Beauty and the Beast (Disney song) author Jerry Griswold believes that the song's opening line "tale as old as time" alludes to the fact that Belle's story is an ancient, timeless one "deliberately situated within the context of other traditional tales;" hers is simply "the newest incarnation" of it. "The Translation of the Songs in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast": an example of Manipulation" author Lucía Loureiro Porto agrees that although the song "does not tell any story, it is made of phrases that imply that love is as old a feeling as mankind." According to Perry Seibert of AllMovie, "Beauty and the Beast" is "as
Evermore (Beauty and the Beast song) ounces of shame." 34th Street Magazine contributor Haley Weiss preferred Groban's version to Stevens' original, calling it "breathtaking and downright lovely to listen to" while dismissing the film version as "downright mediocre in comparison." Weiss questioned why Disney hadn't cast Groban as the Beast instead of Stevens due to the former's acting and musical theatre background. Evermore (Beauty and the Beast song) "Evermore" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Tim Rice for the musical fantasy film "Beauty and the Beast" (2017), a live-action remake of Disney's 1991 animated film of the same name. Originally recorded for