Go the Distance
Encyclopedia
"Go the Distance" is a song written by Alan Menken
and David Zippel, taken from the 1997 Disney animated feature Hercules
. It was performed by Roger Bart
in the film and by Michael Bolton
in the end credits. In the Spanish version, the song is performed by Hercules voicer Ricky Martin
, both in the movie and in the credits; this version is included on Martin's album Vuelve.
Both the song and its reprise featured in a stage production of Hercules
, performed upon the Disney Wonder
during 2007/2008.
, king of the gods. Hercules is also told that he must become a true hero in order to rejoin his father on Mount Olympus
.
The number is later reprised when Hercules sets off on his quest to become a true hero, proclaiming that he is willing to "go the distance" in order to prove himself.
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
. Both awards, however, went to "My Heart Will Go On
", a song from Titanic
, a film directed by James Cameron
. "Go the Distance" peaked at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart and went to #1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
chart, Bolton's ninth song to top this chart.
. It was filmed in New York, and features Bolton performing the song, intercut with scenes from Hercules.
, which failed to make the final cut. However, Shooting Star is included on the Hercules soundtrack CD.
The score for the original version of the song can be found in the Alan Menken
Songbook.
recorded a Spanish-language version of "Go the Distance" from Hercules soundtrack, called "No Importa la Distancia" (English
: "No Matter the Distance"). It was released as a single
on July 1, 1997. Later, it was included on Martin's 1998 album Vuelve.
A music video was also released.
The song reached number ten on the Latin Pop Songs in the United States.
center Patrick Ewing
of the NBA at Madison Square Garden
minutes before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Indiana Pacers
. The game was Ewing's first at home since returning from a nearly season-ending wrist injury. Ewing, then late in his playing career, had often stressed the importance of winning a championship (in effect, 'going the distance') before he retired. The Knicks won the game 83–76, and Ewing was the game's leading scorer with 19 points.
Alan Menken
Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...
and David Zippel, taken from the 1997 Disney animated feature Hercules
Hercules (1997 film)
Hercules is a 1997 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirty-fifth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker...
. It was performed by Roger Bart
Roger Bart
Roger Bart is an American actor and singer.-Life and career:Bart was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of a teacher and a chemical engineer, and grew up in Bernardsville, New Jersey. His uncle is journalist Peter Bart. He made his Broadway debut in Big River as Tom Sawyer in 1987...
in the film and by Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
in the end credits. In the Spanish version, the song is performed by Hercules voicer Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin
Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
, both in the movie and in the credits; this version is included on Martin's album Vuelve.
Both the song and its reprise featured in a stage production of Hercules
Hercules (1997 film)
Hercules is a 1997 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The thirty-fifth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was directed by Ron Clements and John Musker...
, performed upon the Disney Wonder
Disney Wonder
Disney Wonder is the second cruise ship operated by Disney Cruise Line; it was launched in 1999. It is nearly identical in construction to its sister ship, Disney Magic. Both ships have 11 public decks, can accommodate 2,400 passengers in 875 staterooms, and have a crew of approximately 950. ...
during 2007/2008.
Plot location
"Go the Distance" is performed in the film by Hercules, who is at the time around 15 years old. As Hercules possesses god-like strength, he finds it increasingly hard to fit in with his peers. The song serves as Hercules' prayer to the Gods to help him find where he truly belongs. His prayers are answered, as he is revealed to be the long-lost son of ZeusZeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
, king of the gods. Hercules is also told that he must become a true hero in order to rejoin his father on Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 kilometres away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks. The highest peak Mytikas, meaning "nose", rises to 2,917 metres...
.
The number is later reprised when Hercules sets off on his quest to become a true hero, proclaiming that he is willing to "go the distance" in order to prove himself.
Awards and chart placings
The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original SongAcademy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.-1960s:...
. Both awards, however, went to "My Heart Will Go On
My Heart Will Go On
"My Heart Will Go On" is the theme song/love theme of the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. With music by James Horner, lyrics by Will Jennings, and production by Simon Franglen, James Horner and Walter Afanasieff ,, it was recorded by Céline Dion...
", a song from Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
, a film directed by James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
. "Go the Distance" peaked at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart and went to #1 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
chart, Bolton's ninth song to top this chart.
Music video
The music video for Bolton's version was directed by Dani JacobsDani Jacobs
-Background:Jacobs was born in London. He went to University of Manchester to study Physics but left to pursue his interests in Film.He worked at the The Haçienda nightclub as a resident filmmaker and VJ, creating visuals and lighting effects to project in the club space...
. It was filmed in New York, and features Bolton performing the song, intercut with scenes from Hercules.
Shooting Star
Go the Distance was one of two songs written for the film, the second being Shooting Star, performed by BoyzoneBoyzone
Boyzone are an Irish boy band comprising Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating,Shane Lynch, and formerly Stephen Gately. Boyzone have 19 singles in the top 40 UK charts and 21 singles in the Ire charts. The group currently have 6 UK number one singles and 9 number one singles in Ireland with 12...
, which failed to make the final cut. However, Shooting Star is included on the Hercules soundtrack CD.
The score for the original version of the song can be found in the Alan Menken
Alan Menken
Alan Menken is an American musical theatre and film composer and pianist.Menken is best known for his numerous scores for films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. His scores for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas have each won him two Academy Awards...
Songbook.
Ricky Martin version
Ricky MartinRicky Martin
Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
recorded a Spanish-language version of "Go the Distance" from Hercules soundtrack, called "No Importa la Distancia" (English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: "No Matter the Distance"). It was released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on July 1, 1997. Later, it was included on Martin's 1998 album Vuelve.
A music video was also released.
The song reached number ten on the Latin Pop Songs in the United States.
Formats and track listings
European CD maxi-single- "No Importa la Distancia" performed by Ricky MartinRicky MartinEnrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
– 4:51 - "Já Naho Há Distancia" performed by Ricky Martin – 4:45
- "Go the Distance" (Cast Version) performed by Roger BartRoger BartRoger Bart is an American actor and singer.-Life and career:Bart was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the son of a teacher and a chemical engineer, and grew up in Bernardsville, New Jersey. His uncle is journalist Peter Bart. He made his Broadway debut in Big River as Tom Sawyer in 1987...
– 3:13
Charts
| Chart (1997) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Latin Pop Songs | 10 |
Other notable covers
- K-Ci & Jojo performs the song on DisneyMania 4DisneyMania 4Disneymania 4 is the fourth in the Disneymania series. This is the album debut of many current stars on Disney Channel, like Miley Cyrus from Hannah Montana...
. - Lucas GrabeelLucas GrabeelLucas Stephen Grabeel is an American actor, singer, dancer, songwriter, director and producer. As a performer, he is best known for his role as Ryan Evans in Disney Channel Original Movie's High School Musical and its sequels High School Musical 2 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year , and as...
performs the song on DisneyMania 5DisneyMania 5Disneymania 5 is the 5th installment in the Disneymania series. Its was released on March 27, 2007. The album features 4 of the stars from High School Musical: Vanessa Hudgens, Lucas Grabeel, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu and from High School Musical: The Concert, Drew Seeley among others. The album...
. - Tim DriesenTim DriesenTim Driesen is an actor, notable for roles in both musicals, plays and television serials. He has composed a full scale musical as well as a number of pop-songs. In 2007, he created the role of Adrian Banks in the Take That musical, Never Forget...
performed the song in a stage production of Jack and the BeanstalkJack and the BeanstalkJack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
. - Ricky MartinRicky MartinEnrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
in the LatinoLatinoThe demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
version of the film. - Tarkan in the German languageGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
version of the film. - Dionysis Shinas in the Greek languageGreek languageGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
version of the film. - Alex BaroniAlex BaroniAlex Baroni, born Alessandro was an Italian white soul / pop commercial singer, active between 2001 and 2002. He released 4 albums during his lifetime...
in the Italian languageItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
version of the film. - Michael BoltonMichael BoltonMichael Bolton is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton originally performed in the hard rock and heavy metal genres from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, both on his early solo albums and those recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack...
performed the pop-release of the song and features on the movie's soundtrack as well as over the title credits. - Fumiya FujiiFumiya Fujiiis a male Japanese popular music artist. He is a part of Sony Music Japan.After leaving his job in Japanese National Railways, he started his music career in the 1980s as the vocalist of the immensely popular group The Checkers and started on his solo project after they split up.Naoyuki Fujii, his...
performed this theme song in the Japanese LanguageJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
version of the film. Single released on 18 July 1997. - Mannheim SteamrollerMannheim SteamrollerMannheim Steamroller is an American music group founded by Chip Davis and Jackson Berkey, known primarily for its modern recordings of Christmas music. The group has sold 28 million albums in the U.S. alone.-Beginnings:...
covered the song on their 1999 album, Mannheim Steamroller Meets the MouseMannheim Steamroller Meets the MouseMannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse: Unique Musical Creations Based on Disney Songs is a music album by Mannheim Steamroller, released by Walt Disney Records and American Gramaphone in 1999 on CD and DVD.-Track listing:# "Chim Chim Cher-ee" – 2:31...
. - Norm LewisNorm LewisNorm Lewis is an American actor and baritone singer. He has appeared on Broadway as well as in regional theatre.-Life:Lewis was born in Tallahassee, Florida and grew up in Eatonville, Florida...
, Broadway actor and singer, covered the song on his 2008 debut solo album This Is the Life. - Jed MadelaJed MadelaJohn Edward Tajanlangit , better known by his stage name, Jed Madela, is a Filipino recording artist and TV host. His hit songs as a solo artist include How Can I Fall, The Past, The Search is Over, and Love Always Finds a Way....
performed the song in the "Christmas With The Voice" concert during December 2, 2007. - The Maccabeats, the all-male acapella group of Yeshiva UniversityYeshiva UniversityYeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
recorded an acapella version of the song on their 2010 album, Voices From The Heights. - Vocal SpectrumVocal SpectrumVocal Spectrum is a barbershop quartet from St. Charles, Missouri. In 2004, Vocal Spectrum won the Barbershop Harmony Society's International Collegiate Quartet Contest, and on July 8, 2006, they became International Champions, winning the society's International Quartet Contest...
covered this song on their 2008 recording titled Vocal Spectrum II.
Other appearances
In 1998, this song was used for a tribute video to honor New York KnicksNew York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
center Patrick Ewing
Patrick Ewing
Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player and current assistant coach for the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic. He played most of his career with the NBA's New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly with the Seattle...
of the NBA at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
minutes before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
. The game was Ewing's first at home since returning from a nearly season-ending wrist injury. Ewing, then late in his playing career, had often stressed the importance of winning a championship (in effect, 'going the distance') before he retired. The Knicks won the game 83–76, and Ewing was the game's leading scorer with 19 points.