I’ve been doing a lot of movie writing on social media during my Covid-19 quarantine. None of these writings fits my traditional post format, but I’m going to share them nonetheless.
I’m trying to come up with the best movie song of every year. That leaves me listening to a lot of bad songs. The first year I finished is 2017. I’m finding that most of the songs for that year blend together, and a lot of them have a Diane Warrenesque quality that makes me throw up a little in my mouth. There were far too many “inspirational” songs, which seems to be typical of film music in recent years. And the year produced a couple of songs that I really wished were better, like the Stevie Nicks song or the Mary J. Blige song.
For 2017, I began with the shortlist of 70 songs released by the Academy Music Branch. To be eligible, songs must have been written specifically for the movie with a collaboration between the filmmakers and the songwriters. Not every eligible song is included on that list of 70, but without access to the submissions, I can’t get a complete list. I have to make do with what is out there. (Not every year will be bound by this description as my access to information varies from year to year.
This is my short list:
“Now or Never,” by David Longoria from Bloodline: Now or Never
“The Devil & the Huntsman,” by Sam Lee & Daniel Pemberton from King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword
“Summer Storm,” by Joel P. West from The Glass Castle
“The Promise,” by Chris Cornell from The Promise
“Speak to Me,” by Amy Lee from Voice from the Stone
I don’t have a favorite among this shortlist. I found the year to be particularly weak, and no one song stood out.
None of these was an Oscar nominee.
I love the trumpet, the rest of the song not so much. I don’t like the “call to action” aspect. But that trumpet.
This song stood out because it sounded so different from any other movie song that year. I find the instrumentation to be an intriguing contrast to the traditional sound of the vocals.
This is another song with a traditional sound, this time American traditional, not British.
This is typical of Chris Cornell’s output in the singer-songwriter genre. The chorus has a lovely melodic lilt that’s often missing from modern singer-songwriter songs.
The dreaminess of this song manages to contain the potential Dianewarrenness.
Pop Culture Reverie 