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There is a reason the Tarzan soundtrack is so iconic, and it all has to do with Phil Collins.
In a video posted to his official TikTok account, Collins described the moment he realized he needed to sing all of the film’s music in other languages.
“Someone says, ‘Excuse me, we go to 35 countries. So I’m afraid you’re going to… are you going to try to sing in Spanish or Swahili?'” he recalled in the throwback clip.
Before working on the Disney animated tale, Collins said he had “never ever sung anything in another language before.”
“So that’s another plus, that’s another new thing I’ve learned while doing this project,” he added, noting that it “opened up a whole” new world to him.
The old clip then shows Collins singing “Strangers Like Me” from the movie Tarzan in French and then in Spanish. In total, Collins recorded the songs in five different languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish and English.
Collins composed the soundtrack to the 1999 Disney film, which went on to win a Grammy for Best Soundtrack Album. “You’ll Be in My Heart” nabbed the Academy Award for Best Original Song, as well as the Golden Globe for the same honor.
The songs were written and composed by Collins, who performed alongside Glenn Close, Rosie O’Donnell and NSYNC, with an original score composed by Mark Mancina.
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The movie, which grossed $448.2 million worldwide, starred Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, Brian Blessed, Wayne Knight, Close and O’Donnell.
In 2016, the famed musician’s daughter, Lily Collins, told Harry Connick Jr. that one of her father’s most recognizable songs was originally written as a lullaby for her.
”‘You’ll Be in My Heart,’ from Tarzan,” she revealed, adding, “We grew up watching Disney shows and movies together, so that was his way of kind of being able to do it for his kids. It was so special.”
