We Don't Talk About Bruno

Album

Encanto (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Label

Walt Disney Records

Genre

Stage & Screen

Composer(s)

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Entered Chart

Jan 8, 2022

Peak Date

Feb 5, 2022

Released

November 19, 2021

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Walt Disney Records

We Don't Talk About Bruno" is a song from the computer-animated musical fantasy comedy film Encanto. The movie tells the story of teenager Mirabel Madrigal, born into a Colombian family that possesses magical powers. Because Mirabel does not have any special gift, she's seen as a quirky outsider and gets treated differently. Here, she joins her Aunt Pepa, Uncle Felix, and siblings Dolores, Isabela and Camilo to sing of her vilified Uncle Bruno. Bruno's ability to see into the future creates multiple grievances that cause the family to outcast him. Nobody mentions Bruno, except telling a cautionary story or gossiping when one of his prophecies comes true. The other family members warn the empathetic Mirabel not to talk about her uncle. Lin-Manuel Miranda (Moana, Hamilton) wrote this Colombian cha-cha-style song along with all the other Encanto numbers. He took inspiration from A Little Night Music's "A Weekend in the Country" and Rent's "It's Beginning to Snow" as he incorporates several people going in different directions. "It's a complicated family number," Miranda told Indie Wire "and it introduces themes from characters that we don't have time to go into with their own song." Miranda wrote this song as a way of bringing the whole Madrigal family to the screen and getting to know them musically. It also shows them chatting behind the back of Abuela Madrigal, the matriarch of the family. "I thought we needed to have a gossip number because there are things you talk about at dinner, in the kitchen after people have left, and there are things you don't talk about in front of Abuela because she doesn't know these two people are dating," he told Variety. "I pitched that tune, and it allowed me to create musical themes for characters who do not necessarily get their solo." In the film's early concept art, Bruno's character was called Oscar. Miranda chose the name Bruno so he could work "Bruno, no, no, no" into this song. Also there are a number of real-life Oscar Madrigals in Colombia, so he went for a more unusual Latin first name. Report an ad Because of the pandemic, the actors actually recorded their parts for the song in separate studios. Colombian musician Mauro Castillo (Félix) laid down his part in his home country, Rhenzy Feliz (Camilo) in San Luis Obispo, California, and Adassa (Dolores) at her home studio in Nashville. "We Don't Talk About Bruno" is the fifth song from an animated Disney movie to reach the Top 5 on the Hot 100 chart. The other four are: "A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)" from the 1993 film Aladdin (#1) "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," from 1994's The Lion King (#4) "Colors Of The Wind" from 1995's Pocahontas (#4) "Let It Go" from 2013's Frozen (#5) When "Bruno" climbed to #1 on the Hot 100, it gave Lin-Manuel Miranda his first chart-topping writing credit. His previous best chart placing was the #20 he achieved with his Puerto Rico charity single "Almost Like Praying." "We Don't Talk About Bruno" topped the UK's Official Singles Chart, becoming the first ever original Disney song to do so in the chart's history. Miranda attributes the song's success to the Covid restrictions of 2020 and 2021. "We've all been locked up for two years," he commented to Associated Press. "The notion of a bunch of voices happening within one home feels very resonant, with hindsight. There's kind of a part for everyone to play in singing along with the song. If you're not bopping to this melody, another melody is coming along in two seconds because almost every character gets a little feature in it." Another major factor in the song's success is TikTok. Hordes of users sing along or act out moments from "Talk About Bruno" on the platform, with their videos highlighting its choreography and Latino representation. When the Encanto soundtrack climbed to #1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated January 15, 2022, it became the sixth animated film soundtrack to top the tally. The Encanto album followed The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), Curious George (2006), Frozen (2013) and Frozen II (2019). There are six credited singers: Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero and Stephanie Beatriz. The song broke the all-time record for the most credited singers on a Hot 100 #1 hit. While "We Don't Talk About Bruno" is being sung, Mariano (Isabela's love interest) walks down the street in a strange manner. When TikTok users cottoned onto Mariano's slow sashay, they started recreating the walk themselves in different scenarios. "We Don't Talk About Bruno" is the most popular song from Encanto, but it wasn't submitted for Oscar nomination because Lin-Manuel Miranda felt "Dos Oruguitas" better represented the film. Still, "Bruno" was performed on show (as was "Dos Oruguitas"), with guest appearances by Luis Fonsi, Becky G, and Megan Thee Stallion, who did a rap interlude about the song's ubiquity and the ceremony itself.

[Pepa:]
We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no
We don't talk about Bruno, but
It was my wedding day

[Félix:]
It was our wedding day

[Pepa:]
We were getting ready
And there wasn't a cloud in the sky

[Félix:]
No clouds allowed in the sky

[Pepa:]
Bruno walks in with a mischievous grin

[Félix:]
Thunder

[Pepa:]
You're telling the story or am I?

[Félix:]
I'm sorry, mi vida, go on

[Pepa:]
Bruno says, "It looks like rain"

[Félix:]
Why did he tell us?

[Pepa:]
In doing so, he floods my brain

[Félix:]
Abuela gets the umbrellas

[Pepa:]
Married in a hurricane

[Félix:]
What a joyous day but anyway

[Pepa & Félix:]
We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no
We don't talk about Bruno

[Dolores:]
Hey, grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering or stumbling
I can always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling
I associate him with the sound of falling sand, ch-ch-ch
It's a heavy lift with a gift so humbling
Always left Abuela and the family fumbling
Grappling with prophecies they couldn't understand
Do you understand?

[Camilo:]
A seven-foot frame, rats along his back
When he calls your name it all fades to black
Yeah, he sees your dreams and feasts on your screams (Hey)

[Pepa & Camilo:]
We don't talk about Bruno, no, no, no

[Dolores:]
No, no

[Pepa & Camilo:]
We don't talk about Bruno

[Dolores:]
We don't talk about Bruno

[Townsperson 1:]
He told me my fish would die, the next day, dead

[Ensemble:]
No, no

[Townsperson 2:]
He told me I'd grow a gut and just like he said

[Ensemble:]
No, no

[Townsperson 3:]
He said that all my hair would disappear, now, look at my head

[Ensemble:]
No, no
Your fate is sealed when your prophecy is read

[Isabela:]
He told me that the life of my dreams
Would be promised, and someday be mine
He told me that my power would grow
Like the grapes that thrive on the vine

[Abuela Alma:]
Óye, Mariano's on his way

[Dolores:]
He told me that the man of my dreams
Would be just out of reach
Betrothed to another
It's like I hear him, now

[Isabela:]
Hey sis, I want not a sound out of you

[Dolores:]
It's like I can hear him now, I can hear him now

[Mirabel:]
Um, Bruno
Yeah, about that Bruno
I really need to know about Bruno
Give me the truth and the whole truth, Bruno

[Camilo:]
Isabela, your boyfriend's here

[Abuela Alma & Isabela:]
Time for dinner

[Camilo:]
A seven-foot frame, rats along his back

[Pepa:]
It was my wedding day

[Félix:]
It was our wedding day

[Isabela:]
He told me that the life of my dreams

[Dolores:]
Grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering or stumbling

[Camilo:]
When he calls your name it all fades to black

[Pepa:]
We were getting ready and there wasn't a cloud in the sky

[Félix:]
No clouds allowed in the sky

[Isbela:]
Would be promised and some day be mine

[Dolores:]
I can always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling
I associate him with the sound of falling sand, ch-ch-ch

[Camilo:]
Yeah, he sees your dreams

[Pepa:]
Bruno walks in with a mischievous grin

[Isabela:]
He told me that my power would grow

[Dolores:]
It's a heavy lift with a gift so humbling

[Camilo:]
And feasts on your screams

[Félix:]
Thunder

[Pepa:]
You're telling the story or am I?

[Félix:]
I'm sorry mi vida go on

[Isabel:]
Like the grape that thrive on the vine, on the vine

[Dolores:]
Always left Abuela and the family fumbling
Grappling with prophecies they couldn't understand
Do you understand

[Abuela Alma:]
Óye, Mariano's on his way

[Pepa:]
Bruno says, "It looks like rain"

[Félix:]
Why did he tell us?

[Camilo:]
Seven-foot frame, rats along his back

[Isabela:]
He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be mine

[Dolores:]
He told me that the man of my dreams would be just out of reach

[Pepa:]
In doing so, he floods my brain

[Félix:]
Abuela gets the umbrella

[Camilo:]
When he calls your name it all fades to black

[Dolores:]
Betrothed to another, another

[Camilo:]
Yeah, he sees your dreams and feasts on your screams

[Pepa:]
Married in a hurricane

[Félix:]
What a gorgeous day

[Dolores:]
And I'm fine, and I'm fine, and I'm fine, I'm fine

[Ensemble:]
He's here
Don't talk about Bruno, no

[Mirabel:]
Why did I talk about Bruno?

[Ensemble:]
Not a word about Bruno

[Mirabel:]
I never should have brought up Bruno
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