June 17, 2007

"The Age of Not Believing"

From the Wikipedia entry:

"The Age of Not Believing" is a song written by Richard and Robert Sherman for the 1971, Walt Disney musical film production Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Angela Lansbury sings the song in the motion picture. In the lyrics Lansbury's character expresses how as one grows up, he loses his belief in magic. The song works on two levels, both on the personal level and also thematically for the whole film. For it is an insecure, adolescent Britain, entering into a new, more rational age who must learn to borrow from its own past magic in order to overcome the tremendous challenge which is before it.

When the characters in the film finally learn to trust in magic, they are able to achieve their goals and Britain is saved from the Nazis. "The Age of Not Believing" was nominated for a Best Song Oscar. The Sherman Brothers' entire musical score was also nominated for an Oscar that year as well. This represented the songwriters' fourth and fifth Oscar bids respectively.


Sherman Brothers with Walt Disney (from the cover to Walt's Time)

4 comments:

Chasrich said...

This takes me back. I had one of those Disney read-along-and-listen books/records to "Bedknobs and Broomsticks."

Chris said...

I remember those! I think we had one of those, too. Bedknobs and Broomsticks may have also been a Little Golden Book.

Chasrich said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Chasrich said...

Had plenty of those, as well as Golden Books. Too bad I didn't hold on to them. They're probably collector's items now.