Colors of the Wind - Definition and Overview

"Colors of the Wind" is a song by singer/actress Vanessa Williams. It was one of Williams' biggest hits in 1995. The song is a monologue into the general vision of Native Americans about their early contacts with people from other countries. It goes into detail about nature and the differing views held about the environment. In the song, the foreigners are depicted as regarding earth as a dead thing that can be used for profit. However, from the natives' viewpoint, the earth is shown as a living entity where mankind is connected to everything in nature. A quirk about the song is that the chorus varies with each instantiation of the chorus.

The general chorus pattern is as follows: The first line tells the listener of a wolf crying to the blue corn moon. The second line changes depending on when the chorus is sang. The third line tells of singing with the voices of the mountains. The fourth line includes the idea of painting with the colors of the wind.

It was also included in the soundtrack to a Disney movie about Pocahontas, and has been performed by two other artists, Ashanti and Christy Carlson Romano.