OVP: Best Original Song (2003)
The Nominees Were...
"Belleville Rendez-vous," Music & Lyric by Benoit Charest & Sylvain Chomet, The Triplets of Belleville
"Into the West," Music & Lyric by Fran Walsh, Howard Shore, & Annie Lennox, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
"A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow," Music & Lyric by Michael McKean & Annette O'Toole, A Mighty Wind
"The Scarlet Tide," Music & Lyric by T Bone Burnett & Elvis Costello, Cold Mountain
"You Will Be My Ain True Love," Music & Lyric by Sting, Cold Mountain
My Thoughts: It's hard to tell exactly when the Golden Age of the Original Song category was. Introduced in 1934, the category originally focused quite a bit on the popular musicals of the era, something that would last until the late 1960's. At that point, a new generation of filmmakers also allowed for more flexibility in the music categories, allowing performers like Isaac Hayes, Barbra Streisand, & Donna Summer to have songs winning the Oscars for tunes that were genuinely climbing the charts. The 1980's continued this trend in hyper-drive, when virtually every song winning was a Top 10 hit, and while this ended at the end of the decade, it was replaced by a different kind of omnipresent-the Disney wins, as the tunes your children wouldn't stop singing to you began to scoop up the prizes.
But it's safe to say that by the early-Aughts, this category had gone beyond its heyday, which makes a lineup as fun as 2003 so cool. This is easily my favorite lineup in this category this century, and it's easy to see why. For starters, you've got a song like "Belleville Rendez-vous" which is about as catchy as a tune can get. I was mixed-to-middling on the critically-acclaimed The Triplets of Belleville (it's cited for Best Animated Feature Film, so we'll get to it in a few weeks), but the best part of the movie is this bouncy, playful number that not only sticks in your ear, but it also resonates as an anchor throughout the movie, perhaps even picking up the slack when the plot gets a bit off-track. It might be repetitive, but you won't really care.
"A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow," similarly, is also a touchpoint throughout A Mighty Wind, another movie that I didn't exactly love (I have never been able to entirely get into the aesthetic of Christopher Guest, much to the chagrin of my brother, a huge fan), but I'm not impervious to something that totally works. And that's what this song is. After a movie that has songs that feel, well, overrated (which is the point in the plot), we get to see what made this musical scene so special with a genuinely strong number. The movie is, admittedly, retroactively trading off of the love I had for Schitt's Creek (Eugene Levy & Catherine O'Hara sing this and star in both), but that's only part of it-it's the rare comedic bit that plays straight, and though it is funny, it doesn't have to be-you can read this as just being a terribly romantic moment in the picture.
The songs of Cold Mountain aren't as pertinent to the specific story in the way that "Belleville Rendez-vous" or "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow" is (none of the actors are actually singing these songs in the movie), but this is why you have to be careful for knocking songs that are just in the background or are over the end credits, as they can encapsulate the movie so well they're more than just something to toss your soda away to. "Scarlet Tide" gives us a dirge that feels authentic to the Civil War...an ode to the fallen soldiers who were left behind in America's war. It's haunting, beautifully-sung by Alison Krauss (one of our preeminent vocalists), and feels so real to the war experience it's hard to believe that it wasn't written 100 years ago.
"You Will Be My Ain' True Love" has this same sort of cache-it's also a song that feels transported from another era (it always throws me off that these songs aren't written by the same person, as they seem so clearly attuned to the same goal, a sign of a great music director). This one has a little bit clearer melancholy; while "Scarlet Tide" has an upbeat against macabre lyrics, this one might be slightly more in sync with the rough realism of Cold Mountain, a romantic movie that is hardly romantic about its subject. This gives it a depth, though, that would've gotten lost if it'd just been a mere end credits song, and I'm glad it's used earlier in the movie.
No, if you're going to be a primarily end credits song and hit it out of the park, you need to do what Annie Lennox does with "Into the West." I will confess freely that I love all of the Middle Earth end credits songs. Peter Jackson never tries to make his opus less-than-timeless, resisting the urge to go into modern directions with his music, even if he's hiring mainstream acts like Lennox or Ed Sheeran to sing the songs. Lennox has to find a way to cap off a 10-hour movie spectacle, and she does it with searing vocals, building musically from Howard Shore's score so it feels like a true extension of the movie itself, and not just something over the credits. As a result, this becomes one of the most iconic parts of the series, something integral to the story in the same way "My Heart Will Go On" became for Titanic, and while it's an end credits song...I never think of it that way.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Golden Globes went with Lennox as their winner, but only kept Sting from the remainder of the lineup (the HFPA is far more-inclined to love rock stars than the Oscars are), instead going with "Man of the Hour" from Big Fish (Eddie Vedder), "Time Enough for Tears" from In America (Bono), and "The Heart of Every Girl," from Mona Lisa Smile (Elton John). The Grammys split their nominations over two years, so you have "A Mighty Wind" winning at the 2003 Grammys, beating out only one other 2003 title ("Act a Fool" from 2 Fast 2 Furious, sung by Ludicrous), and in 2004 Annie Lennox also picked up the prize, beating both of the Cold Mountain songs and "Belleville-Rendezvous," meaning this is the first (only?) time that all five of the Oscar nominees were also nominated at the Grammy Awards.
Songs I Would Have Nominated: I believe I've done this one other time (keep me honest if it's more than that), but that was for Animated Feature Film in a three-wide field, which isn't really the same. As a result, I'm totally copying Oscar's lineup-this is exactly who I would've cited in 2003 given all of the year's contenders, potentially the only time I'll ever say that in a five-wide field.
Oscar’s Choice: Somewhere Enya was cursing her luck, as Annie Lennox became the only person to win for a Lord of the Rings ditty.
My Choice: I'm sticking with Oscar making great choices this year by also favoring Lennox. It might be an end credits song, but it so perfectly encapsulates the rest of the movie I honestly don't feel the need to knock it down a peg. I'll follow that with the beautiful "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow," then "Ain True Love," "Scarlet Tide," and "Belleville."
Those are my thoughts-how about yours? Does anyone want to go off-script here or are we all cool with Annie Lennox getting an Oscar? Have you & Oscar ever been totally in agreement before? And who are you dropping if you don't want to stick with this excellent lineup? Share your thoughts below!
Also in 2003: Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup, Previously in 2003
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