This Wish
Ariana DeBose · Wish (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
A wholesome ache for something more
What do these signals mean?
- Edifying: Points the heart toward God, truth, hope, or love.
- Worth Weighing: Real good and real concern together. Test it before you take it in.
- Take Caution: Leans toward what could dull or mislead. Approach carefully.
- Consider Avoiding: Celebrates what Scripture warns against. Little here builds up.
Weighed against Scripture
“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”
The deer's deep thirst for water mirrors the song's ache for 'something more' — a longing that points beyond itself even when it cannot name its source.
“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”
Hope for what is not yet seen, held with patient longing, is exactly what the wish expresses — the in-between of knowing what ought to be and waiting for it to arrive.
“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
'I've already started running' and legs shaking but head held high echo the image of those who wait on the Lord running and not growing weary — courage in motion despite uncertainty.
This is a classic Disney coming-of-age anthem about a young woman who has glimpsed something true and cannot unsit herself, even when told to. The core ache — 'something more for us than this' — is the kind of longing Augustine described as a heart restless until it rests in God, even if the song itself does not name the destination. It holds together honest hesitation ('my legs are shaking') with held-high courage, which gives it more texture than the typical pop anthem. The secular framing (stars as guides) is worth noticing, but the posture is reaching, not rejecting.
No profanity, no mature content. The language is earnest and age-appropriate throughout, fitting its origin as a Disney animated film anthem.
The song reaches outward and upward, looking to stars for guidance and holding onto hope for something better. It does not point explicitly to God, but the longing itself — for truth, for more, for a world that ought to be — is the posture of a soul not yet settled but genuinely reaching.
Written as Asha's 'I want' song in the 2023 Disney film Wish, the intent is clearly to stir courage, hope, and the conviction that the world can be better than it is. There is nothing subversive here; it is earnestly aspirational.
When you feel the pull of 'something more,' what or who are you actually reaching toward — and does this song point you closer to that or leave the question open?