OVP: Best Original Song (2015)
The Nominees Were...
"Earned It," Music & Lyric by The Weeknd, Ahmad Balshie, Jason Quenneville, and Stephan Maccio, Fifty Shades of Grey
"Manta Ray," Music & Lyric by J. Ralph and Anohni, Racing Extinction
"Simple Song #3," Music & Lyric by David Lang, Youth
"Til It Happens to You," Music & Lyric by Diane Warren & Lady Gaga, The Hunting Ground
"Writing's on the Wall," Music & Lyric by Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes, Spectre
"Manta Ray," Music & Lyric by J. Ralph and Anohni, Racing Extinction
"Simple Song #3," Music & Lyric by David Lang, Youth
"Til It Happens to You," Music & Lyric by Diane Warren & Lady Gaga, The Hunting Ground
"Writing's on the Wall," Music & Lyric by Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes, Spectre
My Thoughts: We've run across, through the Oscars, some really wonderful Oscar categories through the Oscar Viewing Project. I'd argue, for example, that 2007's Cinematography or 2010's Actress rank as two of the best fields that category ever came up with, and yet, I don't know that we've properly come around to one of the worst categories the Oscar has assembled...until now. The Best Original Songs of 2015 weren't necessarily lacking (we'll get there below), but it was an overall poor year for the category. That being said, Oscar still didn't rise to the occasion, and this is one of those rare fields where I struggle to find a film that really even deserved its nomination, much less its win. However, the Oscar Viewing Project demands that "respect must be paid," and so let's tackle one of the stranger lineups this category has assembled.
You'll notice that this is one of the few categories where none of the films nominated were actually nominated in any other category-I don't know if that's a first, but it's the only time I've ever noticed something like it happening (if you know of another, share in the comments). I suspect of these films that Youth was the movie that its producers assumed would do better (perhaps a deserved nomination for Jane Fonda or Michael Caine?), but didn't land as it tended to drag and Sorrentino's films aren't everyone's cup of tea. David Lang's sweeping final song is supposed to be a classic within the confines of the film, but it honestly feels really hollow. I know this is a bit gauche, but perhaps it would have been more interesting if it was sung in Italian or Mandarin, as the English lyrics are nonsensical and don't entirely jive with the music being composed. For a scene that truly needs to be built toward (we have to realize that Caine's character became an icon with these songs, and that he's admitting with them that he's entering the final annals of his life), it doesn't work at all.
Fifty Shades of Grey will inevitably go down as one of the strangest titles to ever compete for an Oscar (the Best Song & Makeup categories continually give "Oscar-nominated" out to the most bizarre pictures, but I honestly still think it isn't a "bad" movie, even if it's not a strong one (it's a miracle compared to the book). The Weeknd's "Earned It" gives the Oscars a bit of cred for expanding outside of their Celine Dion-blessed usual songs, but it's a relatively generic R&B track that doesn't resonate at all with the film. The movie is more well-known for Beyonce's stripped-down cover of her own "Crazy in Love," and in a soundtrack brimming with pop hits, Fifty Shades' citation feels more like the sort of nomination that would happen in the 90's, even if it's a more modern song. Either way, it doesn't connect enough with the picture for my taste and isn't unique enough to gain credit on its own.
Still, though, it's a thousand times better than The Hunting Ground's "Til It Happens to You." At the time the frontrunner for the trophy, Lady Gaga got introduced by Vice President Biden for her performance, and she sang it to the roof, but that disguised the fact that the song is, well, terrible. Lyrically it is atrocious (she rhymes "you" with "you" and "feels" with "real," for crying out loud), and it drags. This was always one of the great risks with the trend of honoring documentaries in this category-eventually it would feel like you were simply honoring the issue (which, of course, is important, particularly considering how this predated the #MeToo movement), but Gaga's celebrity combined with the social relevance wasn't enough for the Academy to ignore the schlocky, just plain awful song that was in front of them. Diane Warren has already been nominated since and will surely win an Oscar at some point, but this was a greedy play to finally take home the trophy, and she (and we) deserve better.
The victor at the actual Oscars wasn't that much better (though I'll argue against anyone that Smith deserved the Oscar more than Gaga). Sam Smith's "Writing on the Wall" clearly has been written in the shadow of Adele's smash "Skyfall," and in many ways was the Academy deciding to give Adele a second Oscar by proxy (it's also insane that only two Bond themes have ever won the Oscar). The song is a bit whiny for Bond, though not without precedence, recalling more "You Only Live Twice" or "For Your Eyes Only" a bit more than Shirley Bassey. The Bond songs rarely have a lot to do with the film, so it can't score credits there, but it's not a bad song, it's just not the best Bond theme by a long shot (or, quite frankly, one of Smith's better choices). I think if he'd done a little research about how he's one of a number of gay men who has won an Oscar, perhaps this win wouldn't be so derided.
The final nomination is yet another nomination for J. Ralph, who has developed a bizarre niche of Oscar-nominated songs from documentaries in recent years (this is his second of three to date). The song is lovely, a melodic accompaniment to the film's sad message, and while it never comes close to his best nominated number (Scarlett Johansson's haunting "Before My Time"), it's still interesting lyrically and provides arguably the best compliment to the actual film it's surrounding. I honestly just wish that it was a bit more memorable-I've heard this song at least four times through the years in connection with this movie, but I'm always surprised by how little of it I recall. I'm also still stunned in hindsight that they went with this instead of the showier "One Candle" by Sia (considering her star power, that might have actually gotten J. Ralph his elusive win here).
You'll notice that this is one of the few categories where none of the films nominated were actually nominated in any other category-I don't know if that's a first, but it's the only time I've ever noticed something like it happening (if you know of another, share in the comments). I suspect of these films that Youth was the movie that its producers assumed would do better (perhaps a deserved nomination for Jane Fonda or Michael Caine?), but didn't land as it tended to drag and Sorrentino's films aren't everyone's cup of tea. David Lang's sweeping final song is supposed to be a classic within the confines of the film, but it honestly feels really hollow. I know this is a bit gauche, but perhaps it would have been more interesting if it was sung in Italian or Mandarin, as the English lyrics are nonsensical and don't entirely jive with the music being composed. For a scene that truly needs to be built toward (we have to realize that Caine's character became an icon with these songs, and that he's admitting with them that he's entering the final annals of his life), it doesn't work at all.
Fifty Shades of Grey will inevitably go down as one of the strangest titles to ever compete for an Oscar (the Best Song & Makeup categories continually give "Oscar-nominated" out to the most bizarre pictures, but I honestly still think it isn't a "bad" movie, even if it's not a strong one (it's a miracle compared to the book). The Weeknd's "Earned It" gives the Oscars a bit of cred for expanding outside of their Celine Dion-blessed usual songs, but it's a relatively generic R&B track that doesn't resonate at all with the film. The movie is more well-known for Beyonce's stripped-down cover of her own "Crazy in Love," and in a soundtrack brimming with pop hits, Fifty Shades' citation feels more like the sort of nomination that would happen in the 90's, even if it's a more modern song. Either way, it doesn't connect enough with the picture for my taste and isn't unique enough to gain credit on its own.
Still, though, it's a thousand times better than The Hunting Ground's "Til It Happens to You." At the time the frontrunner for the trophy, Lady Gaga got introduced by Vice President Biden for her performance, and she sang it to the roof, but that disguised the fact that the song is, well, terrible. Lyrically it is atrocious (she rhymes "you" with "you" and "feels" with "real," for crying out loud), and it drags. This was always one of the great risks with the trend of honoring documentaries in this category-eventually it would feel like you were simply honoring the issue (which, of course, is important, particularly considering how this predated the #MeToo movement), but Gaga's celebrity combined with the social relevance wasn't enough for the Academy to ignore the schlocky, just plain awful song that was in front of them. Diane Warren has already been nominated since and will surely win an Oscar at some point, but this was a greedy play to finally take home the trophy, and she (and we) deserve better.
The victor at the actual Oscars wasn't that much better (though I'll argue against anyone that Smith deserved the Oscar more than Gaga). Sam Smith's "Writing on the Wall" clearly has been written in the shadow of Adele's smash "Skyfall," and in many ways was the Academy deciding to give Adele a second Oscar by proxy (it's also insane that only two Bond themes have ever won the Oscar). The song is a bit whiny for Bond, though not without precedence, recalling more "You Only Live Twice" or "For Your Eyes Only" a bit more than Shirley Bassey. The Bond songs rarely have a lot to do with the film, so it can't score credits there, but it's not a bad song, it's just not the best Bond theme by a long shot (or, quite frankly, one of Smith's better choices). I think if he'd done a little research about how he's one of a number of gay men who has won an Oscar, perhaps this win wouldn't be so derided.
The final nomination is yet another nomination for J. Ralph, who has developed a bizarre niche of Oscar-nominated songs from documentaries in recent years (this is his second of three to date). The song is lovely, a melodic accompaniment to the film's sad message, and while it never comes close to his best nominated number (Scarlett Johansson's haunting "Before My Time"), it's still interesting lyrically and provides arguably the best compliment to the actual film it's surrounding. I honestly just wish that it was a bit more memorable-I've heard this song at least four times through the years in connection with this movie, but I'm always surprised by how little of it I recall. I'm also still stunned in hindsight that they went with this instead of the showier "One Candle" by Sia (considering her star power, that might have actually gotten J. Ralph his elusive win here).
Other Precursor Contenders: The Golden Globes always tend to like more commercial (and more famous) figures for their Original Song category, so you might actually be humming along with more of these citations. They gave the top trophy to Smith's "Writing's on the Wall," but also found room for Brian Wilson's "One Kind of Love" (Love & Mercy), Ellie Goulding's ubiquitous "Love Me Like You Do" (Fifty Shades of Grey), and Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again" (Furious 7), as well as "Simple Song #3." Predicting sixth places is a fool's errand for this category, but I think we were really close to getting double nominations for Anastasia & Christian's first chapter.
Songs I Would Have Nominated: I surely would have included "I'll See You in My Dreams," the guitar-plucked final ballad of Blythe Danner's marvelous coming-of-old-age film-with-the-same-name from a few years ago (a lovely picture if you haven't seen it). I also liked Meryl Streep rocking out to "Cold One" in Ricki and the Flash, and it would have been a hoot to see if Meryl actually showed up to sing the song live with Rick Springfield. Pitch Perfect 2 I don't believe submitted "Crazy Youngsters" for eligibility (instead siding with the more relevent-to-the-movie "Spotlight"), but to use parlance I see regularly on Gay Twitter, that song is a BOP. And though it was weirdly "played straight" for a film that spoofs the Bond-genre, it'd have been great if "Who Can You Trust" would have made it to show Sam Smith how it's done.
Oscar’s Choice: As I mentioned above, Sam Smith barely bested Lady Gaga for the trophy, so yes, Sam Smith has more Oscars than Glenn Close & Richard Burton...combined.
My Choice: Honestly, any of the four "I would have nominated" songs I picked would top this entire run, but I'll go with "Manta Ray" the best song (and in the best movie) of this bunch. Following it will be Spectre, Fifty Shades, Youth, and Hunting Ground.
Those are my thoughts-how about yours? Were you with Oscar that it should have gone to Smith's Bond ballad, or are you siding with me that J. Ralph should have taken the Oscar? Anyone want to get into it over the Gaga last place? And seriously, how good is "Crazy Youngsters?" Share your thoughts below in the comments!
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