Academy Award Songs

It’s been announced that in next year’s Academy Awards they’ll add a category called “Most Popular Film.” I have no idea how they’ll figure out which films will be nominated for this one. Made the most money? Had the most viewers?  Most likeable stars? And won’t it be possible for the same film to win both categories, best and most popular?

The one category I used to look forward to was best original song. It seems like there haven’t been any even nominated that are very good, let alone the one considered the best. I remember what I said about the year when this trend began, 2001. None of the five that year were very good, but the winner was one written and performed by Bob Dylan for The Wonder Boys.  What an unmemorable piece of crap it was.  I keep remembering all the past winners, when songs were songs: “Over the Rainbow,” “Moon River,” “Evergreen,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” “All the Way,” “The Shadow of Your Smile,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Mona Lisa,” “The Way We Were,” “The Windmills of Your Mind,” to name only a short list.  And in the Thirties and Forties—now, get this—the runners-up were astounding.  In 1936, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” lost to “The Way You Look Tonight.”  In 1937, “That Old Feeling” and “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” lost to “Sweet Leilani.”  In 1940, “It’s a Blue World” lost to “When You Wish Upon a Star.”  In 1941, “Blues in the Night” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo” lost to “The Last Time I Saw Paris.”  In 1942, “How About You?” and “It Seems to Me I’ve Heard That Song Before” lost to “White Christmas.”  In 1943, “That Old Black Magic” and “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home to” lost to “You’ll Never Know.”  And in 1944, “I’ll Walk Alone,” “Long Ago and Far Away,” and “The Trolley Song” lost to “Swinging on a Star.”  All of the winners as well as the losers were better songs than almost any of those nominated in the last decade. And in 2001 the Oscar for best song went to creepy Bob Dylan, whose song, “Things Will Change,” is about as unsingable, as unmemorable, as unrememberable a piece of driftwood as any song I’ve ever heard.  I would defy any of my readers to hum that song, or remember any of the lyrics. How could it possibly stack up to any of the songs I’ve listed above?  It can’t.