Candle on the Water

"Candle on the Water" is a torch song written by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn from Walt Disney Pictures' live-action/animated film Pete's Dragon.^[1] It is sung by Helen Reddy, who plays Nora in the film, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song in 1977,^[2] though it lost to "You Light Up My Life".

The setting for the song is entirely on the lantern-room balcony of the lighthouse in which Nora and her father, Lampey, live. Nora sings the song to her fiancé Paul, who has been lost at sea for over a year but Nora believes will one day return. One night Lampey scolds Nora, telling her to accept that Paul is no doubt dead and will never return. Dismayed, Nora retires to the lighthouse balcony to sing toward the ocean, assuring Paul that she is still waiting for him.

"Candle on the Water" has been sung on the DisneyMania 4 album by Anneliese van der Pol. It was also sung briefly by Kristin Chenoweth and an unidentified a cappella group in the dramedy Pushing Daisies in the episode "The Legend of Merle McQuoddy".^[3]

"Candle on the Water" was originally intended to be the only song featured in the film, but when it met with such acclaim, the decision was made to turn the film into a musical. According to Helen Reddy, she was told by Kasha and Hirschhorn that "they deliberately placed religious and spiritual symbols within the song."

This song was also performed by Okkervil River for the 2016 remake of Pete's Dragon. ^[4]

References

1. "Pete's Dragon (1977) : Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
2. "Disney Animated Movies Academy Award nominations and wins". Disneyclips.com. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
3. "Pushing Daisies" The Legend of Merle McQuoddy (TV episode 2008) from the Internet Movie Database
4. Kate Erbland (2016-07-21). "Pete's Dragon Announces Massive Walt Disney Records Issued Soundtrack". IndieWire. Retrieved 2016-10-12.