Originally, I wrote a completely different style song.
I rehearsed that one for a few days.
I wanted to talk to him about the song.
Gareth Gatrell/NETFLIX
Finally, his team said, “He’s got a one-hour window on Saturday.”
I was in London; he’s in LA.
I said, I’ll see you at 11 o’clock."
Netflix
LEGEND:I sent that song to David, and he wanted to come over and talk about it.
So, he came to my house.
He says, “I got it.
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Let’s make it work again.
Meet me at the piano.”
Jeronicus Jangle his whole life is about making things work; he’s an inventor and a toymaker.
Netflix
So much of the film is about trying to make his inventions actually work.
Then, at the same time, they’re trying to make their relationship work.
We thought that was a perfect way to capture both of those sentiments at the same time.
Netflix
And I think he positioned it like that.
LEGEND:I sat down at the piano with David and started playing that idea for him.
After about 15, 20 minutes, I had a framework of the song.
After he left, I wrote the rest of the lyrics.
It was very collaborative with David and understanding what he wanted from the film.
I play it, and I’m literally in tears when I’m listening to it.
ANIKA NONI ROSE (Jessica):I was really excited to work with John Legend.
There’s something very old about the spirit that he puts in his music.
But this particular song, it just felt like ancestry was in the song.
It’s not a vocal place that I get to sing in often, so that was very exciting.
There was something about one of the rhythms that I had [trouble with].
It’s like a break in the beat and I was always [getting tripped up on it].
So I kept working on that.
That one was more difficult for me.
But otherwise, it flowed like all the songs in there.
There’s no way that I could have stood still and done that song.
Because the pace of it moves through your body.
This is somebody who’s been hurt and is trying again against her better judgment.
Especially when you’re with singers like Anika.
So, I was really nervous.
ASHLEY WALLEN (CHOREOGRAPHER):When I first heard the song it was more like a demo version.
It had the base rhythm of what we needed.
I went to the studio and did a few bits and then I showed David.
He was happy with it, but it wasn’t quite where he wanted it to go.
I wanted it to soar vocally and be a spiritual thing.
I wanted those routines so it would really feel like the soil of the earth and a working-class anthem.
WALLEN:I love musicals, so I take a lot of stuff from everything.
It was someMary Poppins;Stompwas a big [influence].
They used trash cans and all that.
A mixture of all different things came into it.
That’s what he did.
WALLEN:It’s such a song from the gut and a dance from the gut.
I went back to the drawing board and put my spin on it a little.
The song cuts between them.
She’s going to go here and then she walks up the streets.
She gets the idea to go in.
There was a big 360 with the camera that we did.
ROSE:I was in the carriage on the soundstage, and they were shaking it to death.
If they weren’t shaking it, I was bouncing.
The beats of the song really help you.
WALLEN:With Forest, I did a pass at the dances for him to look at.
But it was all very choreographed to the music.
You see more deeply into the bones of the emotion.
It’s how I was able to break out into song.
As Jessica comes into Cobbleton, the workers are closing up their shops for the night.
I said, “I’m going to put an anvil-man.
I want the rhythm to be the movement of the town.
So, Davy Nathan started putting in all these industrial sounds.
That’s a vital part of how we made that song.
What would people be doing in that town?
It all was choreographed and edited like we’d done a [music] video.
The movement of the song was a part of the movement of the town.
WALLEN:There was no room for error really.
It always felt like there was a rhythm.
It was heavily choreographed to the beat.
As Jessica enters the town, she begins to make her way through increasingly larger groups doing intricate choreography.
This includes some doing flips and incredible feats in the air.
My job at that point was not to get kicked in the neck.
I’m singing full out every time that I do it.
But I started on Broadway.
Its second nature to me to be able to move through dancers.
TALBERT:Anika wanted to dance because Anika is Broadway and she’s a triple threat.
I said “It’s just going to be a beautiful picture of you walking through this chaos.
And you’re the calm against the chaos.
But you’re vocally chaotic with how aggressive you are.”
ROSE:I didn’t get to dance.
I wanted to dance!
But I wouldn’t have minded doing a twirl in spite of the corset.
Or a nice stomp.
WALLEN:I got a couple of guys in that are Parkour free runners.
They run on buildings and do huge flips.
It’s very athletic, and I always wanted it to feel like they still had a job.
Like one guy comes in and does a flip and catches the [chimney brush].
The number then pulls out into a wide shot to showcase a dance break featuring the entire ensemble.
And I want this to be a spectacle.”
WALLEN:It’s very heavily choreographed with the camera.
You’ve all got to be on board together because it changes my whole staging.
TALBERT:On the old MGM musicals, you saw full body dancing and that’s what I loved.
When I told him that, I swear he almost started crying.
We shot everything so you could appreciate the brilliance of these dancers and the brilliance of the choreography.
I gave them the steps, but then it was about them bringing their interpretation.
WALLEN:I did cameo in it.
My assistant was on the film with me, [and] we both got into costume.
But in the editing room that bit didn’t make it.
TALBERT:Ashley has some very detailed movement.
It was really making sure that we had everybody in unison, everybody in sync with the cameras.
Because we knew it was something special.
It was a really electrifying, magnetic feeling to get across.
The song ends with Jessica singing her heart out, eventually concluding alone in front of Jeronicus toy shop.
LEGEND:I definitely wanted some elements of gospel music in it.
We wanted it to have some of that gospel energy.
ROSE:I wanted it to be really something at the end that had gravitas to it.
But also had the strength of it.
It was really wonderful to just sing from the gut.
LEGEND:I love the whole ending where she’s just singing her heart out.
She’s a thrilling vocalist and is perfect for this role.
Were so lucky that we have her.
His music made my voice feel like it was home and that doesn’t always happen.
Jingle Jangleis now playing on Netflix.
