I was re-listening to
Shiny from Moana by chance. I've come to the unfortunate conclusion that, lyrically and narratively (not in delivery or animation), it's not great. I don't really have a big-picture takeaway on why, so I'll just play script doctor and go section by section where I have issues. I'll also highlight some sections I think are especially good.
Did your granny say, "Listen to your heart"?
"Be who you are on the inside"?
Why is Tamatoa referencing a conversation he has no way of knowing about? This isn't a leading question – if there is some specific value to breaking in-universe logic to reference specific material, I'm fine with that, I'm not anal. However, I don't get the value. If the song is going to be "screw heart and authenticity, be sparkly", why not talk about these ideas generally? It feels like the song is cutting corners to squeeze in a call-back where it doesn't belong. Alternatively, it thinks the audience is so media illiterate that, unless they explicitly reference a specific prior conversation, they'll have no way to understand Shiny is intentionally saying the opposite of Moana's "be who you really are" arc.
I need three words to tear her argument apart
Your granny lied
...what? I was just so confused when I re-heard this. This retort has all the elegance and wit of "no you." Like, what is the film trying to say by including it? That, beneath all the paint, being shallow is just the banality of saying "nah" to important stuff? Maybe? I think it's an interesting read, anyway. But I feel like I'm stretching too hard and giving the film too much credit.
Fish are dumb, dumb, dumb
They chase anything that glitters
Beginners
Oh, and here they come, come, come
To the brightest thing that glitters
Mm, fish dinners
I like this part because of how it squares up with Tamatoa getting duped by the fake heart of Te Fiti, showing that he's not as above it all as he thinks he is.
I just love free food (Free food)
And you look like seafood (Seafood)
Narrative issue this time, not lyrical. Why write Tamatoa as so willing to just eat Moana? From an in-universe potential, he loves to talk about himself so much, so why would he so quickly get rid of someone he can talk about himself to forever? He could even enlist her to collect more shinies for him. From an external writing perspective, they have potential for great chemistry, and you can play their relationship off of Maui's relationship with humans for thematic development.
Well, well, well
Little Maui's having trouble with his look
You little semi-demi-mini-god
Ouch, what a terrible performance, get the hook, get it?
You don't swing it like you used to, man
...
Send your armies, but they'll never be enough
My shell's too tough,
Maui-man
You could try, try, try
But you can't expect a demigod
To beat a decapod (Look it up)
Narrative again, not lyrical. (Semi-demi-mini-god goes so hard, as does Look it up.) This confidence contrasts greatly with his initial fear upon seeing Maui. In-universe, I totally get why Tamatoa would react this way. Shallowness can definitely create reactions of initial pant-soiling when faced with a threat, but mean confidence when faced with a non-threat. Out-of-universe, though, I think this about-face just makes Tamatoa more prickish and unlikable. I'd respect him more if he was confident from the start on seeing Maui, and then had his confidence temporarily vindicated by Maui's hook failure.
Yet I have to give you credit for my start
And your tattoos on the outside
For just like you I made myself a work of art
I'll never hide, I can't
I'm too shiny!
I think this verges on a pretty interesting parallel between Maui and Tamatoa. If you squint, both are more interested in presenting themself a certain way than being developed and good people, at least before Maui's character development (see e.g. "You're Welcome".) I like that potentiality, but I think it's execution is flawed. I don't think the characters are actually parallels. Tamatoa seemingly has no ego issues - he stays alone instead of putting himself in front of people to impress him, and he'd rather eat Moana than use her as a tool to massage his ego (see above). Therefore, I don't think this "we're not so different" jab at Maui really sticks. At the end of a day, it's just a coincidence that they both decorate their body to achieve their goals. These goals are different and don't address the same psychological needs. I guess you can say they're both shallow goals, but I don't think that read convinces me, and that Tamatoa's goal is a lot more shallow.
Now it's time for me to take apart
Your aching heart
Far from the ones who abandoned you
Chasing the love of these humans who made you feel wanted
You tried to be tough
But your armor's just not hard enough
Fantastic execution of the narrative beat. The Strong-Weak-Weak-Strong syllable stress pattern, and the music and animation, of the critical part really seals it in for me. Love it.
My last gripe makes more sense in context of this quote by Lin-Manuel Miranda about the song.
We really wanted to write the “anti-lesson” of the movie—if Moana’s journey is finding out what that voice inside her says and who she is, Tamatoa comes in and goes, “Doesn’t matter! Who cares! It’s about how you look!” He’s from the deepest, darkest part of the sea. Your armor is important, the glitter that attracts prey is important. So who cares who you are on the inside? You gotta be shiny, homie!
While the song advances the plot, it doesn't really develop a non-flat character or have a lot messaging to communicate, so I'm kind of left wishing it had more to say. Some deeper and more meaningful effort to convince Moana/Maui to abandon their self-development could've been it.