Best Original Song: Ranking Every Oscar Nominee
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Last year’s winner: “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”-Rocketman.
Wow. Just, wow. Usually, I’d have a bit of a scathing thing or two to say about the Best Original Song (or Best Song) category at the Academy Awards, because it’s usually the most superficial category, full of singles by big artists slapped into the credits sequences or montages of mediocre films, so substandard fare can get Oscar love (I’ll never forget that Weeknd nom, as much as I love him). Even though there is a little bit of this kind of political power play here, I must say that this is the best batch of five songs I’ve ever seen in this category. Granted, I can’t admit that every song here caters to their respective films strongly, perhaps best being used as outros, but not a single one of these songs bother me, get under my skin, feel stale, or pointless. Besides, the worst film I watched out of this batch was just okay, when I’ve usually seen worse for this category. Here are your nominees.
Biggest Snub: “Rain Song”-Minari
Emile Mosseri, Han Ye-ri
I know Minari got by with six nominations already, but why would a seventh hurt, especially when “Rain Song” is this gorgeous? Every time I hear it, I feel like my soul is lifted even just a little bit, in the kind of way that only artistic poets like Fiona Apple or Sufjan Stevens can pull off. Attached to the film Minari, “Rain Song” is just overwhelmingly emotional, and bottles up the joys of life amidst all of our fears just so well. I think it’s my favourite original song attached to any film last year; my only problem is that it’s just too damn short.
5. ”Fight For You”-Judas and the Black Messiah
Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emille II
Lyric by H.E.R and Tiara Thomas
You know a category is stacked when a H.E.R. song is last (and I believe my first time placing a Judas and the Black Messiah nomination in this spot). I had to get extremely picky with these five songs, so I’ll say this. As a stand alone song, “Fight For You” is so, so good, and it’s H.E.R. kicking butt again and again. However, in this category, I’m looking for what song best compliments the film it is attached to, and, sonically and tonally, I feel like “Fight For You” is quite different than the heavy, devastating ending of the film (as well as the time period of said picture); although the contemporary sound is likely a message for the fight for freedom to keep going, and the song lyrically is exactly what Fred Hampton was fighting for. Believe me, I don’t like having this last, but something had to be. That’s no judgement of the song itself, because it’s a banger with a great message.
4. ”Io Sì (Seen)”-The Life Ahead
Music by Diane Warren
Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini
The projected winner “Io Sì” is quite a beautiful song, but it also gets the disservice of being shoved at the end of a film (The Life Ahead in this case). Also, I don’t want to get crucified, but here’s a hot take: I feel like so many Diane Warren songs follow the same patterns and progressions, but that’s also a compliment because she has figured out such a strong melody that just manages to work time and time again. “Io Sì” is no different, with a series of chords that compliment and resolve so exquisitely. If anything, this is one of my more favourite Warren tracks to follow these kinds of passages, and Laura Pausini nails the song vocally. Even though I felt rather indifferent with The Life Ahead, ending on “Io Sì” was quite something.
3. ”Husavik”-Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson
You’d think that a song in the middle of a silly comedy like Eurovision Song Contest would be the throwaway number of a category like this, when “Husavik” is actually painfully stunning, especially lyrically. This is usually the moment where a goofy film would leave yet another zinger, or a straight up punchline of a climax. Instead, “Husavik” is an earnest ballad of the titular town in Iceland (complete with even passages in Icelandic). Even Will Ferrell here is honest with his little backing interjections, but My Marianne is the obvious star here, nailing every single note (especially that borderline whistle-register finale). I honestly would bet that hearing this out of context that you’d never attach this to anything but a serious musical (or at least a Disney production). “Husavik” has gotten this far, and I’m no longer astonished as to how. As well, the song gets bonus points for actually being in the film, and provided at the climax (a rare time where you get genuine chills in such a film).
Our Review of Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
2. ”Speak Now”-One Night in Miami…
Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth
One Night in Miami… has Leslie Odom, Jr. channelling Sam Cooke throughout the entire picture (especially as a singer), so his opportunity to provide an original song for the film was a perfect way to show what he learned about the experience. What we get is “Speak Now”, where Odom clearly sings as himself, but is possessed by the ghost of Cooke for one last time (especially those spine tingling high notes). Lyrically, the song is so in tune with what Cooke was trying to achieve as a singer using his platform for the betterment of society. The instrumental progressions of “Speak Now” just get greater and greater, and Odom matches vocally with a performance that can only be matched by his version of “A Change is Gonna Come” (in the same film, of course).
1. ”Hear My Voice”-The Trial of the Chicago 7
Music by Daniel Pemberton
Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite
I don’t mean this in any disrespectful way, but “Hear My Voice” almost has no business attached to The Trial of the Chicago 7 (or any film). I sincerely mean that this is an incredibly strong song even on its own, and I wouldn’t bat an eye if this was on the radio, or being reviewed as a serious piece of music from an upcoming album. Celeste is virtually untouchable here, and Daniel Pemberton’s musical accompaniment is indescribable, outside of being gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. For me, this is of the caliber of what Sufjan Stevens brought to Call Me By Your Name: a stand alone song that just carries its own little world of its own, whilst being a perfect contribution to a motion picture as well. I guess you can say this also feels super contemporary, which is what I said about “Fight For You”, but I do find “Hear My Voice” matches the tone of the film and its placement within it much more smoothly, so there’s that.
Our Review of The Trial of the Chicago 7
Who I want to win: I honestly couldn’t care less who wins. I’m serious when I say these are all five fantastic nominees. Even though my choice for biggest snub didn’t get selected, I have zero problems with any of these songs that did make it. In fact, I’d go on record and say this is the strongest Best Original Song batch in years. For arguments sake, I’ll say I want every single one of them to win, and ranking them felt like I was pulling my own hair out and finding faults when there just weren’t any. If you had a gun to my head and asked me to just pick one, I’ll go with “Hear My Voice”.
Who I think will win: This is though. This is truly between “Speak Now” and “Io Sì”, with the latter having two things going for it: 1) its Golden Globe win that has generated it some steam, and 2) Diane Warren never having won a single Academy Award and being nominated a ridiculous amount of times without a single win (eleven), so I smell a potential legacy win. Then again, “Speak Now” has the entirety of One Night in Miami…’s campaign riding on it, since it no longer has a real shot at winning for its story or for Leslie Odom, Jr.’s performance, and this film certainly has more awards season oomph than The Life Ahead. I might change my mind, but I’m going with “Speak Now” for now. We will see what I think come Oscar night.
Tune in tomorrow for our next Academy Award category! We’re reviewing every single nominee.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.