Today was a better day to select my free music. Rather than go through the genre search or bother with what the site calls popular picks, I decided I’d begin at the top with the letter “A” and find a familiar name.

Angela Lansbury! How I failed to include her in yesterday’s listing, I do not know. I did find her recording from the Legends of Broadway series courtesy of Sony Records – the chief sponsor of the Freegal.com website service. I have only seen one musical that Angela was a part of and it wasn’t even the original – Sweeny Todd, the Barber of Fleet Street as filmed by Tim Burton. My habit once I’ve learned of a remake is to track down the original.

Musically speaking, there are four songs to enjoy that I will have to download later (silly three song limit). Then I remembered I have Angela’s wonderful singing voice on two soundtracks: Anastasia and Beauty and the Beast. In following that train of thought, today’s detour leads me to Disney.

The first Disney film I ever saw that kindly gave me nightmares for a while was Bambi. Yes, I cried when Bambi went through that initial trauma, but it was the forest fire scene that scared me. Despite the fears and fun – after all who can not like Thumper or Flower – one song I remember singing repeatedly much to my mother’s dismay was “April Shower.” Granted, the best time to sing this simple little melody was while jumping through mud puddles, but I digress.

The one thing that distinguishes Disney from other movie makers is his weaving in of song to carry on the story. I challenge anyone to find someone who has left a Disney film without one song or another stuck in mind. On a positive side of challenges, narrow down the list of favorite tunes to say…ten or twenty.

I will admit to owning my fair share of Disney soundtracks. But what is fun about these is that the songs are family friendly, can be played without worry of some wrong word or message or two to shock the serenity of songs.  From Aladdin to Winnie the Pooh, there’s a song or two at that defines the heart of the movie. “Love is a Song” that never ends illustrates the fact that for Bambi, life will go on even with the loss.

Whether it’s Peggy Lee or Julie Andrews singing them or Randy Newman and the Sherman Brothers writing them, it isn’t hard to hear why Disney’s films and songs have lasted so long in time.