"Remains of the Day" is one of the four main songs sung in the 2005

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animated film ''

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride ''Corpse Bride'' (also known as ''Tim Burton's Corpse Bride'') is a 2005 stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Mike Johnson and Tim Burton with a screenplay by John August, Caroline Thompson and Pamela Pettler based on c ...

''. It was composed by

Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...

, along with all other music for the film."Tim Burton's Corpse Bride"
Retrieved 2013-10-31. The song is the second one in the movie, and vital to the plot. The character Bonejangles (voiced by

) introduces the song with the following lyrics: "What a story it is; a tragic tale of romance, passion and a murder most foul." Then, Bonejangles and other skeletons and corpses from the Land of the Dead sing the song with a fast and jazzy melody, and the lyrics explain how Emily, the film's titular character, died. In the song's storyline, Emily was a beautiful, wealthy, and talented young woman who had many suitors, one of which was a "mysterious stranger," who is later revealed in the film's climax as a murderous con-artist named Lord Barkis Bittern. While Emily admired Barkis for his supposed good personality and physical appearance, her father forbade her to marry him due to his poverty. Barkis manipulated Emily into eloping with him; Emily donned her mother's

wedding dress A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. The color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. In Western cultures and Anglo-Sa ...

, took her "family jewels and a satchel of gold," and went to the churchyard in the middle of the night to meet him. However, he murdered her, stole her jewels and wealth, and hid her body beneath an oak tree. In death, Emily vowed to remain there until "her true love" comes to "set her free," which Victor inadvertently does while practicing his wedding vows to marry Victoria.

Use in the soundtrack album

*The song can be heard on the "Corpse Bride" soundtrack. A notable feature on the soundtrack, on the bonus tracks, a Remains of the Day tribute to the "New Orleans style" jazz combination is played. This was used as source music in the movie. *At the end of the "End Credits" track of the soundtrack, the song's chorus is played. It is not sung, however, in the actual end credits.

Foreign versions

* The

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

version of the song is titled "Il jazz dell'aldilà" ("The Other side jazz"), although that line is not featured in the lyrics.

References

Songs written for films {{2000s-song-stub