18 Fairytale-Inspired Songs (Photos) The Hollywood Reporter

Publish date: 2024-08-04

‘Cinderella’: 18 Fairytale-Inspired Songs (Photos) – The Hollywood Reporter

Michael Jackson
The King of Pop's hit "Cinderella Stay Awhile," off of his 1975 album Forever, Michael, embraces all elements of the classic fairytale and features the lyrics "Cinderella, I just know that the magic slipper's gonna fit/Cinderella, do not go/You're my princess, I'm sure of it."
Britney Spears
The pop star sings about running away from a man who calls on her as if she's Cinderella in her 2001 track "Cinderella" off of her self-titled album Britney. In the song, Spears sings, "I'm sorry for running away like this/And I'm sorry I've already made my wish/But Cinderella's got to go."
Chuck Wicks
"Stealing Cinderella" is the debut single by country artist Chuck Wicks. In the song, Wicks sings about asking permission from his girlfriend's father to take her hand in marriage with lyrics such as "In her eyes, I'm prince charming/But to him, I'm just some fellow riding in and stealing Cinderella."
Eminem
Eminem trades a glass slipper for a Nike shoe in his song "Cinderella Man" off of his 2010 album Recovery. The rap track features the lyrics "Now guess who?/Here's a clue/He came to the ball in a wife beater, lost his Nike shoe."
Firefall
The band sings about a former lover who unexpectedly shows up with child in their 1977 track "Cinderella." In the song, Firefall croons, "Cinderella, can't you see?/Don't want your company. You better leave this morning, leave today/Take your love and your child away."
Garth Brooks
"It's Midnight Cinderella" by Garth Brooks makes mention of the fairytale's pumpkin carriage, glass slipper and even the film's original song "Bippity Boppity Boo." The country-infused track includes lyrics such as "It's midnight Cinderella, time that you should know/There's gonna be some changes in the way this story goes/It's midnight Cinderella, but don't you worry none/'Cause I'm Peter Peter the Pumpkin Eater/And the party's just begun."
Hatsune Miku and Kaito
Produced and written by Signal-P and Orange, "Cendrellion" is a Japanese song sung by Hatsune Miku and Kaito (both of which are cartoon personas voiced by a singing synthesizer application). The English translation of the track includes lyrics "The bitter coldness of a horse-drawn carriage/Dancing with clothes that would turn back into miserable rags at night."
‘Himitsu no Akko-chan’
The theme song to the Japanese anime television series Himitsu no Akko-chan, as well as the series' opening sequence, makes reference to the fairytale.
Mudvayne
The heavy metal band sings about the loneliness of being locked away in their 2008 single "A Cinderella Story." The emotional song includes lyrics like "Enough love for the family/Just nothing left for me, you see?/It's just like Cinderella/Locked up and hid away, you have no idea."
Nicola Roberts
"Cinderella's Eyes" is the leading track off of Roberts' debut studio album of the same title. The electro-pop song contains the lyrics "Where did you go?/What did you see?/Cinderella's eyes/What did you do?/Where did you sleep?/Underneath the sky."
Steven Curtis Chapman
In Chapman's song "Cinderella" off of his 2007 album This Moment, the Christian artist likens sending his own daughters off to marriage to the Disney princess' fairytale ending, singing, "So, I'll dance with Cinderella/While she is here in my arms/'Cause I know something the prince never knew."
Suzy Bogguss
Bogguss' song "Hey Cinderella" off of her 1993 album Something Up My Sleeve features the lyrics "Hey hey, Cinderella, what's the story all about?/I got a funny feeling we missed a page or two somehow/Ohh-ohhh, Cinderella, maybe you could help us out/Does the shoe fit you now?"
The Cheetah Girls
"Cinderella" is a song performed by The Cheetah Girls, a pop group created by Disney in 2003. The single, originally released by i5 and later covered by Swedish pop group Play, includes the lyrics "I don't wanna be like Cinderella/Sitting in a dark, cold, dusty cellar/Waiting for someone to come and set me free."
Tom Jones
Jones wrote the lyrics to the short song "Cinderella," featured in the Broadway musical 110 in the Shade. In the stage play, kids gather around and chant "Cinderella, dressed in white, went to meet her fella/How many kisses on her cheek?/One, two, three, four."
Vince Gill
Gill's song "Cinderella" off of his 1987 album, The Way Back Home, features lyrics about a mistreated girl who is tired of living as Cinderella. The country artist sings, "She's just tired of being Cinderella/She can't live that way no more/She needs a little affection, a little understanding."
Rush
The Canadian rock band's fifth studio album, 1977's A Farewell to Kings, includes the track "Cinderella Man." The song details the story of a modest but ambitious man, with lyrics such as "Cinderella man, hang on to your plans/Try as they might, they cannot steal your dreams."
Shakaya
"Cinderella" is the debut single by Shakaya, an Australian pop duo. Within its chorus, the song repeats the lyrics "I'm not another Cinderella/Waitin' for a Rockafella/If the shoe don't fit, then that's it/I don't need a storyteller."
Sweetbox
Sweetbox yearns for Cinderella's fairytale ending in the song "Cinderella," which was released in 2001. The pop track features the lyrics "Cinderella is the queen of the kingdom/Cinderella got the dream she was dreamin'/I wanna know where is my happy end."