Belle Lyrics

Belle is one of the first songs in the 1991 Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast. The song and lyrics are considered to be one of the best opening numbers in musical history, drawing comparisons to West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965), as well as the Broadway musicals Fiddler on the Roof and She Loves Me. In 1992 at the 64th Academy Awards, Belle was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It ultimately lost to the film’s title song, Beauty and the Beast.

About Belle

Belle is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman for Walt Disney Pictures‘ 30th animated feature film Beauty and the Beast (1991). It is a mid-tempo French and classical music-inspired song that incorporates both Broadway and musical theatre elements. Belle was originally recorded by American actress and singer Paige O’Hara and American actor Richard White.

It is the film’s first song and the opening number. Belle appears during Beauty and the Beast as a large-scale operetta-style production number. It introduces the film’s heroine Belle, considered a book-loving nonconformist by the townspeople of the village.

She has grown weary of the provincial life in which she is supposed to live. Belle is also wary of Gaston, the film’s narcissistic villain who wishes her hand in marriage despite Belle’s repeated rejections.

Belle” has been universally acclaimed by film and music critics. Musically, the song has been compared to various musical numbers from the musical films West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965), as well as the Broadway musicals Fiddler on the Roof and She Loves Me. 

The song was similarly featured in a Broadway musical based on the film, originally performed by American actress and singer Susan Egan. There was a 2017 live-action adaptation of Disney’s 1991 classic animated film “Beauty and the Beast”. This version stars Emma Watson singing as Belle and has a few different lyrics and speaking segments compared to the one for the animated film.

Belle Lyrics

[Belle]
Little town it’s a quiet village.
Every day like the one before.
Little town full of little people, waking up to say.

[Woman #1]
Bonjour!

[Woman #2]
Bonjour!

[Man #1]
Bonjour!

[Man #2]
Bonjour!

[Man #3]
Bonjour!

[Belle]
There goes the baker with his tray like always.
The same old bread and rolls to sell.
Every morning just the same,
Since the morning that we came,
To this poor provincial town.

[Baker]
Good Morning Belle!

[Belle]
Good morning Monsieur Jean. Have you lost something
again?

[Baker]
Well, I believe I have.
Problem is I can’t remember what.
Oh well, I’m sure it’ll come to me.
Where are you off to?

[Belle]
To return this book to Père Robert
It’s about two lovers in fair Verona.

[Baker]
Sounds boring.

[Group of Women]
Look there she goes
That girl is strange, no question.

[Man]
Dazed and distracted can’t you tell?

[Women #1]
Never part of any crowd.
‘Cause her head’s stuck on some cloud.

[Girls]
No denying she’s a funny girl, that Belle.

[Man #1]
Bonjour!
Good day!
How is your family?

[Woman #1]
Bonjour!
Good day!
How is your wife?

[Woman #2]
I need twenty eggs!
That’s too expensive.

[Belle]
There must be more than this provincial life.

[Book Shop Clerk]
Ah! If it isn’t the only bookworm in town!
So, where did you run off to this week?

[Belle]
Two cities in Northern Italy.
I didn’t want to come back.
Have you got any new places to go?

[Book Shop Clerk]
I’m afraid not…
But you may re-read any of the old ones that you’d like.

[Belle]
Thank you. Your library makes our small corner of the world feel big.

[Book Shop Clerk]
Bon voyage!

[Belle]
Bye.

[Group Of Men]
Look there she goes
That girl is so peculiar.

[Man #1]
I wonder if she’s feeling well.

[Group Of Women]
With a dreamy far off look,
And her nose stuck in a book,
What a puzzle to the rest of us, is Belle.

[Belle]
Oh! Isn’t this amazing? It’s my favorite part because you’ll see. Here’s where she meets Prince Charming. But she won’t discover that it’s him till chapter three.

[Woman #1]
Now it’s no wonder that her name means beauty.
Her looks have got no parallel.

[Womens]
But behind that fair facade,
I’m afraid she’s rather odd.

[Woman #1]
Very different from the rest of us…

[Women]
She’s nothing like the rest of us.

[Villagers]
Yes, different from the rest of us is Belle.

[Gaston]
Look at here LeFou, my future wife.
Belle is the most beautiful girl in the village that
makes her the best.

[LeFou]
But she’s so… well-read.
And you’re so… athletically inclined.

[Gaston]
I know. Belle can be as argumentative as she is beautiful.

[LeFou]
Exactly! Who needs her when you’ve got us?

[Gaston]
Yes. But ever since the war I’ve felt like I’ve been missing something. And Belle is the only girl that gives me that sense of…

[LeFou]
Je ne sais quoi?

[Gaston]
I don’t know what that means.

[Gaston]
Right from the moment when I met her, saw her,
I said she’s gorgeous and I fell…
Here in town, there’s only she,
Who is beautiful as me
So I’m making plans to woo and marry Belle.

[Silly Girls]
Look there he goes, isn’t he dreamy?
Monsieur Gaston, oh he’s so cute!
Be still my heart, I’m hardly breathing.
He’s such a tall, dark, strong, and handsome brute.
AAH!

[LeFou]
Never gonna happen, ladies

[Villagers talking]

[Belle]
There must be more than this provincial life!

[Gaston]
Just watch I’m going to make Belle my wife!

[Villagers]
Look there she goes, that girl that’s strange but special.
A most peculiar mademoiselle.
It’s a pity and a sin,
She doesn’t quite fit in.
But she really is a funny girl…
A beauty but a funny girl…
She really is a funny girl…
That Belle!