--- title: Just Try to Sing Along to Beyoncé's Lion King Song Spirit description: The new gospel-inspired song "Spirit" from the upcoming 'Lion King' movie is not your typical Disney singalong tune — but Beyoncé sells it. canonical: https://time.com/5623569/beyonce-lion-king-spirit/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-10T16:29:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:59:27.427Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Just Try to Sing Along to Beyoncé's New 'Lion King' Song og:description: The new song, "Spirit," is no "Hakuna Matata" og:url: https://time.com/5623569/beyonce-lion-king-spirit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Just Try to Sing Along to Beyoncé's New 'Lion King' Song twitter:description: The new song, "Spirit," is no "Hakuna Matata" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Just Try to Sing Along to Beyoncé's New Song From _The Lion King_ ## Video: The Lion King Official Trailer [Watch (HLS stream): The Lion King Official Trailer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Q1twvuBC.m3u8) (1:48)  _Published 2019-04-10. The Lion King Official Trailer_  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jul 10, 2019 4:29 PM CUT  by [Raisa Bruner](/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jul 10, 2019 4:29 PM CUT Everyone loves a good, [classic Disney](https://time.com/5415019/bob-iger-disney/ "undefined") song. But that’s not quite what you get with “Spirit,” [Beyoncé’s](https://time.com/5602173/beyonce-and-jay-z-nba-finals/ "undefined") new original song for the live-action remake of [_The Lion King_](https://time.com/5007137/lion-king-cast-beyonce-internet-reactions/ "undefined"), out July 19\. In the movie, Beyoncé voices Nala and sings old favorites like “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” with Donald Glover, who voices Simba. But unlike karaoke standbys like “Hakuna Matata,” you might need to do some vocal warmups before you can nail the notes to “Spirit.” Written for the movie by Beyoncé and her collaborators IIya Salmanzadeh and Timothy McKenzie and produced by Beyoncé, Salmanzadeh and Labrinth, it’s a soaring, gospel-inspired track that shows off [Queen Bey](https://time.com/5614204/beyonce-twitter-thread-explained/ "undefined")‘s full range, particularly her lower tones. When she finally reaches the uplifting chorus, Bey has no qualms about drawing out each syllable to maximize the drama of the rich tune, echoed by a chorus that feels lifted straight out of a Sunday morning service. And then there’s Bey hitting a surprising falsetto in the bridge, just in case you forgot she possesses the voice that makes [four key changes](http://musictheoryprof.com/2015/03/decoding-the-love-on-top-modulations/ "undefined") sound easy, as heard in “Love on Top.” “Spirit” is the first song from an upcoming _Lion King_\-inspired album curated by Beyoncé, called _The Lion King: The Gift_, which is expected to drop on the same day as the movie. (There will also be an official soundtrack featuring Beyoncé’s vocals on songs from the original 1994 animated movie.) “This is sonic cinema,” Beyoncé said of the new project [in a statement.](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/beyonc-produces-performs-multi-artist-224500852.html "undefined") “This is a new experience of storytelling. I wanted to do more than find a collection of songs that were inspired by the film. It is a mixture of genres and collaboration that isn’t one sound. It is influenced by everything from R&B, pop, hip hop and Afro Beat.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5623569/beyonce-lion-king-spirit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5623569/beyonce-lion-king-spirit/"},"headline":"Just Try to Sing Along to Beyoncé's New Song From The Lion King","datePublished":"2019-07-10T16:29:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:59:27.427Z","description":"Good luck matching Queen Bey's epic runs","url":"https://time.com/5623569/beyonce-lion-king-spirit/","keywords":["Newsfeed"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5623569/beyonce-lion-king-spirit/","name":"Just Try to Sing Along to Beyoncé's New Song From The Lion King"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Lion King Official Trailer","description":"The Lion King Official Trailer","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Q1twvuBC/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-04-10T13:34:38.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Q1twvuBC.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5623569/beyonce-lion-king-spirit/","duration":"PT1M48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5623569/beyonce-lion-king-spirit/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```