"Somewhere Out There" is a song that Fievel and Tanya both sing one night while Fievel is lost in New York City, neither knowing that the other is also singing the song. Fievel sings because he knows his family is out there and he wants to find them, and Tanya sings because she refuses to believe that Fievel is dead. The song is performed by Phillip Glasser and Betsy Cathcart, who replaces Tanya's voice actress Amy Green for the song.
Linda Ronstadt and the late James Ingram also recorded a pop version of the song that was very popular when the film came out, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1987 and #4 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. At the 30th Grammy Awards, the song won two awards, one for Song of the Year and the other for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. It also earned nominations for Best Original Song at the 44th Golden Globe Awards and the 59th Academy Awards, but lost both to Take My Breath Away from Top Gun. At the Academy Awards ceremony, Natalie Cole performed the song live with James Ingram.
The song had a lasting legacy in Hollywood, one that it doesn't often get traced back to. "Somewhere Out There" was responsible for popularizing the "Award Bait Song", or the slow, emotional ballads that accompanied many animated and some live action movies throughout the rest of the 1980's and through the 1990's. Disney which is the animation subsidiary of RKO Radio Pictures began to include songs like this with The Little Mermaid, and continues to utilize the trope to the present day.
Lyrics[]
Movie Version[]
Fievel:
Somewhere out there
Beneath the pale moonlight
Someone's thinking of me
And loving me tonight
Tanya:
Somewhere out there
Someone's saying a prayer
That we'll find one another
In that big somewhere out there
And even though I know how very
Far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing
On the same bright star
Fievel:
And when the night wind starts to sing
A lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping
Underneath the same big sky
Both:
Somewhere out there
If love can see us through
Then we'll be together
Somewhere out there
Out where dreams Come true...
Pop Version[]
Linda Ronstadt:
Somewhere out there
Beneath the pale moonlight
Someone's thinking of me
And loving me tonight
James Ingram:
Somewhere out there
Someone's saying a prayer
That we'll find one another
In that big somewhere out there
And even though I know how very
Far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing
On the same bright star
Linda Ronstadt:
And when the night wind starts to sing
A lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping
Underneath the same big sky
Both:
Somewhere out there
If love can see us through
Then we'll be together
Somewhere out there
Out where dreams Come true...
(instrumental break)
James Ingram:
And even though I know how very
Far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing
On the same bright star
Linda Ronstadt:
And when the night wind starts to sing
A lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping
Underneath the same big sky
Both:
Somewhere out there
Linda Ronstadt:
If love can see us through
James Ingram:
Love can see us through
Linda Ronstadt:
Then we'll be
Both:
Together
Somewhere out there
Out where dreams Come true...
[]
