The Film Experience

By Glenn Dunks

Quick, hum the melody of any of this year’s Best Original Song nominees (except “Husavik”). Hell, recite a single lyric from any of this year’s Best Original Song nominees (except “Husavik”).

Several years ago for The Film Experience, I ranked every winner of the original song category while hypothetically ranking each of that year’s nominees. We struck out with “Writing’s on the Wall”, which instantly became one of the worst winners of this beleaguered and controversial category. I unfortunately do not hold out much hope for this year’s crop of song contenders, only one of which deserves to win and only one of which would rank among the category’s finest winners. No need for suspense: that song is “Husavik”.

But we must and we shall look at this year’s nominees.

1. “Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Music and lyrics by Rickard Göransson, Fat Max Gsus & Savan Kotecha

All I needed was to get away
Just to realize that I was meant to stay

Highlights were scarce in this Netflix comedy about the Eurovision Song Content, but the nominated song “Husavik” was one of them. A wonderfully composed pop ballad that is full of nods to what makes Eurovision so great. Lyrical references to flocks of seagulls and whales may not be as nuts as Russian grannies baking bread on stage and then going to the disco (that’d be “Party for Everybody” by Buranovskiye Babushki in 2012), or a Ukrainian drag queen dressed as a silver Christmas tree (iconic Verka Serduchka in 2007 singing “Dancing Lasha Tumbai”), but it is smartly crafted enough that it sounds like a song that’d be a hit with the real public voters of Europe (and Australia, don't forget Australia!).

Does it sound a bit like that one song from The Greatest Showman? Yeah, actually. But “Husavik” is far and away the only song nominated this year that earned a nomination and the win. I suspect the film’s erratic quality and just general oddness may mean voters look elsewhere for a ‘worthier’ winner, but I think we all know where the statue should be going.

And because it is literally the only one we can show video for...

2. “Fight For You” from Judas and the Black Messiah
Music by Dernst “D’Mile” Emile II and H.E.R., lyrics by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas

Their guns don't play fair
All we got is a prayer

One of the best things about this song from Best Picture nominee Judas and the Black Messiah is that, when you sit and listen to it outside of the film, it comes as a surprise. Not necessarily because co-writer and performer H.E.R. isn’t a great musician, but because it has far more groove than I would have expected from an end credits song with the extremely uninspired title of “Fight For You”. In a line-up deeply in need of excitement, I guess that’s gotta count for something.

Like the other three songs below, however, nothing about “Fight For You” really sings out as key to Judas’ success as a film. The singing of H.E.R. (real name Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson) is lovely, full of smoky tones that floats over the drums and vibrant funk bassline. Its lyrics are strong and speak to the systemic and the specific fights for racism that echoes the film it’s housed in. But is “Fight For You” too… polite? Maybe. Given it is attached to Judas and Black Messiah, one might wish for more. There’s nothing wrong with “Fight For You” as a work of music, but I truly would not have believed that Judas even had an original song without this nomination as proof.

3. “Speak Now” from One Night in Miami…
Music and lyrics Sam Ashworth & Leslie Odom Jr.

Brothers and sisters
Listen, listen, listen
I swear we'll never find a way to where we're going, all alone
Don't take your eyes off the road

I was much cooler on Regina King’s One Night in Miami than most it would seem, thinking its three nominations was more than adequate reward. Alongside its acting and writing nods, this nomination for Sam Ashworth and Leslie Odom Jr.’s “Speak Now” is rather emblematic of the film in general. Just as the film found the relevant way to express the thoughts and feelings of its characters in the 1960s into a film made in 2020, so too does “Speak Now” strike some really wonderful lyrical notes, finding poignant parallels between then and now; the late addition of the organ elevates the grandeur slightly. But is that enough?

Again, it’s a nice song that just happens to have found itself playing over the end credits of a popular movie. And as end credits songs go I don’t feel it reaches the heights of even Cynthia Erivo’s “Stand Up” from Harriet let alone winners like, say, "Glory" from Selma or "Into the West" from Return of the King. If it wins the Oscar, which I suspect it will, then perhaps its stature will rise to something of a contemporary blues standard. But if it doesn’t win then I doubt we’ll be able to remember its name by this time next year.

4. “Io sí (Seen)” from The Life Ahead
Music by Diane Warren, lyrics by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini

When you think no love can ever heal you
Mine will, mine will

If you had told me in 2010 that Burlesque’s Oscar legacy would be a long-awaited Oscar win for Diane Warren with a soaring power ballad (“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me”) performed by Cher, I would have believed you. I mean, come on. That narrative wrote itself. Instead, Burlesque’s Oscar legacy is a music branch that didn’t even nominate that song spending the next decade trying desperately to make it up to Diane Warren. How else to explain the litany of nominations in the years since for some of the worst songs ever nominated for an Oscar. And trust me, I know that is saying a lot, but it’s true. “I’m Standing With You” from Breakthrough? “I’ll Fight” from RBG? “Stand Up for Something” from Marshall? All of which have titles that very much fit into 2020’s roster, and all terrible.

What works in The Life Ahead’s favor here, I suppose, is that “Io sí (Seen)” is sung (over the end credits, natch) in Italian. What doesn’t work in its favor is that if you have the subtitles on as I did you will be able to read the absolute garbage lyrics that this song trots out. American Idol would think these lyrics were too much for a winner’s song they’re that bad. Unlike others, I don’t think “Io sí (Seen)” is the magic bullet that’ll finally win Diane Warren her coveted Oscar, but if it does and it means maybe she can go back to writing for musicals like Burlesque or even Beyond the Lights then I guess that’s something to be happy about?

5. “Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7
Music by Daniel Pemberton, lyrics by Celeste Waite and Daniel Pemberton

Hear my words
Hear my cries
Let me see a change through these eyes

No. Absolutely not. A song with only one verse, barely a chorus, and truly stomach-churning lyrics written in syrup and powdered sugar. What on earth this has to do with The Trial of the Chicago 7, I couldn’t tell you. Absolute dirge. It’s barely a song. I know a lot of people have real thoughts about the Best Original Song category and its place in the future of the Academy, but this nomination should make the music branch truly ashamed. Go to the naughty corner, now!

Preferred winner: “Husavik” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
Predicted winner: “Speak Out” from One Night in Miami…
Sure, whatever: “Io sí (Seen)” from The Life Ahead

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