March 22, 2024

Music Friday: Dastardly Coconut Crab Tamatoa Is ‘Shiny’ in Disney’s ‘Moana’

Welcome to Music Friday when we bring you wickedly fun songs with jewelry, gemstones or precious metals in the title or lyrics. Today, a giant-sized, treasure-hoarding coconut crab named Tamatoa brags about sparkling like a wealthy woman’s neck in “Shiny” from Disney’s 2016 animated blockbuster, Moana.

The song’s official video has been viewed more than 596 million times on YouTube.

Voiced by New Zealand’s Jemaine Clement, Tamatoa is a dastardly — but lovable — Disney villain who collects rare sea treasures from the seabed and conspicuously displays them on his shell. Among the treasures he’s salvaged from the depths are pearls, diamonds, gold and a power-granting magical fishhook that was lost by the film’s hero, Maui.

The crab sings, “Watch me dazzle like a diamond in the rough / Strut my stuff; my stuff is so… Shiny.”

Even though Tamatoa is able to overpower Maui, he is no match for the strong-willed and clever teen, Moana, who tricks the crab into relinquishing the magical hook.

Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina, “Shiny” is the eighth track from the two-CD set titled Moana: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The album peaked at #2 on the US Billboard 200 and charted in 17 countries. The single reached #6 on Billboard‘s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.

Miranda is the Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award-winning composer, lyricist and actor, who is best known as the creator and original star of Broadway’s Hamilton. Clement is a comedian, actor, voice actor, singer, writer, director, multi-instrumentalist and one half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords.

Moana was released in theaters on November 23, 2016, and went on to gross more than $687 million worldwide.

Please check out the official video of the animated Tamatoa (Clement) performing “Shiny.” The lyrics are below if you’d like to sing along…

“Shiny”
Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina. Performed by Jemaine Clement.

Well, Tamatoa hasn’t always been this glam
I was a drab little crab once
Now I know I can be happy as a clam
Because I’m beautiful, baby

Did your granny say listen to your heart
Be who you are on the inside
I need three words to tear her argument apart
Your granny lied!
I’d rather be…

Shiny
Like a treasure from a sunken pirate wreck
Scrub the deck and make it look…

Shiny
I will sparkle like a wealthy woman’s neck
Just a sec!

Don’t you know
Fish are dumb, dumb, dumb
They chase anything that glitters (beginners!)

Oh, and here they come, come, come
To the brightest thing that glitters
Mmm, fish dinners

I just love free food
And you look like seafood
(Like seafood)

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

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
Watch me dazzle like a diamond in the rough
Strut my stuff; my stuff is so…

Shiny
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 demi-god
To beat a decapod (look it up)

You will die, die, die
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

Maui
Now it’s time to kick your…
Hiney
Ever seen someone so…

Shiny
Soak it in ’cause it’s the last you’ll ever see
C’est la vie mon ami
I’m so…

Shiny
Now I’ll eat you, so prepare your final plea
Just for me
You’ll never be quite as…
Shiny
You wish you were nice and…
Shiny