“Somewhere Out There” (Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram)

We’re wrapping up our week-long tribute to the late Cynthia Weil with one of her later songs, “Somewhere Out There,” a duet by Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram. Cynthia and her husband Barry Mann, along with James Horner, wrote this one for the soundtrack of the animated movie An American Tail. This is one of those songs that brings chills every time I hear it.

The movie’s producer, some guy named Spielberg, invited Barry and Cynthia to collaborate with James Horner, the soundtrack composer, on four songs for the movie. They were just composing tunes for the movie, not for top 40 radio, and were surprised when that Spielberg guy thought it had hit potential. Spielberg, who apparently had a few connections in the industry, brought in recording artists Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram to record a single version. (In the movie, the song was sung by the characters of Fievel and Tanya Mousekewitz.)

The single was released in November of 1986 and was an immediate hit. The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It won two Grammy Awards, for Song of the Year and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. It was also nominated for the Best Original Song Academy Award, but lost to “Take My Breath Away” from Top Gun. (That wasn’t right; “Somewhere Out There” is a much superior song.)

“Somewhere Out There” is classic Mann and Weil. Musically, it’s simple yet effective. The verses are all I, IV, and V chords, with the occasional ii7, iii and vi. The bridge gets a little more adventurous, starting in C (the main key) but then modulating up a step and a half to D# before moving back down to the original key. (I’m guessing that was Horner’s contribution; it isn’t very Mann-like.)

Lyrically, “Somewhere Out There” mirrors the theme of the film, reflecting the loneliness and longing of the main character. The lyrics are quite beautiful, actually:

Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight
Someone’s thinking of me and loving me tonight
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 wishin’ on the same bright star
And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we’re sleeping underneath the same big sky

Somewhere out there, if love can see us through
Then we’ll be together somewhere out there
Out where dreams come true

That’s all Cynthia Weil.

Barry and Cynthia had a few more hits after this one, including Peabo Bryson’s “Closer Than Close” and Hanson’s “I Will Come to You.” Cynthia also wrote lyrics with a few other songwriters, including Lionel Richie’s “Love Will Conquer All” (with Greg Phillinganes and Mr. Richie), Vanessa Williams’ “Just for Tonight” (with Keith Thomas), and Martina McBride’s “Wrong Again” (with Tommy Lee James). But by the end of the 1990s the duo’s songwriting days were pretty much over.

Cynthia Weil’s legacy is long and strong. Many younger people know her from her character in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. It’s true that Barry and Cynthia were friends (and competitors) with Carole King and her then-husband Gerry Goffin. In the New York City music biz of the 1960s, everybody knew everybody else, so it was natural for the two young married couples to hang out together. No doubt each team’s music influenced and spurred on the other’s. That’s the way the world worked back then.

Cynthia Weil lived a long and remarkably productive and influential life. She and Barry were inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 1987 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2011 they received the Johnny Mercer Award, the highest honor from the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, and in 2015 received the Grammy Trustees Award.

Even though Cynthia Weil left us on June 1st, we’ll always have her music. And that music is definitely worth having.