OVP: Original Song (2021)

OVP: Best Original Song (2021)

The Nominees Were...

"Be Alive," Music & Lyric by Dixson and Beyonce Knowles-Carter, King Richard

"Dos Oruguitas," Music & Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Encanto

"Down to Joy," Music & Lyric by Van Morrison, Belfast

"No Time to Die," Music & Lyric by Billie Eilish & Finneas O'Connell, No Time to Die

"Somehow You Do," Music & Lyric by Diane Warren, Four Good Days

My Thoughts: We are moving into the music categories today for the 2021 Oscars, and the rather star-studded nominees of the Best Original Song category.  The Golden Globes are kind of famous for nominating big name musicians because the Globes love them some celebrities, which is odd because they don't actually have the singers perform, so really it's just Lorde or Taylor Swift in a quick shot from their tables rather than the elaborate production numbers you'd get at the Oscars.  But Oscar in 2021 was very willing to get behind some big names with their nominees, and for the most part it paid off.

There is no more revered name in American pop music presently than Beyonce Knowles, who got her first Oscar (despite having tried to get one for almost 15 years) in 2021 for King Richard.  I have to tread lightly (I've seen the Saturday Night Live sketches and also have friends who worship Beyonce), but I'll just say that I am someone who likes some of her music, but not all of it.  "Be Alive," would be on the list of songs I do enjoy of hers-I think there's a great crescendo to it, and it's the sort of thing that would've become a radio hit if soundtracks had the cache they once did on the radio.  I will knock it for two things, though.  First, it's an end credits song, which I generally think should lose points unless they truly integrate into the film itself.  Secondly, it doesn't really match the tenure of the film-there's not enough in this that feels like it matches the world of King Richard...it feels more soulful and soaring than the familial drama that isn't willing to provide much depth to its subjects.

Another credits song, though one that I'm going to be more forgiving of, is "No Time to Die," which featured one of my favorite pop acts right now, Billie Eilish.  Eilish does a better job of capturing the spirit of not just her film, but honestly of trying to encapsulate the rather expansive (and not always successful) plotting of No Time to Die as a large extension of the other Daniel Craig 007 flicks.  "I should've known, I'd leave alone" is an ominous opening lyric to the song, but it becomes more provocative the longer you get into the movie.  This is one of the best recent Bond themes, and one of the few that feel inseparable from the film itself.

"Down to Joy," is another song that is not performed onscreen, and feels in my opinion in the same vein as "Be Alive" in King Richard.  Van Morrison's tune is good (though I will admit on its surface, not as good as Beyonce's), but it feels a bit too upbeat for a movie that struggles towards its end to find an identity.  It's both happy and sad, which is the point of Belfast (a movie I liked WAY more than your average film fan online), in that it gives us the best and worst of life, which is also what life truly is, a combination of the best & worst days and finding the people to spend/endure both with.  But the song itself can't capture that, as it feels too up tempo for the film.  It also doesn't help that "Everlasting Love" is both a better fit and a far more memorable (and sexier) moment in the movie, to the point where I'm honestly surprised Oscar even remembered "Down to Joy" existed.

Our last credits song is "Somehow You Do."  This is not a truly bad Diane Warren song (like, say, "Applause" this past year), but it is unnecessary.  The movie's lyrics are rife with cliche and overstuffed with banal platitudes.  Getting Reba McEntire, who is one of those artists who can make cliche feel like it's new, to sing it is the best decision Warren made, but this is not a good movie and it's certainly not appropriate to have in an Oscar-nominated category given there was plenty of fine tunes that we could've replaced it with.  Not to be mean, but Warren was once a legend who was very good at writing massive hits...can we wait to honor her with a nomination when she lives up to that reputation, please?

The final song is the only one that features organically into the movie, though unlike most of the songs in Encanto, it is done as a backdrop rather than performed in the movie.  In many ways "Dos Oruguitas" is borrowing from the Coco soundtrack (which is weird because it's the only song by Lin-Manuel Miranda in the movie that doesn't really feel like it's an LMM song), using it in the same way "Remember Me" is used as a tear-jerking moment late in the picture to get the waterworks going.  I'll talk about the big mistake Disney made here in a second, but if we're judging just on the song itself, it's very good and effective, if not quite as unique as it probably should be given the reputation Disney has and that we're judging on a tough curve.  But I like it.

Other Precursor Contenders: The Golden Globes went with Billie Eilish for their win, and kept almost the entire Oscar lineup except they skipped Diane Warren in favor of "Here I Am" from Respect (the Globes, never one to miss a celebrity, picked the song written by Jennifer Hudson & Carole King).  The Grammys split their eligibility windows, so at the 64th Grammys (held in 2022) they nominated one of the 2021 films ("Here I Am") which lost to Bo Burnham's "All Eyes on Me" while in 2023 they gave the trophy to "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Encanto atop "Be Alive,"...overall only three 2021 film songs were nominated at Grammys, a pretty dour indictment on a weak year.  In terms of sixth place I'm going to assume it was one of the forgettable songs from Best Picture nominees (either "Beyond the Shore" from CODA or "Just Look Up" from Don't Look Up).

Songs I Would Have Nominated: I personally hate the new nominations process for Oscar, where they only selectively submit certain songs rather than let nominations happen organically (or strategically).  This is particularly a problem in a weak year like 2021, where I'd nominate three Encanto songs, including "We Don't Talk About Bruno" which would've been a superb winner and gotten Lin-Manuel Miranda his inevitable Oscar.  I also want to call out right now that if there was any way that Bo Burnham was eligible (he wasn't, but one wonders given the loose rules in 2021 if he should've been), he would've gotten 3-4 of my nominations as Inside remains my single favorite achievement in any medium in 2021.

Oscar’s Choice: With Bruno left unspoken, Billie Eilish made it 3/3 for the last few Bond outings, besting Beyonce.

My Choice: I'll also go with Eilish.  Her credits song is both the best piece of music of the four credits songs, and also the one that feels the most at-home in the movie itself.  Following her would be Encanto, King Richard, Belfast, and Four Good Days.

Those are my thoughts-how about yours?  Are we all team Billie, or does someone want to try their own thing here?  Do you wish that they'd go back to actually submitting all eligible songs in a given year?  And who gets a competitive Oscar first-Beyonce, Lin-Manuel Miranda, or Diane Warren?  Share your thoughts below!

Also in 2021: Production Design, Cinematography, Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup & Hairstyling, Previously in 2021

Past Best Original Song Contests: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020