Analysis of “Remember Me” from Pixar’s Coco

*Warning! Spoilers!*

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Originally this post was going to be about the quote “Seize the day” from the new Pixar movie, Coco. I was going to write something along the lines of… Seize the day is a phrase most people know. It means to enjoy the point in time you are in because you may not get the chance to do so again. It is a powerful phrase that often motivates characters to try their hardest and live in the moment. Coco presents a different perspective on this common phrase, however. Specifically, when different characters interpret the phrase to fit their point of view, most notably Miguel and De la Cruz. Their understandings of “Seize the day” shows the audience how the interpretation of something can vary vastly from person to person. This is important because, in the context of the movie, we may find ourselves blindly following someone who does not actually share the same ideals as us.

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See, I could have made an okay post about this quote. It’s common, motivational, and the movie gave it a great spin…but then I couldn’t get the main song of the movie “Remember Me” out of my head. Thus, what was supposed to be a normal quote post turned into a full-blown song analysis. Enjoy! (This analysis will pull information from the movie, so if you haven’t seen Coco yet, I would only continue reading if you’re okay with spoilers. Okay, you’ve been warned.)

Coco is Pixar’s latest movie about a Mexican boy, Miguel Rivera a lover of music, and his family that absolutely despises it because of the betrayal of a past family member. It’s based on the Mexican holiday Dia de Los Muertos and explores how important family is in Mexican culture. It’s a very refreshing movie and offers great information and perspective for someone like me who knows very little about other cultures. For more information about the movie, click here.

Remember Me, written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, is the main song of the movie sung by many characters at different points for many different reasons. Because this happens, we are shown many layers of the song and just how special it actually is. I will explore six layers and their meanings in this analysis. The above video is the lyric version of Remember Me sung by Miguel featuring Natalia Lafourcade.

1. A remembrance of the dead.

The first and most obvious meaning of the song is that we need to remember those who have passed. Dia de Los Muertos is a celebration of this and is used to help support those who have done so on their spiritual journey.

“Remember me…”

2. A remembrance of Ernesto de la Cruz specifically.

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The first time we hear the song in the movie is from the mouth of Ernesto de la Cruz. Miguel is watching his idol perform his most famous song, Remember Me, in front of a huge audience… and then De la Cruz dies (the sound at the end of the clip is a giant bell falling on him). The audience is shown that this actually happened a long time ago, so although this was a death scene, it’s okay at this point, I guess. But anyway, at this point in the movie the audience only knows this as a De la Cruz song and can assume it was written by him. We do not know the reason as to why he wrote it, but my best guess is that, if he did write it, it was written as a love song to woo a woman based on the fact that this is a plot in a lot of his “famous” movies. It’s portrayed as a shallow, upbeat pop song that can be used to ride the music charts and ultimately make De la Cruz famous as a musician. Later in the Land of the Dead, we see that everyone does, in fact, remember the song Remember Me as it is being overplayed at the De la Cruz competition. Thus, most people do remember Ernesto de la Cruz through his most famous song.

“Remember me, though I have to say goodbye. Remember me, don’t let it make you cry.” (insert background chorus)

3. A heartfelt song written by a father to his daughter.

The next time we hear Remember Me it is much slower and actually a lullaby. In a flashback, Hector is singing the song with his daughter, Coco. It is revealed that Hector wrote all of De la Cruz’s songs and that Remember Me was never supposed to be the shallow, upbeat song De la Cruz turned it into. It’s beautiful, heartfelt, and ultimately has much more meaning. Hector wrote Remember Me for Coco because he was abandoning her to go on tour with De la Cruz and wanted to leave her with something to remember him by, even though she was very young at the time. The song instructs her to think of him when she hears things like “a sad guitar”, and tells her that every night they will sing it together no matter how far apart they are. From this point on, the song is established as a love song. Hector’s love for Coco shines through the lyrics very strongly.

“For even if I’m far away I hold you in my heart. I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart.”

“Remember me, though I have to travel far. Remember me, each time you hear a sad guitar.”

“Know that I’m with you the only way that I can be. Until you’re in my arms again, remember me.”

4. The foreshadow of Hector’s death.

Quotes for layers four and five (and technically six) come only from the lyric video found above and I don’t believe are in the actual movie. However, this is the full title song, thus they are still relevant. Once the character of Hector is set up with a story, the audience finds out he is dying for real. Thus, he is on a mission to visit his living family before his daughter forgets him and he dies in the Land of the Dead. At this point in the movie, we are unaware that Hector is actually Miguel’s great-great-grandfather and that he is trying to visit Coco before she forgets him. Knowing this information now shows us that Hector could have been predicting his death when he wrote the song for Coco, or at least his disappearance. The quote below even says that he will be gone, another word for dead, which is what actually happens in the movie.

“Remember me, for I will soon be gone. Remember me, and let the love we have live on.”

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5. The dependence Hector has on love in the afterlife.

As the movie goes on, we see Hector fading more and more, indicating to the audience that Coco, the last living person who remembers him, is forgetting him. Near the end of the movie, just before Miguel is finally about to travel home, Hector collapses to the ground, implying that Coco has basically completely forgotten him, and thus, her love for him. He is about to die for real. Miguel, who is not ready to see his newly discovered great-great grandfather leave him so quickly, begins to sing Remember Me while he’s crying over Hector’s fading body. He hopes that if no one else is there to love Hector, Miguel’s newfound love for him might keep him alive. He’s joined later in the song by Mama Imelda, Hector’s wife who he left all those years ago. This is significant because previously, she had forbidden music in the family because of Hector’s abandonment. But now she has had a change of heart and is willing to help the “love of her life” in whatever way she can, and in whatever medium is necessary.

Side note: this may be part of the reason why Coco is forgetting her father. The song was all she had of him, the only thing she could remember him by. But her mother immediately banned all music after Hector left, leaving Coco with the only connection to her father as something that was forbidden.

“If you close your eyes and let the music play. Keep our love alive, I’ll never fade away.”

6. The importance of following your heart.

Plain and simple, the song Hector wrote for his daughter and the love between the two is what helped Coco remember her father and what kept him “alive” in the afterlife. However, that situation may not have happened on its own if Miguel didn’t insist that Coco not give up on the memory of her father, or, not give up on her heart. And Miguel would have never gotten to that point if he didn’t follow his heart and pursue his passion for music fiercely. Even though years of tradition tried to push him away from the idea, he never once wavered. Music is Miguel’s life and his passion lead him to be the best person he could be.