which means it has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Disney Fanon Wiki community. If you see a way this page can be updated or improved without compromising previous work, please feel free to contribute.
"I See the Light" is the love theme from Disney's 2010 animated feature film, Tangled. Written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater, it is a down-tempo love ballad that combines elements of folk, musical theatre and pop music, as performed by Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.
Rapunzel's dream to see the "floating lights" was finally fulfilled with the help of Flynn Rider. That evening, Flynn rowed Rapunzel out in a small dinghy to the middle of an adjacent lake to get a good view of the lantern release. Later on, both she and Flynn release their own lanterns into the sky. Now that she has finally realized her dream, she discovers that she wants to pursue a relationship with Flynn. Meanwhile, Flynn realizes that his previous dream of becoming rich was nearsighted, and they both find that their new dream is each other.
Rapunzel:
All those days watching from the windows
All those years outside looking in
All that time never even knowing
Just how blind I've been
Now I'm here, blinking in the starlight
Now I'm here, suddenly I see
Standing here, it's all so clear
I'm where I'm meant to be
And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once everything looks different
Now that I see you
(Rapunzel turns around and Eugene (Flynn) is holding two floating lights. She sits and speaks)
Rapunzel: (Spoken)
Hmm.
I have something to give you, too.
(She holds up his satchel bag)
I know I should've given it to you earlier, but I was just scared, and the thing is, I'm not so scared anymore.
You know what I mean?
Eugene: (Spoken)
I'm starting, too.
(Instrumental Bridge)
Eugene:
All those days chasing down a daydream
All those years living in a blur
All that time never truly seeing
Things the way they were
Now she's here shining in the starlight
Now she's here, suddenly I know
If she's here it's crystal clear
I'm where I'm meant to go
Both:
And at last I see the light
Eugene:
And it's like the fog has lifted
Both:
And at last I see the light
Rapunzel:
And it's like the sky is new
Both:
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once, everything is different
Now that I see you
Now that I see you...
All those years hidden in this tower
All this time staring at the sun
All those lights burning on my birthday
Originally, Menken and Slater wrote a song called "You Are My Forever", which was to be sung to Rapunzel first by Mother Gothel in a motherly way, and then by Flynn in a romantic rendition. The song was eventually scrapped and replaced by two new songs, Gothel's "Mother Knows Best" and a duet between lovers Rapunzel and Flynn called "I See the Light".
"I See the Light" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011, becoming composer Alan Menken's fourteenth nomination in the category, but lost to Randy Newman's "We Belong Together" from Disney•Pixar's Toy Story 3.
The song won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written For Visual Media as well as Best Song at the Las Vegas Film Critics Society.
At one point, a lantern floats very low and near the boat and Rapunzel gently guides it back up to the sky. It appears that this is the lantern her parents released, because it has a sun print on it, which is what the King and Queen lifted up, and virtually every other lantern does not have a sun print and are different.
A short instrumental rendition plays in Once Upon a Studio: Version 2.0, as Rapunzel and Eugene go to check on Goofy to make sure he hasn't been injured too severely following his failed first attempt at the group photo. Near the end of the new rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star", as the photo is about to take, Rapunzel and Eugene have a brief duet, singing the first line of the chorus to "I See The Light", on the back of Cinderella and Prince Charming's duet of "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes".
Season One: "What the Hair?!" • "Rapunzel's Enemy" • "Fitzherbert P.I." • "Challenge of the Brave" • "Cassandra v. Eugene" • "The Return of Strongbow" • "In Like Flynn" • "Great Expotations" • "Under Raps" • "One Angry Princess" • "Pascal's Story" • "Big Brothers of Corona" • "The Wrath of Ruthless Ruth" • "Max's Enemy" • "The Way of the Willow" • "Queen for a Day" • "Painter's Block" • "Not in the Mood" • "The Quest for Varian" • "The Alchemist Returns" • "Secret of the Sun Drop" Season Two: "Beyond the Corona Walls" • "The Return of Quaid" • "Goodbye and Goodwill" • "Forest of No Return" • "Freebird" • "Vigor the Visionary" • "Keeper of the Spire" • "King Pascal" • "There's Something About Hook Foot" • "Happiness Is..." • "Max and Eugene in Peril on the High Seas" • "Curses!" • "The Eye of Pincosta" • "Rapunzel and the Great Tree" • "The Brothers Hook" • "Rapunzel: Day One" • "Mirror, Mirror" • "You're Kidding Me!" • "Rapunzeltopia" • "Lost and Found" • "Destinies Collide" Season Three: "Rapunzel's Return" • "Return of the King" • "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?" • "The Lost Treasure of Herz Der Sonne" • "No Time Like the Past" • "Beginnings" • "The King and Queen of Hearts" • "Day of the Animals" • "Be Very Afraid" • "Pascal's Dragon" • "Islands Apart" • "Cassandra's Revenge" • "Race to the Spire" • "A Tale of Two Sisters" • "Flynnpostor" • "Once a Handmaiden..." • "Plus Est En Vous"
Locations
Rapunzel's Tower • The Snuggly Duckling • Corona • Corona Castle • Old Corona • The Dark Kingdom • Vardaros • The Spire • Terapi Island • The Great Tree • The House of Yesterday's Tomorrow • Cassandra's Stronghold
Musical:Flower of Gold • Wanted Man • When She Returns TV Series:Life After Happily Ever After • Wind in My Hair • More of Me • Friendship Song • Listen Up • I've Got This • Let Me Make You Proud • Set Yourself Free • Ready As I'll Ever Be • Next Stop, Anywhere • If I Could Take That Moment Back • View From Up Here • Hook Foot's Ballad • Buddy • Waiting in the Wings • Livin' the Dream • With You by My Side • Everything I Ever Thought I Knew • Crossing the Line • Stronger Than Ever Before • Bigger Than That • The Girl Who Has Everything • Nothing Left to Lose • Through It All • I'd Give Anything Deleted:What More Could I Ever Need
