Composer Alan Menken Previews New Beauty And The Beast Songs

8-time Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken, who won two Academy Awards (Best Original Score and Best Song) for the 1991 animated film and Tony-nominated for its Broadway musical, and 3-time Oscar winner Tim Rice created three new songs for the upcoming live-action Beauty and the Beast: "Our Song Lives On," "For Evermore," and "Days in the Sun." While chatting with EW, Menken revealed what each song is trying to convey and where in the film you'll hear them.

Belle (Emma Watson) with her father, Maurice (Kevin Kline), will both sing "Our Song Lives On" but at two different points in the film. "The first time it's sung, it's Belle's father singing as he's completing a music box,," Menken told EW, "and basically it's [about], 'How does a moment live forever? How do you hang on to precious moments?' Then, it's reprised by Belle."

Dan Stevens' Beast will belt out "For Evermore," which appears to be based on the saying: If you love someone, let them go. "'For Evermore' is this moment where the Beast now loves Belle, and he realizes that she misses her father, and he acknowledges she's no longer a prisoner, and when she sees her father's in trouble, he says, 'Go to him, go.' And he voluntarily lets her go," Menken continues. "He's basically singing about how he now knows what love is, as he watches her leave, and he's climbing up the turret of the castle as she recedes into the distance, just watching her go further and further away."

The third song will have the castle's enchanted and sleepy staff remembering what life was like before the spell. "'Days in the Sun' is a moment when all of the objects in the castle —and Belle — are going to sleep. Basically, everybody in the castle is having memories of what it used to be when they had their days in the sun. It's sort of a combination of a lullaby and a remembrance of happier days for everybody."

Beauty and the Beast is the fantastic journey of Belle, a bright, beautiful and independent young woman who is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle's enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast's hideous exterior and realize the kind heart and soul of the true Prince within. The film stars: Emma Watson as Belle; Dan Stevens as the Beast; Luke Evans as Gaston, the handsome, but shallow villager who woos Belle; Oscar winner Kevin Kline as Maurice, Belle's eccentric, but lovable father; Josh Gad as Lefou, Gaston's long-suffering aide-de-camp; Golden Globe nominee Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, the candelabra; Oscar nominee Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, the harpsichord; Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, the feather duster; six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald as Madame Garderobe, the wardrobe; Oscar nominee Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, the mantel clock; and two-time Academy Award winner Emma Thompson as the teapot, Mrs. Potts.

Beauty and the Beast will be released in U.S. theaters on March 17, 2017.

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