What's Encanto's best song?
Sunday, December 5, 2021 at 10:30AM 
Just as they did with their last animated musical, Disney has decided to focus their campaigning on a single song from Encanto. In total, Lin-Manuel Miranda composed eight tunes for the feature, but only "Dos Oruguitas" will get a chance to compete for Oscar gold. Considering the risk of hypothetical vote-splitting, it's an understandable move though Disney hasn't always been the best judge of their songs' quality. So who's to say they know which song would make the best contender? With 2019's Frozen II, not everyone agreed with the spotlighting of "Into the Unknown" to the detriment of "Show Yourself." Does history repeat itself with Encanto? As with Frozen II, let's settle the matter through some list-making fun. In other words, a ranking…
8. THE FAMILY MADRIGAL, sung by Stephanie Beatriz
Here we have the movie's first number, in which to get to know the Madrigal family as our protagonist, Mirabel, tells the village's children about her clan. Not a bad song by any means, but a generic one. Its swift introduction of characters and setting feels like a lesser version of other Lin-Manuel Miranda compositions that welcome the audience into their narratives. Moreover, the Madrigals are at the center of the community, so it sounds dubious that they need to be introduced to the neighbor children. Still, it sounds fun and gets the job done.
7. WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?, sung by Diane Guerrero & Stephanie Beatriz
Another fun song that suffers from a generic quality and lack of narrative foundation. Mirabel's two sisters are one-note characters until their respective solo songs provide interiority, inner conflict. Unfortunately for flower sorceress Isabela, her time comes way too late into the story, making the superficiality of her portrait until then feel forced by plot mechanisms rather than organic characterization. "What Else Can I Do?" thus has a lot on its plate, and it's not quite up to the challenge of upending our vision of Isabela and bridging a lifelong rift between the sisters. The design of the scene, though? That's marvelous.
6. COLOMBIA, MI ENCANTO, sung by Carlos Vives
There are two songs performed in Spanish within Encanto's English-language original version. They represent a study in contrasts as a pair, one bursting with joy while the other sings with sorrow. "Colombia, Mi Encanto" is the effervescent tune, vibrating with a will to celebrate and wild jubilation. It's not incredibly complex, that's true. Though, seeing as it's mostly a background soundtrack to the Madrigal's party, it doesn't need to be.
5. SURFACE PRESSURE, sung by Jessica Darrow
"What Else Can I Do?" was Isabela's song, while "Surface Pressure" belongs to Luisa, Maribel's other older sibling. Blessed with super-strength, the big sister has learned to carry the family's burdens, regarding herself as someone who can help first and only a human being second. While its genre pastiche, silly rhymes, and loopy visuals indicate a lightness of tone, there's cutting self-reflection interwoven into Miranda's lyrics. "I'm prеtty sure I'm worthless if I can't be of sеrvice" is a ruthless summation of the character's anxieties, the sort of thing a sibling never wants to hear the other say.
4. ALL OF YOU, sung by the cast of Encanto
Writing-wise, Encanto is something of a chaotic mess. The movie's full of characters, colors, and barely sketched internal conflicts, so many ideas that it can get squashed under the weight of its ambition. Nevertheless, its emotional conclusions and its impact on one's heart are difficult to ignore. At least, it was to me. Part of it comes from a script that's perchance over-reliant on Miranda's songs to solve all its problems. That's not to say his work doesn't merit that confidence. If some of the introductory number falters, the closing one soars. "All Of You" ties up the story strands into a neat little bow while still touching on the crushing weight of great expectations.
3. WAITING ON A MIRACLE, sung by Stephanie Beatriz
I don't know about you, but I've often felt that my loved ones - especially my family - would be better off if I had never been born. These George Bailey-like musings have attenuated a bit as I've gotten my depression under control, but they're still there in the deep corners of my mind, rumbling in the dark. That feeling's not something I expected to see reflected in a Disney flick, yet here we are. As Mirabel watches her happy family, taking a picture without her, time freezes. In this limbo, she sings about waiting for a miracle, a chance to prove herself, a chance to know she belongs, that she's not a burden. The tune is a standard "I Want Song," but I can't ignore how much it resonated with me, how the undercurrent of despair rang true amid the animated fireworks.
2. WE DON'T TALK ABOUT BRUNO, sung by the cast of Encanto
The wonderful Andrew Kendall described this song on Twitter as "a seductive choral number about no one wanting to talk about the gay uncle's special skills." That's a pretty good summation of the movie's most entertaining scene. From the absurdity of everybody singing about a guy nobody's supposed to talk about to the juxtaposition of melodies as it reaches a final crescendo, it's a winner. Plus, it can be interpreted as Miranda's sweet parody of those showstoppers that end a musical's first act, bringing all the main players together for one big belted note. In other words, "We Don't Talk About Bruno" is Encanto's "One Day More." What's not to love?
1. DOS ORUGUITAS, sung by Sebastián Yatra
Disney got it right this time around. "Dos Oruguitas" scores Encanto's emotional climax, synthesizing themes of generational trauma caused by the violent displacement of an entire community, the loss of a family's beloved patriarch. Because of its setting and place in the narrative, one almost gets a sense that the spirit of the fallen hero is the one performing the non-diegetic number. It underlines the tragedy of a song that remains hopeful, for every present joy is built on a foundation of past sacrifices. Moreover, Miranda didn't go soppy when he could have easily fallen into that trap. The sentimentality feels earned and curiously downplayed, privileging the song's hope rather than grief. In summation, it's Encanto's best song that I hope gets recognized at the 94th Academy Awards. Lin-Manuel Miranda deserves it for this one.
How would you rank Encanto's eight original songs?
Reader Comments (3)
Cláudio, I have to agree! Dos Oruguitas is a beautiful composition, *and* on top of that it plays during the film’s most pivotal (wordless) scene. I came out of the theater hoping that would be the one they’d go with, so I’m very glad to hear that they are.
My favorite song was "We Don't Talk About Bruno" because it's the gossip the movie had needed. I didn't like "Dos Oruguitas" as much because I couldn't understand it even with the captions on. Also, in case you didn't notice, Bruno appears in the background of Dolores's rapping verse of "We Don't Talk About Bruno."
Annonymos -- I did notice Bruno, though I assumed it was Camilo from the song's context.
Also, what didn't you understand about "Dos Oruguitas"? Maybe I should have gone a bit further into the lyrics in my write-up. It's a metaphor for grief, letting go, and looking ahead towards the future. It uses the image of two caterpillars embracing, tightly, and with feeling. It's a beautiful union but, as time passes and everything changes, they must separate to be able to grow and fly away towards their futures. The song culminates as the caterpillar to butterfly imagery rampant throughout the movie also reaches its peak. It becomes "Dos Mariposas," and we see grandmother and granddaughter embracing amid a flurry of butterflies that fly away towards the sun, towards the future that's represented by the miraculous paradise they call home.
That was my interpretation, at least, and why it resonated so much with me :) I hope it gets nominated for the Oscar now that it's been shortlisted.