For The First Time In Forever
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"For the First Time in Forever" is a song from
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
's 2013 animated feature film '' Frozen'', with music and lyrics composed by
Kristen Anderson-Lopez Kristen Anderson-Lopez (born March 21, 1972) is an American songwriter. She is known for co-writing the songs for the 2013 animated musical film '' Frozen'' and its 2019 sequel '' Frozen II'' with her husband Robert Lopez. The couple won the Aca ...
and
Robert Lopez Robert “Bobby” Lopez (born February 23, 1975) is an American songwriter for musicals and playwright, best known for co-creating '' The Book of Mormon'' and '' Avenue Q'', and for co-writing the songs featured in the Disney animated films '' ...
. It is reprised later in the musical. Both versions are sung by American actresses
Kristen Bell Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. List of Kristen Bell performances, Her work includes both film and television, and List of awards and nominations received by Kristen Bell, h ...
and
Idina Menzel Idina Kim Menzel ( ; ; born May 30, 1971) is an American actress and singer. Particularly known for her work in Musical theatre, musicals on Broadway theatre, Broadway, she has been Honorific nicknames in popular music, nicknamed the "Queen of ...
who provide the speaking and the singing voices of Princess Anna and Queen Elsa, respectively.


Production

The song was composed relatively late in the production process in June 2013. This was only five months before the film's November 27, 2013, release date, when the filmmakers were scrambling to make the film work after realizing in February it still wasn't working. The original version of the song contained a line about "I hope that I don't
vomit Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pregna ...
in his face," which was deemed unacceptable by Disney as a reference to
bodily fluids Body fluids, bodily fluids, or biofluids, sometimes body liquids, are liquids within the body of an organism. In lean healthy adult men, the total body water is about 60% (60–67%) of the total body weight; it is usually slightly lower in women ...
. The Lopezes' daughter, Katie, came up with the replacement line that ended up in the film: "I wanna stuff some
chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...
in my face." As for the reprise, there was originally a different confrontation lyric for the scene where Elsa strikes Anna with her powers entitled "Life's Too Short" (the premise being that life is too short to waste it with someone who doesn't understand them), which itself would have been reprised later when the sisters realize that life's too short to live life alone. As the characters evolved throughout the writing process (specifically Elsa was turned from a villain to a tragic hero), the song was deemed too vindictive and was instead replaced with a reprise of this song, to create a motif. "Life's Too Short" survives as a demo track on the Deluxe Edition of the movie soundtrack, and part of the melody was reused in ''
Frozen Fever ''Frozen Fever'' is a 2015 American animated musical fantasy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. A follow-up to the 2013 feature film '' Frozen'', the short follows Elsa as she attempts to ...
'' for the song "Making Today A Perfect Day". When the necessity of a reprise dawned upon Anderson-Lopez, she wrote it in only about 20 minutes, and then successfully pitched it on her own to the Disney production team, as Lopez was already with the team in Los Angeles trying to fix "
Do You Want to Build a Snowman? "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" is a song from the 2013 Disney animated musical feature film '' Frozen'', with music and lyrics composed by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The song is also present in the musical adaptation. , the tota ...
"


Synopsis


Original

In the first version, the song shows Anna's happiness and naive optimism when preparing for Elsa's coronation. During the third verse, Elsa sings a counterpoint melody (with some of the same lyrics that are later used as the first verse of "
Let it Go "Let It Go" is a song from Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film '' Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The song was performed in its original show ...
"), in which she expresses her fear of accidentally revealing her ice powers and her anxiety about opening the gates. During her solo, Elsa practices her role in the coronation on a box and candlestick in her room. Elsa orders the guards to open the gates, and Anna joyfully wanders down a causeway into the town against the flow of guests arriving. The song is cut off mid-note when Anna crashes into Hans's horse, and subsequently falls into a rowboat. This version goes up a half-step with each verse, starting in F major and ending in G major for the final.


Musical

In the Broadway musical version of the song, a pair of lines in the first verse are changed due to staging limitations. Anna's line "Who knew we had eight thousand salad plates" is changed to "And there's two nice ladies helping me get dressed," and the line it rhymes with, "Finally they're opening up the gates!" is changed to "Coronation day is just the best!" In addition, after the last key change, there is an additional verse sung by a chorus of townspeople. Anna's run-in with Hans also involves them falling into Kristoff's ice-cart, rather than a rowboat.


Frozen Jr.

In the Frozen Jr. version, the first verse uses the same lyrics as the original. In the second verse, the line "A beautiful stranger, tall and fair" is changed to "A beautiful stranger, tall and rare". The fourth verse was also omitted. This version goes up a half-step with each verse, starting in E flat major and ending in F major for the final.


Frozen Kids

In the Frozen Kids version, the song was shortened with the second verse being omitted.


Reprise

In the reprise, Anna arrives at Elsa's ice palace to try to get her to unfreeze the kingdom, after she unknowingly sparked an eternal winter. She also wants Elsa to come back so that they can rekindle their once close relationship as sisters. However, Elsa refuses because she feels she cannot control her powers and that she is better off alone where she can't hurt anyone. As Anna tries to reason with her sister, Elsa's fear intensifies, resulting in her being covered in a blizzard of ice particles as a physical manifestation of her emotions, and she blocks out Anna's calming words. At one point, Elsa turns her back to her sister to form a two shot west, a blocking technique normally used in American
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
s. Finally, paranoid and lost, Elsa lets out a yell, and accidentally blasts Anna in the heart with the accumulated ice particles, thereby freezing it (an act which Pabbie and the trolls note to be fatal); causing her to fall to the floor and Kristoff and Olaf to rush to her side, to make sure she's okay. The reprise uses a different melody from the original. Namely, Anna's parts are in a major key while Elsa's counterpoint is in a minor key, highlighting the opposite emotions the two characters have at this point in time. After Anna is inadvertently struck by Elsa's magic, the percussion includes part of the music from "
Frozen Heart "Frozen Heart" is a song from the 2013 Disney animated film '' Frozen'', with music and lyrics by Kristen-Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez and performed in the film's prologue by a group of icemen. Production and writing The Lopez songwriting du ...
".


Musical version

In the reprise, Elsa tells Anna about how she hurt her with her magic when they were kids, and sings the bridge verse from Demi Lovato's version of "Let It Go", albeit with slightly modified lyrics to reflect Elsa's character, before the reprise starts. Later after the North American tour in 2019, the reprise was replaced with a new duet titled "I Can't Lose You", which was eventually added to subsequent productions of the musical, while the "Let it Go" stanza remains unchanged.


International versions

Several other language versions of the song have been successful. The Japanese-language version called was sung by
Takako Matsu (born on June 10, 1977) is a Japanese actress and pop singer. Personal life Matsu was born to a family of buyō and kabuki actors, including her father Matsumoto Hakuō II, her mother and businesswoman Noriko Fujima, her uncle, Nakamura ...
and
Sayaka Kanda , also known professionally as Sayaka, Lily, and , was a Japanese actress, singer, and model. She was the only child of actor Masaki Kanda and pop singer Seiko Matsuda. Early life Kanda was born at Tokyo Teishin Hospital in Chiyoda, Tokyo. She ...
, who played Elsa and Anna respectively. It appeared on the ''
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''
Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and Hanshin Contents Link since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thursday ...
in between April and June 2014, peaking at number 19, and was popular enough to be certified platinum for 250,000 digital downloads by the
RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include prom ...
in September 2014. The Korean-language version, sung by and , reached 129 on the
Gaon Singles Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based on ...
being downloaded 14,000 times, while the reprise version peaked at 192 with 8,000 downloads. The
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version, along with the whole Italian adaptation of the movie, was awarded the best foreign dubbing worldwide by Disney.


Charts


Critical reception

Both iterations have received very positive reviews. NeonTommy described it as "A classic
"I Want" song An "I Want" song, also called an "I Wish" song, is a popular type of song featured in musical films and shows. It has particularly become a popular term through its use to describe a series of songs featured in Disney Renaissance films in which main ...
(think ''
Part of Your World "Part of Your World" is a song written by lyricist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken for Disney's animated feature film '' The Little Mermaid'' (1989). Performed by American actress and singer Jodi Benson in the titular role as Ariel, a ...
'' or '' When Will My Life Begin?'') with a sprinkle of self-awareness", and said "this song puts a nice new spin on a familiar form...Lopez and Anderson-Lopez keep the tune fresh, and Kristen Bell’s charming and bright delivery of the peppy lyrics is endearing." GeeksOfDoom said "Who would have guessed that Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel would make such a nice duo? Bell adds some humor with her effervescent spirit and amusing lyrics, whereas Menzel lends the signature Broadway voice. You know a song provides further significance when it moves the story, as opposed to stops the film completely, and this one perfectly represents the former. “First Time” conveys Anna’s hopefulness and openness, contrasting with Elsa’s close-minded and fearful vibe."Disney In Depth: ‘Frozen’ Soundtrack Review
/ref> In a negative review, SputnikMusic said "“For the First Time in Forever,” with its lyrical clunkers like “Don't know if I'm elated or gassy / But I'm somewhere in that zone” and poor performance decisions like the ham-fisted pause before Elsa “opens the gates” and Anna’s meaningless harmonization shortly thereafter, represents the downhill slide and subsequent face-first mud landing of the soundtrack over the course of its runtime". ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' described it as a "big number", and "the centerpiece of the original songs". StitchKingdom said: "The ‘I Want’ song, the composition and lyrics feed off Anna’s frenetic and anxious energy and awkwardness, a classic example of mixing sophistication with silliness". ''
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'' wrote "''For the First Time in Forever'' suffers from a fairly run-of-the-mill chorus tune, but smartly makes up for it with catchy verses, amusing lyrics (“Don’t know if I’m elated or gassy / But I’m somewhere in that zone!”) and a great performance from Kristen Bell, showing off protagonist Princess Anna’s quirky side while still longing for a ball, a man, and some basic human interaction."


Reprise

NeonTommy wrote, "This song balances really well between long, powerful phrases and banter-like recitative, and is a great illustration of the dynamic between Anna and Elsa. It’s also the first time where we get to hear Anna and Elsa sing as equals (the earlier version of this song is more about Anna than it is about Elsa), so it’s quite fun to hear this song between two sisters." GeeksOfDoom wrote "The reoccurrence of the “sister song” signifies how Elsa has changed, much unlike Anna, who still sees the potential of their relationship. The song incorporates polyphony and intensifies their emotions as it builds to a crescendo. While it’s not a substantial addition – the scene could have played out just as well without music – it’s still entertaining". StitchKingdom wrote, "The words and melody are just about the only thing this song has in common with its namesake. Anna’s desperate plea to Elsa, this song also features one of the most complex arrangements found on the soundtrack, giving it a haunting and to a professional effect in a way seldom seen on the stage, let alone in family films. The song also treads dangerously along the operetta line at times which puts a unique spin on it."


Certifications


Performances

Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel performed both songs together at the Vibrato Grill Jazz Club in Los Angeles to celebrate the film. During the first ever Rose Parade Halftime performance, the North American tour cast of the Broadway show performed the first rendition, with Anna interacting with the spectators.


References

{{authority control 2013 songs Songs from Frozen (franchise) Songs written by Robert Lopez Songs written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez Kristen Bell songs Idina Menzel songs Female vocal duets