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"If I Never Knew You" is a song by American recording artists Jon Secada and Shanice, from Disney's 1995 animated feature film, Pocahontas. The song was written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, and originally recorded by American singer Judy Kuhn in her film role as the singing voice of Pocahontas, and American actor Mel Gibson in his role as Captain John Smith. Shanice and Secada's version is heard during film's end credits, and was released on September 12, 1995 as the second most popular song from the film's soundtrack, after Vanessa Williams' pop rendition of the Academy Award-winning "Colors of the Wind".
The romantic love song was originally developed for the prison scene where Pocahontas visits John Smith before he is to be put to death for the supposed alleged murder of Kocoum, a trusted Powhatan warrior who asked to marry Pocahontas. The musical number, which was about 90% animated, was to be a duet performed by the pair as they acknowledge their strong romantic love for each other. During test screenings with child audiences their attention "seemed to wander from the film", Alan Menken, the composer of the songs for Disney's Pocahontas, suggested it be cut because he also felt that it slowed the pace of the movie, with another song, Savages, about five minutes after. He later confessed that he was hoping that he would be talked out of it, but no one did. Though cut from the movie itself, If I Never Knew You was still performed by Jon Secada and Shanice at the end credits and released as a single. Jon Secada and Shanice also sang the song in Spanish, and Jon Secada also sang it in Brazilian Portuguese, but not with Shanice. Instead, he sang that version with Daniela Mercury.
In 2005, Disney released the 10th anniversary edition of Pocahontas, which had the song fully animated and integrated into the film, but was an optional feature that you could refuse and watch the original theatrical version instead, due to seamless branching. The viewer could choose to have the version with the song or see the original theatrical release simply by going to the set-up on the main menu. It was performed by Mel Gibson (John Smith) and Judy Kuhn (Pocahontas) within the film's narrative. It was recorded for the original film in 1995.
This song shows the meaning of if both Pocahontas and John Smith didn't meet, they would've never fallen in love with each other and they would've never known each other without the hate and disgust from both sides; the Native Americans and the English settlers. John also makes it clear through the song that, because they met, he was a better person. From then on, no matter what happened from that time forward, he would die knowing he became a better person. It's evidenced by his line before the song, "I'd rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you."
In the original theatrical release, traces of the song's tune can still be heard. Including the scene where John Smith and Pocahontas share their last kiss before John is taken to the ship to England for healing.
Lyrics[]
Jon:
If I never knew you
If I never felt this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
And if I never held you
I would never have a clue
How at last I'd find in you
The missing part of me.
In this world so full of fear
Full of rage and lies
I can see the truth so clear
In your eyes
So dry your eyes
And I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Shanice:
If I never knew you
I'd be safe but half as real
Never knowing I could feel
A love so strong and true
I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Jon:
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Shanice:
Somehow we'd make the whole world bright
Jon & Shanice:
I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong
All they'd leave us were these whispers in the night
But still my heart is saying we were right
Shanice:
Oh if I never knew you
Jon:
There's no moment I regret
Shanice:
If I never felt this love
Jon:
Since the moment that we met
Shanice:
I would have no inkling of
Jon:
If our time has gone too fast
Shanice:
How precious life can be...
Jon:
I've lived at last...
Jon & Shanice:
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Somehow we'd make the whole world bright
Shanice:
I thought our love would be so beautiful
We'd turn the darkness into light
Jon & Shanice:
And still my heart is saying we were right
Jon:
We were right
And if I never knew you
Shanice:
If I never knew you
Jon:
I'd have lived my whole life through
Shanice:
Empty as the sky
Jon & Shanice:
Never knowing why
Lost forever
If I never knew you
John Smith:
If I never knew you
If I never felt this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
If I never held you
I would never have a clue
How at last I'd find in you
The missing part of me
In this world so full of fear
Full of rage and lies
I can see the truth so clear
In your eyes
So dry your eyes
And I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Pocahontas:
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Somehow we'd make the whole world bright
I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong
All they'd leave us were these whispers in the night
But still my heart is saying we were right
For if I never knew you
John Smith:
There's no moment I regret
Pocahontas:
If I never knew this love
John Smith:
Since the moment that we met
Pocahontas:
I would have no inkling of
John Smith:
If our time has gone too fast
Pocahontas:
How precious life can be...
John Smith:
I've lived at last...
(Instrumental)
John Smith:
And I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Empty as the sky
Pocahontas:
Never knowing why
John Smith and Pocahontas:
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Joey:
If I never knew you
If I never felt this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
And if I never held you
I would never have a clue
How at last I'd find in you
The missing part of me
In this world so full of fear
Full of rage and lies
I can see the truth so clear
In your eyes
So dry your eyes
And I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Valerie:
If I never knew you
I'd be safe but half as real
Never knowing I could feel
A love so strong and true
And I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole live through
Lost forever
If I never knew you
Joey:
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Valerie:
Somehow we'd make the whole world bright
Joey & Valerie:
I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong
All they'd leave us were these whispers in the night
But still my heart is saying we were right...
Valerie:
Oh, if I never knew you
Joey:
There's no moment I regret
Valerie:
If I never knew this love
Joey:
Since the moment that we met
Valerie:
I would have no inkling of
Joey:
If our time has gone too fast
Valerie:
How precious life can be...
Joey:
I've lived at last...
Joey & Valerie:
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Somehow we'd make the whole world bright
Valerie:
I thought our love would be so beautiful
We'd turn the darkness into light
Joey & Valerie:
And still my heart is saying we were right...
Joey:
We were right...
And if I never knew you
Valerie:
If I never knew you
Joey:
I'd have lived my whole life through...
Valerie:
Empty as the sky
Joey & Valerie:
Never knowing why
Lost forever
If I never knew you
If I never knew you
Track listing[]
- US single
- English Version
- Spanish Version
- French Version
- German Version
- Hungarian Version
- Italian Version
- Japanese Version
- Kabardian Version
- Brazilian Portuguese Version
- Polish Version
- Croatian Version
- UK single
- English Version
- Mine Mine Mine - David Ogden Stiers, Mel Gibson and Chorus
- Pocahontas Instrumental
- The Story of Pocahontas
Videos[]
Chart positions[]
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles | 8 |
| U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 24 |
| UK Singles Chart | 51 |
Cover versions[]
In 2001, it was covered by Michael Crawford and Sherie Rene Scott for The Disney Album. That same year, Angela Decicco and Bill Whitefield covered the song on the 2001 Christian/Gospel compilation album Our Heart Sings. In 2006, it was covered by The Cheetah Girls as part of DisneyMania 4 and released as a single. Hal Ketchum and Shelby Lynne recorded a version as part of The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney. The song was also released as a Spanish single ("Si No Te Conociera," also performed by Jon Secada and Shanice). A Portuguese version was sung by Jon Secada and Daniela Mercury. The song was recently covered by Tiffany Thornton as part of DisneyMania 7 And the song was recently covered by Klara Natasztila recorded a version as part of Disney Chinder Vol 2. In Japan, a music box version was released on the 2008 album Disney in Orgel.
The Cheetah Girls version[]
"If I Never Knew You" was covered by The Cheetah Girls for the album, DisneyMania 4. It was released as a single and premiered on Radio Disney on April 2006.
Music video[]
The music video was released on Disney Channel in 2006. It features the girls pulling up at a club in a limo wearing white, sparkly dresses and then entering the club to perform the song on stage surrounded by a crowd. Scenes of the girls out on the dance floor dancing with some gentlemen are inter-cut throughout the video.
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The article or pieces of the original article was at If I Never Knew You. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Disney Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
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