The Lion King and Losing Momentum

or, "This Land" and Burning Out

“Remember who you are…” (source: me on route to Ohio [💀] about a seven years ago)

Sorry for being a bit late on this one. I’ve been moving around virtually nonstop since the start of the year. Most of yesterday was spent catching up on a week’s worth of missed sleep and counting up numbers on a spreadsheet. I also haven’t really found a time to sit down and draft something for this week’s post, but the biggest reason for that is trying to come up with some big follow-up to last week’s end-of-year post. I felt the need to continue building up the rising action of my output to some end-of-winter-break crescendo in a desperate attempt to feel interesting, but began to feel the inklings of a burnout in the process. Ultimately, I got a bit too preoccupied with sowing seeds for the year ahead, especially university. I’ve been dying to go back to school ever since the last semester ended.

With everything that's been happening over the past week in preparation for the next semester, it's been slightly difficult to determine what exactly I want to write about this week. I've come up with no shortage of ideas, some short-term and one that'll take a whole semester of work to complete, but where to start has been a bit of a challenge. Not only because I'm remarkably indecisive, but because I haven't really found an intense desire to write about any of my ideas in the last week. Don't get me wrong, I would love to do some of the stuff I've got in the bank, like this Disney ranking for an era in movies that I have wanted to delve into for a while now but haven't found the time for, or a somewhat unique Paul McCartney thing that I haven't really been able to get off the ground in the past week. If we’re being totally frank, I’m procrastinating another hobby.

Then, something happened Friday night while I was going over the next semester syllabi. First, I interrupted myself by talking to Ottavia about the upcoming semester (subscribe to her blog if you haven't already). The conversation eventually found its way over to my "Introduction to Religions" course’s required readings, of which there are none except for the original 1994 Lion King. Moving past how incredulous that sounds, The Lion King has been on my mind as of late because of it. Bringing it up in conversation was the piece that finally made me fold and revisit the only piece of any form of media that has and continues to put tears in my eyes: Hans Zimmer's "This Land" from the Lion King Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Also on that soundtrack, I revisited my absolute favorite trio of Elton John songs on any album. So, naturally, my next step was to rewatch the whole movie for a variety of reasons. Spoilers ahead if you somehow haven’t seen The Lion King yet (although, I do know that 1/3 of my subscribers have yet to see it last I asked them).

Before I begin my spiel, I need to mention that this movie is absolutely gorgeous; from the cinematography to the promotional material and even the cover for the “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” single, the movie’s use of natural landscapes feels the same as watching any sunset (or just listening to “This Land;” if I did both simultaneously, I might just die right there). Though I would say the biggest part of my childhood to stick with me this far is the Lion King, most of the credit has to go to the soundtrack. For that reason, I ended up paying the most attention to the songs and score in the movie. I probably don’t need to tell you this, but they do kind of bang. I used to hate the musical numbers since I thought Disney songs were all so corny. I mean, not only does getting bombarded with them endlessly as a kid make the warranty wear off, but I also wasn’t a big fan of musicals growing up. Tonally, I felt the songs perfectly meshed with one another while staying unique to their respective contexts. Although the movie had its emotional ups and downs, I never felt a change in vibe throughout the movie’s songs and scores. Hans Zimmer’s score is beautiful. The one moment that stuck out to me was when the first half of “This Land” jarringly played when it rained in Act I. The impact of Act II’s finale with Simba talking to Mufasa in the clouds was diminished for me since I kind of overhyped it for myself (my bad), but that unexpected Rafiki scene where the rain came down as the music rose made up for my self-induced disappointment. The music added so much flavour to the movie’s emotional beats that, dare I say, it alone carried the most impactful parts of the movie. Even when I couldn’t take Mufasa’s death seriously thanks to Neil Cicierega, the music stood out in front of the dialogue and never once wavered in making the movie watching experience complete from start to finish.

However, hours after watching the movie, I remember that I needed to analyze it for its themes relating to religion. I skimmed over the movie in my head and tried to pull whatever I could from it. Maybe I would understand it better if I’d taken proper grade 12 English and read Hamlet rather than taking it over the summer before grade 12 and reading Phil Collins’ biography, but the nothing about religion in the movie stuck out to me immediately. Instead, I boiled over the major themes within Simba’s arc of moving on from your mistakes and accepting responsibility moving forward. Of course, if you knew me, you’d know why exactly this stood out to me in particular (especially “you said you’d always be there for me, but you’re not, and it’s all my fault”), but nonetheless the message is general and impactful. Eventually, I remembered the overarching theme of the movie: the circle of life (I can’t believe it took me this long, I mean the soundtrack had two tracks called “Circle of Life” and also a “Circle of Life” reprise at the end of “The King of Pride Rock”). I was so focused on the “Busa Simba” leitmotif that I was trying to link religion to the themes within the main conflict, which I’d narrowed down to maybe being about religious feudalism, while ignoring the glaring spiritual themes presented at the very start, very end, and a small bit in the middle of the movie. I guess I’ll be spending the next couple weeks digging into many different views of the afterlife, and how we remember the ones we loved, in our own fashion, after they’re gone.

Watch the movie and/or listen to the soundtrack. Lemme know what you think.

I kind of phoned in this week’s post for the reasons I mentioned at the start and because I just couldn’t get my mind off of the semester to come. I probably should step back from this Substack for a week to avoid losing the passion I had for it while writing my first two posts. Burnout is awful, especially when it has you doubting your passions. Never undervalue the importance of taking frequent breaks, it just might save your life in the long run. In the time of year where people dread having to return to their normal lives after a long and joyous holiday, I’m pretty optimistic about the year to come. I’ve got a new major, new hobbies I’m actively involved in, and new glasses. I’m glad I spent most of last year building up to this point where I can be happy to start school again and pile on responsibility rather than run from it.

Good luck with the year ahead,
- Max