16 Oscar-Winning Songs That Do Not Suck - by the Onion's AV Club

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Big Magilla
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Post by Big Magilla »

OK, I'll bite, though I think the arbitray 16 is a silly number - well maybe not, my birthday's on the 16th.

Lullaby of Broadway (1935)
The Way You Look Tonight (1936)
Over the Rainbow (1939)
When You Wish Upon a Star (1940)
The Last Time I Saw Paris (1941)
White Christmas (1942)
You'll Never Know (1943)
Swinging on a Star (1944)
It Might As Well Be Spring (1945)
On the Atcheson, Topeka and the Santa Fe (1946)
Zip-a-dee-doo-da ) (1947)
Mona Lisa (1951)
Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be Will Be) (1956)
Moon River (1961)
I'm Easy (1975)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)

And that leaves no room for Buttons and Bows, Baby, It's Cold Outside, Never on Sunday, Fame, Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do), I Just Called to Say I Love You, Let the River Run, Streets of Philadelphia and Things Have Changed which would have made 25.

I love Three Coins in the Fountain and Love Is a Many-Spendored Thing, as corny as they may be, but they just don't come close to any of these. As for The Continental, the way it was danced, not sung, is what made it memorable.
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Post by FilmFan720 »

All together, a pretty good list. If I were to make a TOP 16 list (how odd is that?), it would look like this, in chronological order:

The Continental (1934)
Lullaby of Broadway (1935)
The Way You Look Tonight (1936)
Over the Rainbow (1939)
White Christmas (1942) - MAN, THE FIRST 10 YEARS OF THIS AWARD ARE PRETTY AWESOME
It Might As Well Be Spring (1945)
Do Not Forsake Me (1952)
Moon River (1961)
Theme from Shaft (1971)
I'm Easy (1975)
Sooner or Later (1990)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Streets of Philadelphia (1993)
Things Have Changed (2000)
If I Didn't Have You (2001)
Lose Yourself (2002)

And I had no room for When You Wish Upon a Star, The Last Time I Saw Paris, Swinging on a Star, On the Atcheson Topeka and the Santa Fe, Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, Buttons and Bows (I'm so happy the article mentions the Frasier episode with this song...one of my favorite moments of that show), Baby Its Cold Outside, Mona Lisa, Que Sera Sera, Chim Chim Cheree, Under the Sea, It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp...or guilty pleasures like Let the River Run, Arthur's Theme, A Morning After or Never on a Sunday:)

Tripp




Edited By FilmFan720 on 1170100028
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Post by Penelope »

Eric wrote:Actually, I'm a little tired of defending "Last Dance," as it's not even in the upper half of Donna Summer's singles. Continue bashing away.
I'll take up the argument. True, "Last Dance" isn't one of Donna's best (that honor belongs to "I Feel Love" or "Hot Stuff"), but it's an indelible disco song that always gets me singing along.
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Post by Eric »

Actually, I'm a little tired of defending "Last Dance," as it's not even in the upper half of Donna Summer's singles. Continue bashing away.

I think Neil Young's song might seem a tad better for how it's used in the film than for how good a song it is by itself. Of course, I'd argue the Oscar should be awarded more for the former quality than the latter, which is probably why I can't argue too strongly against that "Pimp" song.
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Post by Sabin »

We don't need to hash out WHY one is better than the other, but...well...

I got this point from Damien's Inside Oscar. It's a fantastic point so I thought I'd just toss it out there. In "Streets of Philadephia", Bruce writes the song in the first person. He's not writing about a gay man dying of AIDS, he's writing himself as that character. I love "Philadelphia" (the Neil Young song; not the movie, not at all, although I'm annoyed to say I always cry in the final scene) and Neil's vocal performance is absolutely heart-breaking, but Bruce's lyrics are so sparse yet descriptive and increasingly sad yet never monotonous.

I think it's the greater accomplishment and it fits in the film extraordinarily well. I also think Bruce's "Dead Man Walking" was a far better song than "Colors of the Wind", but then again "You've Got a Friend in Me" was the best song of that year. One of my fondest childhood memories was watching 'Toy Story' with my family. The theater was completely sold out and we had to sit on opposite ends of the theater, none of us together. We met back up, each of us grinning ear to ear. Even my dad who hates cartoons said it was "neat. Just so neat!" It's the ultimate "Randy Newman friendship song", a genre I heard Billy Crystal proclaim after doing "If I Didn't Have You" (which was an extremely weak year for songs, but that one was the tops, and a glorious speech at that).
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Post by Damien »

Sabin wrote:Obviously, "Beauty and the Beast" belongs there, so does "White Christmas".
Completely forgot about "Beauty and the Beast." That's such a beautiful song.

I wonder whu they picked 16 songs and not, say, 20.
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Post by Okri »

Thrilled that "Things Have Changed" made the list, and I don't think a "fair case" can be made that Neil Young's "Philadelphia" is a better song from the film at all. And I'm a Neil Young fanatic.


Really? I think they're both pretty phenomenal and would avoid deciding which is better, but I think a fair argument can be made for the Young song.
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Post by Sabin »

Thank you, Damien. Never got "Three Coins in a Fountain". So bland. The song's practically over after the title line and yet it goes on...

Obviously, "Beauty and the Beast" belongs there, so does "White Christmas".

"It's Hard Out There for a Pimp" is enjoyable funk, but not as good as "Lose Yourself", or quite a few others though. Not a big fan of "Sooner or Later" or "Last Dance" (ugh).

Thrilled that "Things Have Changed" made the list, and I don't think a "fair case" can be made that Neil Young's "Philadelphia" is a better song from the film at all. And I'm a Neil Young fanatic.
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Post by Eric »

Between "Last Dance" and "Fame," they went for the right disco-era pop song. I don't hate "Pimp," and it was easily my favorite of last year's nominees, but "Lose Yourself" is the better hip hop winner.
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Post by Damien »

I'd remove High Noon, It Ain't Easy For A Pimp, Last Dance and especially Three Coins In The Fountain -- the success of that bland song about nothing has always perplexed me; I think it was the worst of the 1954 Best Song nominees. In their place, I'd add The Last Time I Saw Paris, White Christmas, Swinging On A Star and The Way We Were.

And then there are the great songs that lost, such as The Man That Got Away, True Love, Dear Heart, Long Ago and Far Away and Somewhere Out There.
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Post by OscarGuy »

cam, I'm Easy is on that list.

See, I also like Into the West and several of the 70s hits. I also think that The Continental is somewhat catchy.

See, I dislike songs like It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp. I think it was a weak winner with the far better Travelin' Thru a big shaft for Dolly Parton again (who's 9 to 5 is a legendary classic now).
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Post by 99-1100896887 »

Original BJ: Neither would I . I would add "I'm Easy" to the list.
there are far better ones than this list:Atchison Topka & The Santa Fe, The Man Who Got Away, etc. This is a very facile list.
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Post by The Original BJ »

That's a pretty good list, although I wouldn't rank Theme from Shaft and It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp anywhere near the top. Those seem like self-conscious attempts to be "hip," IMO. (Or maybe I'm just square.)

And Three Coins in a Fountain is a fine song, but every time I think about its Oscar win I hear the sound of Judy Garland trembling, "The night is bitter, the stars have lost their glitter . . ." and wonder how Three Coins got near the podium.
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Post by Big Magilla »

There are a few more that "don't suck" but this is a fairly decent list.
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