"Poor Unfortunate Souls" is a song from the Walt Disney Pictures animated film The Little Mermaid. Written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken and performed by Pat Carroll, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" is sung to Princess Ariel by Ursula the Sea Witch. Ursula uses the song to seduce Ariel into trading her voice for the chance to temporarily become human. Howard Ashman recorded a version of the song with himself in the role of Ursula, to send to Carroll to convince her to take the role, which it did. This version was released in the four CD set The Music Behind the Magic. Carroll admits that she borrowed some of the inflections she used in the song from Ashman's performance, and that he had been delighted she had done so. The spell incantation at the end of the song is: :Beluga, Sevruga :Come winds of the Caspian Sea :Larynxes, glossitis :Et Max Laryngitis :La voce to me A short reprise of this song is featured later in the original Disney movie being sung by Vanessa (Jodi Benson). This reprise is sometimes referred to as "Vanessa's Song". It has never been included on a sound recording from Disney, nor has it ever received any sort of official acknowledgment from the company. Two versions of a full reprise of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" were written for the Broadway adaptation. The first version, used for the demo workshop and performed by Emily Skinner, contains lyrics implying that it is meant to be sung before Ursula transforms herself into Vanessa, with the spell incantation: :Mascara, tiara :Yea, winds of the tropics appear :Catharsis, lavorious :Et qua manicurus mutato me here! (via Wikipedia)

About Poor Unfortunate Souls

From Album: Disney's The Little Mermaid soundtrack
Disney's The Little Mermaid special edition soundtrack

Preceded By: "Year 3000"

Recording Dates: 2006

Release Date: Jan 1, 2006
Jan 1, 1988

Genre: Pop rock
Broadway Musical Style Soundtrack

Audio Format: Digital Download

Name: Poor Unfortunate Souls

Record Label: Walt Disney Records

Track No.: 8

Length: 2:28

Recorded By: Pat Carroll
Jonas Brothers

Followed By: "Kids of the Future"