Ranking All 80 Winners of Best Original Song (Plus Where This Year's Contenders Would Place)

Glenn here with a look at everybody’s favourite category – best original song! Okay, so, sure, even if this year’s roster for best original song doesn’t look like a vintage one for the category, there’s actually some fun to be had when you consider who will win.

• Will Diane Warren finally win an Oscar on her eighth nomination? And how strange will it be to see her win for a song from a documentary about sexual abuse alongside Lady Gaga rather than one of the chart-busting hit-singles that her first six nominations were for (lest we forget, Beyond the Lights’ “Grateful” didn’t chart because, well, Rita Ora).

• Will an opera tune win for the first time? No work of opera has ever been nominated if my research is correct, which is kinda neat even though I think the song is dirge (albeit appropriately so for the film).

• Will all the talk of diversity in cinema this year give us a winner that is either black (The Weeknd), transgender (Antony Hegarty), or gay (Sam Smith)?

• It’s been 18 years since the last occurrence of a movie winning both a Razzie and an Oscar. Plenty of films have been nominated for both of the awards, but neither has won an award from each since Wall Street in 1988. Could Fifty Shades of Grey break a very unique drought?

Now, naturally because we all love lists so I thought it would be fun to rank every winner of Oscar’s best original song category and see where this year’s contenders would fit in when they take home that golden statue. What could possible go wrong with a completely subjective ranking of over 80 songs?!? Oh dear. You’ve been warned, I guess. Two things to note: I have not included "The Last Time I Saw Paris" from Lady Be Good since even the writer of that 1941 song was angry it was given an award when it wasn't written for the movie (it was subsequently the impetus for the category's rule change). Secondly, I have tried to rank as close to original film versions as possible so some songs that were improved upon in later recordings (like Nat King Cole’s “Mona Lisa”) may not rank as high. And, yes, before you ask, I am the person that hates Mary Poppins and who has never seen much of the appeal of the overtly twee “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”.

Go over the rainbow after the jump...

1. The Wizard of Oz, “Over the Rainbow”
2. Philadelphia, “Streets of Philadelphia”
3. Nashville, “I’m Easy”
4. The Way We Were, “The Way We Were”
5. Shaft, “Theme from Shaft”
6. Breakfast at Tiffany’s, “Moon River”
7. Dick Tracy, “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)”
8. Pocahontas, “Colors of the Wind”
9. 8 Mile, “Lose Yourself”
10. Working Girl, “Let the River Run”
11. Calamity Jane, “Secret Love”
12. Top Gun, “Take My Breath Away”
13. The Little Mermaid, “Under the Sea”
14. The Thomas Crown Affair, “The Windmills of Your Mind”
15. Evita, “You Must Love Me”
16. The Harvey Girls, "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"
17. Norma Rae, “It Goes Like It Goes”
18. Born Free, “Born Free”
19. The Big Broadcast of 1938, “Thanks for the Memory”
20. The Joker is Wild, “All the Way”
21. Arthur, “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)”
22. Flashdance, “Flashdance… What a Feeling”
23. The Sandpiper, “The Shadow of Your Smile”
24. Once, “Falling Slowly”
25. Pinocchio, “When You Wish Upon a Star”
26. Papa’s Delicate Condition, “Call Me Irresponsible”
27. State Fair, “It Might As Well Be Spring”
28. Dirty Dancing, “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life”
29. The Gay Divorcee, “The Continental”
30. Holiday Inn, “White Christmas”
31. Lovers and Other Strangers, “For All We Know”
32. Swing Time, “The Way You Look Tonight”
33. Frozen, “Let It Go”
34. Thank God It’s Friday, “Last Dance”
35. Neptune’s Daughter, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
36. The Prince of Egypt, “When You Believe”
37. The Man Who Knew Too Much, “Que Sera Sera (Whatever Will Be Will Be)”
38. Aladdin, “A Whole New World”
39. Fame, “Fame”
40. Titanic, “My Heart Will Go On”
41. Never on Sunday, “Ta Paidia Tou Piraia”
42. Skyfall, “Skyfall”
43. Selma, “Glory”
    Fifty Shades of Grey, "Earned It"
    
    
44. A Star is Born, “Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star is Born)”
45. Here Comes the Groom, “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening”
46. Beauty and the Beast, “Beauty and the Beast”
47. Hustle & Flow, “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp”
48. Slumdog Millionaire, “Jai Ho”
49. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, “Into the West”
50. Days of Wine and Roses, “Days of Wine and Roses”
51. Hello, Frisco, Hello, “You’ll Never Know”
52. The Motorcycle Diaries, “Al Otro Lado Del Rio”
53. Crazy Heart, “The Weary Kind”
54. An Officer and a Gentleman, “Up Where We Belong”
55. High Noon, “High Noon (Don’t Forsake Me, O My Darling”)
56. Gold Diggers of 1935, “Lullaby of Broadway”
    Racing Extinction, "Manta Ray"
    
    
57. The Wonder Boys, “Things Have Changed"
58. The Lion King, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”
    The Hunting Ground, "Til it Happens to You"
    
    
59. A Hole in the Head, “High Hopes”
60. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”
61. Captain Carey, U.S.A., “Mona Lisa”
62. Tarzan, “You’ll Be in My Heart”
63. Three Coins in the Fountain, “Three Coins in the Fountain”
64. Monsters, Inc., “If I Didn’t Have You”
65. Going My Way, “Swinging on a Star”
66. Love is a Many Splendored Thing, “Love is a Many Splendored Thing”
67. White Nights, “Say You, Say Me”
68. An Inconvenient Truth, “I Need to Wake Up”
69. Doctor Dolittle, “Talk to the Animals”     
70. Toy Story 3, “We Belong Together”
    Youth, "Simple Song #3"
    
    
71. You Light Up My Life, “You Light Up My Life”
72. The Woman in Red, “I Just Called to Say I Love You”
73. The Muppets, “Man or Muppet”
74. The Towering Inferno, “We May Never Love Like This Again”
75. The Poseidon Adventure, “The Morning After”
    Spectre, "Writing's on the Wall"
    
    
76. Waikiki Wedding, “Sweet Leilani”
77. The Paleface, “Buttons and Bows”
78. Song of the South, “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”
79. Mary Poppins, “Chim Chim Cher-ee”
80. Gigi, “Gigi”

Guys, Gigi is the worst! What do you think is going to win? Please refrain from tearing me apart on this list. I know Film Experience commenters have Opinions so have at it!

Comments

[Paul Outlaw]

No, Glenn, he doesn't. But she does.

[Bring me cheese curds]

It's 1am why am I doing this