WILLY WONKA - PURE IMAGINATION

• PURE IMAGINATION
• WILLY WONKA (GENE WILDER)
• SONGWRITERS: LESLIE BRICUSSE & ANTHONY NEWLEY
• COUNTRY:  U. S. A.
• ALBUM: WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
• LABEL: PARAMOUNT
• GENRE: SOUNDTRACKS
• YEAR: 1971
•  

      Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory Soundtrack - Movie, 1996.

             "Pure Imagination" is a song from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. It was written by British composers Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley specifically for the movie. It was sung by Gene Wilder who played the character of Willy Wonka. Bricusse has stated that the song was written over the phone in one day. The song has a spoken introduction.

            Since its release, the song has been covered and remixed hundreds of times by a wide variety of artists. The original song was not popular when it was first released. The film itself wasn't a blockbuster and other songs from the soundtrack performed better. It wasn't until the movie began appearing on television reruns in the 1980s that the film and "Pure Imagination" become more well known. Although the original song never charted, some cover versions have done so.

                In the week following Wilder's death in 2016, the song rose in streams and sales by more than 1000%. The song was featured in television, radio, and social media tributes to Wilder.

Willy Wonka:
[Spoken]
Hold your breath
Make a wish
Count to three
 
[Sung]
Come with me
And you'll be
In a world of
Pure imagination
Take a look
And you'll see
Into your imagination
 
We'll Begin
With a spin
Traveling in
The world of my creation
What we'll see
Will defy
Explanation
 
If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Wanta change the world?
There's nothing
To it
 
There is no
Life I know
To compare with
Pure imagination
Living there
You'll be free
If you truly wish to be
 
If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Wanta change the world?
There's nothing
To it
 
There is no
Life I know
To compare with
Pure imagination
Living there
You'll be free
If you truly
Wish to be