You can’t deny the worldwide phenomenon that is the title song from the beloved attraction, written by the legendary Sherman Brothers. Since it’s It’s A Small World week here on LP, I thought I would throw my hat into the ring by showcasing the Top 5 best “It’s A Small World” covers in the history of ever. We are crossing the globe and traversing multiple genres to find the very best covers. Let’s board the happiest cruise that ever sailed and find some great music!
- Hong Kong Disneyland’s incarnation of the ride opened 3 years after the park itself had its first rope drop. With the attraction unveiling came a large nighttime opening ceremony, which included fireworks and a live performance of this cover. They took 4 different pop stars from 4 different Asian countries and sang the beloved tune in 5 different languages (Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Korean and English) to create this fantastic cover. The tempo differences and change in background orchestrations make this a great tune for any IASW fan, no matter what language you speak.
- I have mentioned multiple times before, I was addicted to DisneyMania CDs. Hearing Disney Channel stars singing my favorite classic Disney songs was super awesome for my 7 year old self (heck, my 18 year old self, too). DisneyMania 2, my first DisneyMania CD, gave us the fantastic and crazy random Baha Men version of the tune…you know, the “Who Let The Dogs Out?” group. The give the song a wonderfully infectious Caribbean flare that gives the song new life and brings its “fun level” at least 3 notches.
- DisneyMania 3 gave us another version of the song, this time a rap version from Fan 3. This version gives the same message the first song told, but this one only shares a chorus. There are remnants of the orchestrations, but it is very much a different song. A very interesting version, but still a cool change on the usual.
- Tiffany Alvord joined in the cover fun after finding her “Disney Side” this January. This YouTuber brings her ukulele and her wonderful indie voice to the song, still keeping its upbeat nature, but making it a tad more calming, which is very welcome. I just found this cover recently and I’ve been super obsessed with it.
- Thomas Rheingans is a piano teacher and music arranger who took the tune and recreated in the style of seven famous composers. It is pretty incredible. Mozart, Liszt, Joplin, the list goes on and on. I definitely recommend you checking out this fantastic cover.
Do you have a favorite version of the song I didn’t mention? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or on the discussion boards. Be sure to let me know which of the 5 is your favorite!