"You'll Be in My Heart" is a song by English drummer and singer
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
from the 1999
Disney animated feature ''
Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer.
Creat ...
''.
It appeared on ''
Tarzan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack'' as well as various other Disney compilations. It won the
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...
, and became Collins' last US top-40 single, peaking at number 21.
A demo version with Collins playing piano and singing is featured as a bonus on the 2-DVD Special Edition of ''Tarzan'', along with "I Will Follow", "Celebration", "6/8 Demo" and "Rhythm Piece" which became "Strangers Like Me", "Son of Man" and "Trashin' the Camp". "6/8 Demo" was not featured in the movie. The
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
for the song was
directed
Direct may refer to:
Mathematics
* Directed set, in order theory
* Direct limit of (pre), sheaves
* Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces
Computing
* Direct access (disambiguation), a ...
by
Kevin Godley. Phil Collins also recorded the song in French ("Toujours dans mon cœur"), German ("Dir gehört mein Herz"), Italian ("Sei dentro me") and Spanish ("En mi corazón vivirás") aside from his native English. A version of the single performed by him with
Glenn Close also appears on the soundtrack.
Production and context
Phil Collins was originally hired by Disney in 1995 as a songwriter, but was chosen because he was a drummer at first and given his history as a drummer for the rock band
Genesis, Collins appealed to the Disney production crew, who "wanted a strong jungle beat to accompany Tarzan's adventures". Early into production, directors
Kevin Lima and
Chris Buck
Christopher James Buck (born February 24, 1958) is an American film director, animator, and screenwriter known for co-directing '' Tarzan'' (1999), '' Surf's Up'' (2007) (which was nominated for the 2007 Oscar for Best Animated Feature), '' F ...
decided not to follow Disney's musical tradition by having the characters sing and instead, Phil Collins perform the songs in the film serving as the narrator. The choice of Collins, a popular and well established adult contemporary artist, led his ability to write and record the five original songs. This "ballad" is one of the original songs he wrote for the film, and he ended up also performing this song as well.
The song, originally written for his daughter
Lily
''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are ...
, who was ten years old at the time, was called "Lullaby", is used in a scene when Tarzan's adoptive gorilla mother
Kala sings that her baby should stop crying because she will protect him and keep him safe and warm. She says everything will be fine and she tells him that "you will be in my heart always". The song is about "how love is a bond that cannot be broken".
In the movie, the song ends on the first verse, the full version of the song on the soundtrack album notes that others don't understand why a mother and child who are so different can love each other. When destiny calls, the child is told he must be strong even if the parent is not with him. The song is one of only two songs within the film to have a part performed by an actual character (the other being "Trashin' the Camp" which the character's role in the song can be classified as
scat singing). The rest of the songs were performed by Collins himself and overlaid into the movie. The full song is finally played all together during the end credits.
International versions

The entire ''Tarzan'' soundtrack, including "You'll Be in My Heart", was also performed by
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
in various other languages besides his native English, namely
German,
French,
Spanish and
Italian. Most dubbings played the full English version of the song by Collins at the end credits but it has six versions in other languages and includes his full Spanish version that played for the European and Latin American dubbing, which marks Phil Collins' only appearance on ''Billboard''s Hot Latin Tracks, the song charting at number 32.
He also performed the German version of "You'll Be in My Heart" on German TV.
Masayuki Sakamoto of
20th Century
The 20th century began on 1 January 1901 (MCMI), and ended on 31 December 2000 (MM). It was the 10th and last century in the 2nd millennium and was marked by new models of scientific understanding, unprecedented scopes of warfare, new modes of ...
covered the song for dubbed Japanese release. The song was released on the ''Wishes'' single, which entered the
Oricon singles chart
The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard Single (music), singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track down ...
for seven weeks, reaching peak level at number 10.
Critical reception and awards
The ''
Manila Standard
The ''Manila Standard'' is a broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines which, as of 2017, is owned by the Romualdez family. The Romualdezes, through incumbent speaker of the House Martin Romualdez, also own Journal Publications, Inc., the owner ...
'' said Collins "waxes poetic" with the song.
The ''Disney Song Encyclopedia'' deemed it an "uptempo ballad" and "tender song".
Gerald Bordman
Gerald Martin Bordman (September 18, 1931 – May 9, 2011) was an American theatre historian, best known for authoring the reference volume ''The American Musical Theatre'', first published in 1978. Simonson, Robert (12 May 2011)Gerald Bordman, ...
and Richard Norton, in their book ''American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle'', wrote that
Merle Dandridge, who performed this song as the role of Tarzan's adoptive mother Kala in the Broadway version, had "the best song". In his book ''American Literature on Stage and Screen: 525 Works and Their Adaptations'', Thomas S. Hischak said this song was "contemporary sounding yet
tsrhythmic momentum blended beautifully with the pulsating sounds of the jungle". In 2003, an article for ''Billboard'' magazine noted the song ran "in the same vein" as another Collins song "
Can't Stop Loving You". In 2009, Jody Kerchner and Carlos Abril, in their book ''Musical Experience in Our Lives: Things We Learn and Meanings We Make'', recounted a personal story of how the song has a special meaning to a mother/daughter relationship, which involved fetus-singing. Similar stories were recounted by two other sources.
Soon after the song was released, it was already "being touted as an Oscar contender". The song went on to win the
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...
for
Best Original Song and the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for
Best Original Song.
Collins performed the song live at that year's ceremony. The song also received a
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
nomination for
Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media, but lost to
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
's "
Beautiful Stranger" from ''
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me''.
Chart performance
"You'll Be in My Heart" spent nineteen non-consecutive weeks at number one on the
Adult Contemporary
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...
charts ("the longest time ever up to that point") and peaked at number 21 on the U.S.
''Billboard'' Hot 100. It was Collins's first top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 since 1994's "
Everyday", as well as his last Top 40 hit to date.
The track peaked at number 17 on the
UK Singles Chart.
The success also led to Phil to perform the song on
Top Of The Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
.
Personnel
*
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...
– lead and backing vocals, drums
*
Rob Cavallo – acoustic guitar
*
Mark Goldenberg
Mark Goldenberg (born October 2, 1952) is an American guitarist and songwriter, noted for his session work and composition of successful songs for Linda Ronstadt, the Pointer Sisters, and others.
Biography Early career
Raised in Chicago, Illi ...
,
Tim Pierce
Tim Pierce (born 1958 in Albuquerque) is an American session guitarist. He has worked for artists such as Joe Cocker, Crowded House, Goo Goo Dolls, Michael Jackson, Beth Hart, Roger Waters, Alice Cooper, Johnny Hallyday, Phil Collins, and th ...
,
Michael Thompson – electric guitar
*
Jamie Muhoberac – acoustic piano, keyboards
* John Pierce – electric bass
*
Luis Conte – percussion
*
Kim Bullard,
Carmen Rizzo – programming
* Will Donovan – additional percussion
*
David Campbell – string arrangements
Movie version
*
JoAnn Turovsky –
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...
*
Mark Mancina – arrangements
*
Glenn Close – vocals
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Covered and musical versions
Actor and singer
Michael Crawford
Michael Patrick Smith (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English actor, comedian and singer.
Crawford is best known for playing the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom '' Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', Cornel ...
covered the song on ''
The Disney Album'' (2001). Singer
Usher covered the song for 2002's ''
Disneymania'', a compilation of Disney covers by contemporary pop stars.
In the
2006 stage version, the song is performed by Kala with the ensemble, while a reprise is performed by
Merle Dandridge as Kala and
Daniel Manche as Young Tarzan when the latter "decides to join the human world".
This was because the omniscience of Collins' songs did not translate too well, so the song along with "
Two Worlds", "perform similar thematic and character introductions on stage".
Singer-songwriter Billy Simpson covered the song in Indonesian (as "Kau Di Hatiku") for the 2015 compilation album ''We Love Disney''. Indonesian singer
Niki __NOTOC__
Niki may refer to:
People
* Niki (given name)
* Niki (singer)
* Ni-Ki, member of the South Korean boy band Enhypen.
Places
* Niki, Hokkaido, a town in Japan
* Niki, Florina, a village in Greece
Other uses
* Niki (airline), former ...
covered the song for her Spotify Singles in 2022, and her version later topped ''Billboard''s Indonesian singles chart in April 2025 after resurging online. On the chart dated April 24, her cover had reached number 107 on the
Billboard Global 200.
See also
*
List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1999 (U.S.)
References
{{Authority control
1999 songs
1999 singles
1990s ballads
Phil Collins songs
Pop ballads
Rock ballads
Best Original Song Golden Globe–winning songs
Best Original Song Academy Award–winning songs
Songs from Disney's Tarzan
Disney Renaissance songs
Songs written by Phil Collins
Film theme songs
Music videos directed by Kevin Godley
Song recordings produced by Phil Collins
Song recordings produced by Rob Cavallo
Lullabies
Walt Disney Records singles