1993 Best Original Song - Songs from the City of Brotherly Love

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WON: "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia

SHOULD'VE WON: "Philadelphia," Philadelphia

For two reasons, and really just those two reasons alone, 1993 is remarkable year in Best Original Song at the Oscars, a line-up that includes two of my very favorite tracks to ever grace the category - "Philadelphia" and "Streets of Philadelphia," both from the Jonathan Demme film, which marked the first mainstream, big-budget picture to address HIV/AIDS.

I don't think Philadelphia, as a film, works quite as incredibly as it should - while Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington (and the pitch-perfectly cold Jason Robards and Mary Steenburgen, to boot) are both in top form and the picture does boast many moving moments, particularly outside the rather familiar courtroom setting, I think it's played more than just a tad too safe. It isn't as compelling as that year's And the Band Played On, nor as it as devastating as 1990's Longtime Companion. It's a commendable, engaging-enough film that played a useful role in educating (and, in many cases, smacking sense into) a wider sect of moviegoers but I do not consider it one of the finest in LGBT cinema.

What I do, however, find truly extraordinary about Philadelphia is the film's soundtrack, which not only featured the nominated Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young songs but also tunes from the likes of Peter Gabriel, Sade and the Indigo Girls.

While it isn't my pick in this category, I can hardly knock Springsteen's victory for "Streets of Philadelphia," a song I consider both one of the artist's greatest efforts to date and one of the all-time best winners in this category (clocking in, for now, at #4 among the 60 winners of Best Original Song I've reviewed). Everything here, in terms of music, lyrics and vocal, works splendidly, perfectly fitting for the film, and it was a deserving honoree at the following year's Grammys, where it picked up Song of the Year and a trio of other assorted prizes.

With that said, I'm not sure any Best Original Song nominee, of any year, could top Young's "Philadelphia" for me - it really might be my favorite nominee in this category's history.

The first time I sat down and watched the Demme film, it was the Young track, which plays over the home movies of Andrew Beckett during the picture's conclusion, that most stuck with me. It's among the most haunting pieces of music I've ever encountered, a record that rattles me every time I listen. Young's lyrics and performance, especially in the context of the film, are absolutely extraordinary. As much as I appreciate all of the accolades the Springsteen song deservedly garnered, I think it's a real shame the Young track went mostly unnoticed, sans the Oscar nom.

As for the rest of '93 Original Song, it's pretty slim pickings, though Janet Jackson's "Again," from her motion picture debut in John Singleton's Poetic Justice, is a fine, plenty listenable piece of R&B-pop. The remaining two contenders, "The Day I Fall in Love" (a duet for James Ingram and Dolly Parton) and "A Wink and a Smile" (one of Harry Connick Jr.'s many wannabe-standards from this time) more or less fade into the background.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Streets of Philadelphia," Philadelphia (1993)
  5. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  6. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  7. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  8. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  9. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  10. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  11. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  12. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  13. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  14. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  15. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  16. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  17. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  18. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  19. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  20. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  21. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  22. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  23. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  24. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  25. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  26. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  27. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  28. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  29. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  30. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  31. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  32. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  33. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  34. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  35. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  36. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  37. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  38. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  39. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  40. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  41. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  42. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  43. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  44. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  45. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  46. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  47. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  48. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  49. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  50. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  51. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  52. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  53. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  54. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  55. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  56. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  57. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  58. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  59. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  60. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1992 Best Original Song - Whitney Wakes Up the Oscars

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WON: "A Whole New World," Aladdin

SHOULD'VE WON: "I Have Nothing," The Bodyguard

In 1977 and 1984, respectively, the Academy egregiously ignored Saturday Night Fever and Purple Rain - then, the two best-selling movie soundtracks of all-time - in the category of Best Original Song at the Oscars.

By 1992, with the smashing success of The Bodyguard (which would go on to top Purple Rain as the all-time best-seller and even win Album of the Year at the Grammys), it appeared the Oscars had learned their lesson in the backlash of giving the cold shoulder to such monumentally popular, not only with general audiences but critics too, successes. The Academy not only recognized the plastered-across-the-airwaves "I Have Nothing" but also a second, somewhat lesser song to boot, "Run to You," both of course performed to perfection by Whitney Houston. (Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" was ineligible, obviously.)

Besides "Run to You," which is a respectable but clear fifth-place finisher here, '92 Original Song is a bit tough to gauge in terms of picking a winner - I like but don't whole-heartedly love the other contenders.

Given my affection for The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast in recent years of this category, I was excited to dive into the two nominated tunes from Aladdin, only I realized while revisiting "A Whole New World" and "Friend Like Me" that I've really never been all that enamored with the picture or its music. I love the vocals here - from Brad Kane and Lea Salonga on the former, and the incomparable Robin Williams on the latter - but I don't think either song (composed by Alan Menken, with Tim Rice on the former and the late Howard Ashman on the latter) quite captures the magic of tunes like "Under the Sea," "Part of Your World" or "Be Our Guest." They're perfectly agreeable and "Friend Like Me" is good fun in particular but I'm not left head-over-heels.

Likewise, I respect "Beautiful Maria of My Soul," beautifully performed by Antonio Banderas in The Mambo Kings, but despite the vocal and some nice orchestrations, it's missing that special something that turns a rather ordinary tune into something truly extraordinary. It's not bad by any stretch but I can barely even remember the song as I write this.

Ultimately, I side with "I Have Nothing" here, slightly over "Friend Like Me." It's a prime example of the sort of soft pop-R&B that dominated much of the adult contemporary airwaves in the late '80s and early '90s, through not only Houston but also Anita Baker, Vanessa Williams, Toni Braxton and so on. Houston's vocal turn is dynamite and the production is agreeably glossy.

Overlooked in '92? Two strong original songs from A League of Their Own - Madonna's "This Used to Be My Playground" and Carole King's "Now and Forever."

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  5. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  6. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  7. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  8. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  9. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  10. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  11. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  12. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  13. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  14. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  15. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  16. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  17. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  18. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  19. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  20. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  21. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  22. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  23. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  24. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  25. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  26. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  27. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  28. "A Whole New World," Aladdin (1992)
  29. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  30. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  31. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  32. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  33. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  34. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  35. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  36. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  37. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  38. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  39. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  40. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  41. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  42. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  43. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  44. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  45. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  46. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  47. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  48. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  49. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  50. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  51. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  52. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  53. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  54. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  55. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  56. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  57. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  58. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  59. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1991 Best Original Song - Beauty and the Beast (and Bryan Adams)

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WON: "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast

SHOULD'VE WON: "Belle," Beauty and the Beast

"Be Our Guest" vs. "Belle vs. "Beauty and the Beast" - it's practically like having to choose among Casablanca, Citizen Kane and The Godfather.

The brilliant and timeless Beauty and the Beast dominated Best Original Song at the 1991 Oscars, with three tunes composed by the duo of Ashman and Menken, and deservedly so. It also marked the first animated film to garner a nomination in Best Picture, keeping the likes of Boyz 'n the Hood and Thelma & Louise on the sidelines.

In terms of which of the three Beauty nominees I admire most, it's awfully hard to knock the Academy's selection of the title song - it's a splendid, supremely romantic song, performed heavenly by Angela Lansbury. I also adore "Be Our Guest," a splashy ensemble number that's right about on-par with "Under the Sea" in sheer energy and enthusiasm. But I actually most love "Belle," the picture's delightful opening number, which rings of Ashman-Menken's "Skid Row (Downtown)" from Little Shop of Horrors and other great, ensemble-driven opening tunes from Broadway.

Of course, there were also other nominees in '91 Best Original Song, one decent and one not-so-hot.

The more agreeable of the remaining two contenders is Bryan Adams' smash hit "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You," from the ho-hum Kevin Costner starrer Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. For better or worse, the record, which spent most of the summer of '91 atop the Billboard Hot 100, is the epitome of early '90s adult contemporary, competently performed and produced but more than a tad schmaltzy and overbaked. It is, however, more satisfying than "When You're Alone," a dreary Hook number from John Williams and Leslie Bricusse, who struck lightning the prior year on Home Alone but completely miss the bullseye this time around.

Instead of settling on the old standbys of Williams and Bricusse, the Academy should have certainly recognized the incredible Eric Clapton, whose heartbreaking, Grammy-winning "Tears in Heaven" was featured on the Rush soundtrack.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  5. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  6. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  7. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  8. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  9. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  10. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  11. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  12. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  13. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  14. "Beauty and the Beast," Beauty and the Beast (1991)
  15. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  16. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  17. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  18. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  19. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  20. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  21. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  22. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  23. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  24. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  25. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  26. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  27. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  28. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  29. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  30. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  31. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  32. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  33. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  34. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  35. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  36. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  37. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  38. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  39. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  40. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  41. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  42. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  43. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  44. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  45. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  46. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  47. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  48. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  49. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  50. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  51. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  52. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  53. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  54. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  55. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  56. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  57. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  58. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1990 Best Original Song - Sondheim Goes Home with Oscar

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WON: "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy

SHOULD'VE WON: "Somewhere in My Memory," Home Alone

I whole-heartedly adore composer Stephen Sondheim. Gypsy, Company and Follies, just to name a handful of Sondheim works, are among my all-time favorite musicals. So, in theory, I love the idea of this incomparable artist having an Oscar under his belt. But, Sondheim winning his Oscar for 1990's Dick Tracy? That's not something I can easily get on board with.

I do very much admire Warren Beatty's colorful, pleasantly idiosyncratic take on the classic comic strip - the picture looks sublime and Beatty has rarely had a more commanding screen presence. But the film's score, composed by Danny Elfman, with original songs by Sondheim, doesn't much move me.

Perhaps part of it is Madonna. She's a performer who, time and time again, has been robbed of Oscar recognition but her turn as Breathless Mahoney just doesn't floor me. Also, the songs here, including "Sooner or Later," are just rather undistinguished and fleeting in comparison to the bulk of the Sondheim songbook. Unlike most of the Sondheim catalogue, I wouldn't immediately know who the composer was on first listen. It's not a bad soundtrack by any stretch but I don't think it's quite an Oscar-calibur one either.

What makes the Sondheim victory all the more difficult to swallow is at least two, arguably even three of his song's competitors in '90 Original Song are superior.

First off, the slightly rotten apple of the bunch here is "Promise Me You'll Remember," a Harry Connick, Jr.-performed tune which, much like The Godfather Part III itself, is nicely orchestrated but overlong and curiously hollow.

Young Guns II makes about as much sense as Mannequin and Beverly Hills Cop II as an Oscar nominee but its original song, Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory" is a tough-to-resist guilty pleasure rock record. I'm on-the-fence as to whether this or "Sooner or Later" is the third-best nominee of the line-up.

For me, '90 Original Song is really a close call between the remaining two contenders, Home Alone's "Somewhere in My Memory" and Postcards from the Edge's "I'm Checkin' Out." The former, composed by Oscar-winners John Williams and Leslie Bricusse, is, for my money, one of the best Christmas tunes of the past half-century or so (Williams' score for the film itself is terrific too). The latter, composed by the legendary Shel Silverstein of all people, is most memorable for its delightfully buoyant performance by Meryl Streep.

Because I'm not convinced another performer could sell "I'm Checkin' Out" in the same fashion Streep does, I lean toward "Somewhere in My Memory," but it's not an easy call.

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  5. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  6. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  7. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  8. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  9. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  10. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  11. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  12. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  13. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  14. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  15. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  16. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  17. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  18. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  19. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  20. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  21. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  22. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  23. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  24. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  25. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  26. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  27. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  28. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  29. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  30. "Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man)," Dick Tracy (1990)
  31. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  32. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  33. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  34. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  35. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  36. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  37. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  38. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  39. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  40. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  41. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  42. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  43. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  44. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  45. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  46. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  47. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  48. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  49. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  50. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  51. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  52. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  53. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  54. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  55. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  56. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  57. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)

1989 Best Original Song - A Love Letter to Howard Ashman

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WON AND SHOULD'VE WON: "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid

I believe the late Howard Ashman is, quite simply, one of the greatest and most influential lyricists of all-time.

Ashman, who initially left an immense impression not on the big screen but on stage from the late-'70s, through the mid-'80s, with colorful, idiosyncratic efforts like God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Smile and Little Shop of Horrors, did not make his presence known in the world of film until just a few mere years prior to his tragic death from AIDS complications in 1991.

But what an impact he did leave in those final years.

After assisting on the soundtrack for Disney's modest 1988 release Oliver & Company, Ashman partnered with the comparably spectacular Alan Menken to score The Little Mermaid, which (some folks forget) marked quite a comeback for Walt Disney Pictures, a studio then yearning for a big, fat hit after a lengthy dry spell.

Following their smashing success on The Little Mermaid, Ashman and Menken would go on to score Beauty and the Beast, the first animated film to garner an Oscar nomination in Best Picture. That film would also triumph for the duo in Best Original Song, though Ashman's victory was a posthumous one, having died two weeks prior to the ceremony. Ashman's final nomination would actually come another year later, for his work on Aladdin's "Friend Like Me."

The impact Ashman's contributions had on the revival of Disney studios and on future composers cannot be understated. Songs he composed - the likes of "Under the Sea," "Be Our Guest" and "Beauty and the Beast" - are not only some of the most iconic and popular of the Disney catalogue but among the most beloved film songs ever.

But it's really Ashman's sweeter, more subtle work that's always gotten to me.

I think of Little Shop's "Somewhere That's Green," with those heartrending lyrics about inner beauty and dreams of a picture-perfect life out of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, performed to the heavens by Ellen Greene. I also think of The Little Mermaid's glorious "Part of Your World," which, even though it somehow wasn't Oscar-nominated here, I consider the greatest of all Disney songs. Performed by the brilliant Jodi Benson, it's actually quite reminiscent of "Somewhere That's Green," a dreamy ballad that's equal parts hopeful and somber and all-around breathtaking.

We are so blessed to have lived in a world where Howard Ashman made music.

Now, as for 1989 Best Original Song, it's pretty much a slam dunk for "Under the Sea," which, while no "Part of Your World," is still a bouncy, exuberant delight, whole-heartedly worthy of victory. The other Little Mermaid nominee, "Kiss the Girl," is a nice one too, but hardly leaves the same level of impression. I'm also mildly fond of Chances Are's "After All," the agreeably corny Cher-Peter Cetera duet from the underrated Cybill Shepherd-Robert Downey, Jr. dramedy.

The remaining two nominees are so dull and unremarkable they're not really worth discussing, even though "I Love to See You Smile" was composed by Randy Newman and "The Girl Who Used to Be Me" marked another Hamlisch-Bergman-Bergman effort. All of these typically fine artists were completely asleep at the wheel here.

Why couldn't the Academy have dumped Newman and the old The Way We Were team for a couple of Prince tunes off the kinky Batman soundtrack?

The Oscar-winners ranked (thus far)...

  1. "Over the Rainbow," The Wizard of Oz (1939)
  2. "The Way You Look Tonight," Swing Time (1936)
  3. "High Hopes," A Hole in the Head (1959)
  4. "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)," The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
  5. "Mona Lisa," Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950)
  6. "Baby, It's Cold Outside," Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  7. "(I've Had) the Time of My Life," Dirty Dancing (1987)
  8. "The Windmills of Your Mind," The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
  9. "The Way We Were," The Way We Were (1973)
  10. "Let the River Run," Working Girl (1988)
  11. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  12. "Under the Sea," The Little Mermaid (1989)
  13. "High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me, On My Darlin')," High Noon (1952)
  14. "I'm Easy," Nashville (1975)
  15. "You'll Never Know," Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943)
  16. "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," The Harvey Girls (1946)
  17. "Fame," Fame (1980)
  18. "Theme from Shaft," Shaft (1971)
  19. "Secret Love," Calamity Jane (1953)
  20. "White Christmas," Holiday Inn (1942)
  21. "Moon River," Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
  22. "Take My Breath Away," Top Gun (1986)
  23. "When You Wish Upon a Star," Pinocchio (1940)
  24. "Thanks for the Memory," The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
  25. "Lullaby of Broadway," Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
  26. "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," Song of the South (1947)
  27. "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance (1983)
  28. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)," Arthur (1981)
  29. "Last Dance," Thank God It's Friday (1978)
  30. "Days of Wine and Roses," Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
  31. "For All We Know," Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
  32. "All the Way," The Joker Is Wild (1957)
  33. "It Might As Well Be Spring," State Fair (1945)
  34. "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Lady Be Good (1941)
  35. "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening," Here Comes the Groom (1951)
  36. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
  37. "It Goes Like It Goes," Norma Rae (1979)
  38. "Born Free," Born Free (1966)
  39. "Never on Sunday," Never on Sunday (1960)
  40. "I Just Called to Say I Love You," The Woman in Red (1984)
  41. "Up Where We Belong," An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)
  42. "Three Coins in the Fountain," Three Coins in the Fountain (1954)
  43. "Chim Chim Cher-ee," Mary Poppins (1964)
  44. "Call Me Irresponsible," Papa's Delicate Condition (1963)
  45. "Evergreen (Theme from A Star Is Born)," A Star Is Born (1976)
  46. "Swinging on a Star," Going My Way (1944)
  47. "You Light Up My Life," You Light Up My Life (1977)
  48. "Gigi," Gigi (1958)
  49. "The Continental," The Gay Divorcee (1934)
  50. "Sweet Leilani," Waikiki Wedding (1937)
  51. "Buttons and Bows," The Paleface (1948)
  52. "Talk to the Animals," Doctor Dolittle (1967)
  53. "The Shadow of Your Smile," The Sandpiper (1965)
  54. "Say You, Say Me," White Nights (1985)
  55. "The Morning After," The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  56. "We May Never Love Like This Again," The Towering Inferno (1974)