Proud of Your Boy | Alan Menken | 1988 Demo | Aladdin
Here is Alan Menken's demo to "Proud of Your Boy," a song from Howard Ashman's original treatment to ALADDIN, with lyrics by Howard and music by Alan. This recording comes from the out-of-print CD release, The Music Behind the Magic.
Howard's original treatment included the character of Aladdin's mother, Maman. Though included in the early development of the film when the project was revived, after a disastrous story reel screening with the directors, John Musker and Ron Clements, and studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg, the film was reworked and Aladdin's mother, as well as this song, was cut under the advice of Jeffery, who felt like there were two movies they were trying to make; A buddy movie between a street urchin and a genie, and an unrelated movie about a mother and her son. Feeling the "genie" story was more important for the film, he told the directors, "She's a zero!! Eighty-six the mom!"
The sequence's storyboard reel (found on the Platinum Edition release for the film) has been synced up to the recording.
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LYRICS
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PROUD OF YOUR BOY
I'LL MAKE YOU PROUD OF YOUR BOY
BELIEVE ME,
BAD AS I'VE BEEN, MA, YOU'RE IN FOR A PLEASANT SURPRISE
I'VE WASTED TIME
I'VE WASTED ME
SO SAY I'M SLOW FOR MY AGE, A LATE BLOOMER,
OKAY, I AGREE
THAT I'VE BEEN
ONE ROTTEN KID
SOME SON, SOME PRIDE `N SOME JOY
BUT I'LL GET
OVER THESE LOUSIN' UP, MESSIN' UP, SCREWIN' UP TIMES
YOU'LL SEE, MA, NOW COMES THE BETTER PART
SOMEONE'S GONNA MAKE GOOD, CROSS HIS STUPID HEART,
MAKE GOOD AND FINALLY MAKE YOU
PROUD OF YOUR BOY
TELL ME THAT I'VE BEEN A LOUSE AND A LOAFER
YOU WON'T GET A FIGHT HERE, NO MA'AM
SO SAY I'M A GOLDBRICK, A GOOF-OFF, NO GOOD
BUT THAT COULDN'T BE ALL THAT I AM
WATER FLOWS UNDER THE BRIDGE
LET IT PASS, LET IT GO
THERE'S NO GOOD REASON THAT YOU SHOULD BELIEVE ME,
NOT YET, I KNOW, BUT ...
SOMEDAY AND SOON
I'LL MAKE YOU PROUD OF YOUR BOY,
THOUGH I CAN'T MAKE MYSELF TALLER OR SMARTER
OR HANDSOME OR WISE
I'LL DO MY BEST, WHAT ELSE CAN DO?
SINCE I WASN'T BORN PERFECT LIKE DAD OR YOU
MOM, I WILL TRY TO ...
TRY HARD TO MAKE YOU ...
PROUD OF YOUR BOY
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