Why Does The Song When Somebody Loved Me Make Listeners Cry?

Oh man, this question hits the nostalgic part of me. The song most people mean is 'When She Loved Me' from 'Toy Story 2' — Sarah McLachlan’s original performance is the one that anchors everything, and because of that so many covers blew up online over the years. In the mid-to-late 2000s a cascade of bedroom piano-and-vocal renditions on YouTube amassed millions of views: solo vocalists stripping it down to just voice and keys, and tiny acoustic takes where the emotional gravity of the melody took over comments sections. Those were shareable clips people posted on Tumblr and Facebook, and they kept resurfacing in playlists for sad movies and breakup montages. More recently, TikTok transformed how the song spreads: short, gutsy clips of people singing a verse, slowed-down edits, and emotional POV videos made snippets of 'When She Loved Me' trend in a few cycles. There have also been choir arrangements, instrumental cello and violin covers, and international-language versions (Korean and Japanese covers pop up a lot) that went viral in certain communities. If you want to find the standouts, search for piano/acoustic covers on YouTube and the song’s snippets on TikTok — the context (AMV, montage, or candid video) often dictates which specific cover takes off. I still tear up every time I hear it, regardless of who’s singing.

There’s this tiny trivia nitpick I love bringing up when friends mix up the wording — the song is officially titled 'When She Loved Me', not 'When Somebody Loved Me', and the original studio recording performed by Sarah McLachlan on the 'Toy Story 2' soundtrack runs about 3 minutes and 5 seconds. If what you’ve seen in the film is what you remember, that’s a different beast: the emotional montage in 'Toy Story 2' uses an edited film version that’s much shorter, roughly around 1 minute 40 seconds, since it’s timed to the sequence rather than the full standalone track. I still keep the soundtrack CD in my car for rainy days; the full track gives you the extra breaths and subtle vocal phrasing that get trimmed in the movie cut. Also, live performances or compilations can vary by a few seconds because of intros, fade-outs, or added applause, so if you’re hunting for the “original” be sure you’re comparing the soundtrack studio track rather than the film edit.

Oh, this one hits me every time — if you want to stream the song itself, the easiest legal spots I check first are the major music services. I usually open Spotify or Apple Music and type 'When Somebody Loved Me' — Sarah McLachlan's movie version from 'Toy Story 2' shows up on both, and you can add it to playlists or download it offline with a subscription. Amazon Music and YouTube Music also carry it, and iTunes/Apple TV lets you buy the track if you prefer owning it. If what you really want is the scene from the film (because yes, seeing Jessie sing while holding that little hat is a whole mood), I go to 'Toy Story 2' on Disney+. In many regions Disney+ has the Pixar back catalog, so you'll get the full context and the visuals. If Disney+ isn't available where you are, renting 'Toy Story 2' on Prime Video, Apple TV, or Google Play Movies is another legal way to watch the scene. Also keep an eye out for the official uploads on Disney's channels on YouTube — sometimes they post the clip or an official lyric video.

I have to start by clearing up the title because I tripped over that myself when I first looked into it — the song is actually 'When She Loved Me' from 'Toy Story 2'. What I love about the production story is how the song transformed the movie’s emotional center: early drafts of the project were more of a toy-focused adventure with a lot more comedic beats, and the film itself began life as a smaller, direct-to-video spin-off idea before it was turned into a full theatrical feature. When the team decided to give Jessie a backstory, the whole tone shifted. Randy Newman wrote the piece and Sarah McLachlan’s intimate vocal helped lock the sequence in place. That meant story artists, directors, and animators had to rethink pacing, visuals, and character motivation. The montage was storyboarded and reworked multiple times to find the exact emotional beats — how long to linger on a face, which toys to show in the background, and how to use lighting and color to suggest memory and loss. I’ve read interviews where animators said the scene required a different animation language: quieter camera moves, close-up acting on a toy’s face, and careful musical timing. The result is that the song didn’t just sit on top of the movie — it reshaped arcs, edits, and even some of the humor around it so the sadness would land. For me, knowing that makes watching Jessie’s montage feel like seeing the film’s heart being stitched together in real time.

I still get a little teary thinking about that montage — the song you're asking about is actually titled 'When She Loved Me', and the version used in the film was sung by Sarah McLachlan. Randy Newman wrote the song for 'Toy Story 2', and McLachlan's voice gives it that aching, intimate quality that makes Jessie's flashback hit so hard. The arrangement is sparse and aching: piano and strings that leave plenty of space for the vocal to carry the emotion. I first heard it in the theater and kept replaying that moment in my head for days; it’s one of those rare film songs that sticks like a memory. If you ever want to revisit it, listen to the soundtrack or find the clip from 'Toy Story 2' — it’s short but devastating. It’s the kind of song that sneaks up on you and reminds you why music in film can be so powerful.

You probably meant the song 'When She Loved Me' — I used to mix up the title too, so you’re not alone. It first appears in 'Toy Story 2' (1999) during Jessie’s heartbreaking flashback montage that explains why she’s so scared of being abandoned. The montage shows her being loved by a little girl named Emily and then gradually forgotten, and the song plays over that sequence, giving it most of its emotional weight. Randy Newman wrote the music for the Toy Story films, but the version in the movie is performed by Sarah McLachlan, whose voice really sells the melancholy. The film came out in 1999, and the song was on the soundtrack and even earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. If you haven’t watched that scene in a while, it still gets me every time — perfect example of how a great song can deepen a character instantly.

I still get a little teary thinking about the Jessie montage in 'Toy Story 2'—that’s basically where Randy Newman found his spark for 'When She Loved Me'. I’ve read and heard bits about his process: the filmmakers showed him the storyboard/reel of Jessie’s backstory—her joyful days with a little girl, then being forgotten in an attic—and Newman wrote a song that felt like it was coming out of Jessie’s chest. He wrote from the toy’s point of view, simple and heartbreaking, because toys can’t explain themselves the way people do. What I love about this is how Newman didn’t try to be clever; he aimed for emotional honesty. The melody is plain but aching, the lyrics are spare, and that restraint makes the pain sharper. Later, Sarah McLachlan’s voice gave it that wistful, lived-in texture that sold every single line. To me, the inspiration was a combination of the visual story and Newman’s knack for speaking through a character—he turned a short film moment into a universal song about being loved and then left behind.

My heart still stumbles when I think about how Pixar used 'When She Loved Me' in 'Toy Story 2'. They don't just slap a sad song over a scene — they build an entire emotional spine around it. The song plays during Jessie's flashback sequence, and it's layered with slow fades, sepia-ish pastels, and little detail shots: a tiny hand grabbing her ribbon, paint on a porch, a swinging bicycle. That mix of image and music makes the moment feel like a memory you are watching, not just a scene you're seeing. Randy Newman wrote the piece and Sarah McLachlan sang it for the movie, which gave it that gentle, aching tone. Pixar uses the non-diegetic track to tell an entire life story without dialogue: we learn about Emily's childhood love and eventual neglect, and by the end of the montage we're not just sympathizing with Jessie — we understand the toy's trauma and why she fears abandonment. It's a masterclass in showing rather than telling, and was even recognized with an Academy Award nomination. Every time I watch, I find some new tiny detail in the edits or a musical cue that hits me differently.