All I Ever Wanted (The Prince of Egypt)


"All I Ever Wanted" is a song from the 1998 DreamWorks animated feature The Prince of Egypt. It is sung by Moses after discovering that he is adopted, which results in him questioning his Egyptian identity and his Hebrew heritage. It is reprised shortly after by the Queen, who reassures him of his place in their family. Both songs are collectively referred to as All I Ever Wanted on the film's soundtrack. The song was composed by Stephen Schwartz.

Inspiration

As Joe and Vicki Traci explained in their article Breathing Life Into The Prince of Egypt: "Schwartz came up with the inspiration of the song All I Ever Wanted, sung by Moses when he first discovered the truth about his past, when Schwartz visited Egypt. One moonlit night the team had gotten permission to visit an Egyptian Temple that was not yet opened to the public. He recalls, 'There was something about walking through those beautiful white columns reflected in the moonlight and seeing the hieroglyphs that triggered the tune which became, All I Ever Wanted.'"

Composition and Production

Filmtracks notes: "The Plagues...challenges the lyrical nature of the film's early songs with deliberately harsh chanting that battles quite strikingly with a pseudo-reprise of All I Ever Wanted.
While Moses was voiced by Val Kilmer, all of his songs were sung by Amick Byram.

Critical reception

Filmtracks wrote "The uplifting and buoyant All I Ever Wanted is the closest Schwartz comes to emulating the hero's song of aspiration that Alan Menken made famous throughout the decade. The determination in this short song is convincing and the queen's reprise is elegantly merged with the river melody from Deliver Us at its conclusion." Soundtracks also praised the song: "In "All I Ever Wanted" Zimmer shows intelligent theme usage by employing the theme to be more fleshed out later in The Plagues. A very convincing portrayal of Moses and the emotional conflict within him is created by these two songs. The weight of his choice between God and the Hebrews, or the life he had known as an Egyptian prince forms a very strong musical identity." AnimatedMovieReview wrote "after watching one would definitely understand Moses and his family better as people, especially with the song All I Ever Wanted. FilmScoreReview wrote "the accompaniment for some solos, including “All I Ever Wanted” helps to get the message across to the audience of Moses’s personal struggles with who he is and has become".
Not all reviews were positive, however. Entertainment Weekly wrote "Even on repeat listenings, Moses' requisite I-want song -- called, lamely, All I Ever Wanted -- simply isn't memorable, no matter that the star-crossed royal helpfully whistles snatches of it in another scene." LA Weekly described it as "one of Stephen Schwartz's awful songs".