Monday Morning Mixtape 063: Near, Far, Wherever You Are

Welcome to Monday Morning Mixtape, a PoYB Contributor-curated playlist of songs, made just for you at the start of each week.

Hopefully someone picks "Golden." I like that song, I just have heard it too many times to purposefully choose for a mixtape.

"Near, Far, Wherever You Are"

Good songs that were nominated for Best Original Song at the Oscars at some point in the past 92 years

chosen by Batts

Spotify

YouTube

"Skyfall" by Adele

from Skyfall: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 2012

My dad is a big James Bond fan. My grandmother is also a James Bond fan. My grandmother thinks Sean Connery, the original Bond, is the best, while my dad has a preference for Roger Moore, who was Bond while he was a teenager. I've had a soft spot for Pierce Brosnan, since he was the Bond of the '90s. Eventually, Amazon will make a new Bond movie with a new James Bond and everyone (who cares) over the age of 25 will say "the other Bonds were better."  —Batts

"That Thing You Do!" by the Wonders

from That Thing You Do! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), 1996

I picked my half-dozen songs today by just scrolling through the Wikipedia list and picking out some songs that I liked. It's not hard to find songs that I like; I like a lot of songs. But man, there is some real boring dreck on this list. Jesus. It's almost as if rich old white guy movie people have terrible taste in music! Just look at the bullshit that the immortal "That Thing You Do!" had to compete with in 1997. The winner was some eyeroll-worth Andrew Lloyd Webber shit, I thought that guy was dead?!? Barbra Streisand and Bryan Adams teamed up for some schmaltz, yuck! Some memory-holed Clooney/Pfeiffer rom-com called One Fine Day had a song that was certainly not as good as "One Fine Day." And, of course, Diane Warren was there, losing her 87th Oscar nomination out of 249 losing Oscar nominations total. Justice for the late, great Adam Schlesinger. He should've won. But I'm not surprised he didn't!  —Joe

"I'm Just Ken" by Ken (performed by Ryan Gosling)

from Barbie the Album, 2023

For the many things you can criticize the academy for, they have a weird track record around Best Song. For example, Diane Warren has received like fifteen Oscar nominations for weird tacked-on, nobody-enjoyed-them songs. She has never won. But she continues to get nominations usually from movies that no one has even heard of. They also tend to pick a serious song instead of a fun song. I wanted to pick one of the many bangers from Encanto, but only one song was nominated, and it was not one of those bangers. At least "I'm Just Ken" got a nod.  Instead of Mark Ronson, competing for his EGOT, Billie Eilish and her boring, breathy, lack of diction stylings win again. I've been waging a Cold War against Eilish for a while. Maybe today is the day when I plant my flag.  —Sam


"Falling Slowly" by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

from Once (Music from the Motion Picture), 2007

This is the first song that comes to mind when I think of "Best Song." Wow, I love this song. It makes me cry. I'll never forget how Markéta Irglová was ushered off the stage by the music and how Jon Stewart made a joke about how full of himself Hansard is (he's not). The fact that the two of them dated in real life makes it that much better. The movie hits you right in the feels, and it's a win for independent movies and musicmaking. 

"No matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible, and fair play for those who dare to dream." —Marketa Irglova, in her speech (after she was brought back on stage)  —Zach

"Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen

from Philadelphia Official Soundtrack, 1994

I'll admit I cracked open the Wikipedia to peruse the movie memories for the prompt. What Oscar songs do I know off the top of my head? Uhhh, "Jai Ho"? The Tarzan song? Shrek??? After reading through, I'm upset to see the one James Bond song by Chris Cornell is not in here, the year Inconvenient Truth won for Best Song. At least we solved climate change. I almost submitted "Everything is Awesome" by T&S, being a T&S head and having forgotten about that song, but maybe too cheery/corny for Monday morning. No, instead let's lean into some of our Phila Jersey roots, and the total absolute opposite emotional tenor.  —Sunny

"You've Got a Friend in Me" by Randy Newman and Lyle Lovett

from Toy Story: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack, 1995

I did my best to avoid Disney songs, even though there are some worthy ones on there—"Under the Sea," "Let It Go," "The Bare Necessities," just to name a few. I don't even think that "You've Got a Friend in Me" is the best Disney song ever nominated, but I made an exception because it felt like the song most integral to the soul of the film that it's in. There's a reason it's in all four Toy Story movies, because it nails that simple feeling of being young and open to the wonders of the world and open too to the idea that maybe some of that wonder can be found in a toy, or maybe toys are a metaphor for friends or growing up or something, I don't know, I'm going off the rails in this blurb, just over hear bullshitting nonsense about Toy Story, nothing even needs to be said, y'all know this song well, it's a good one, fuck Disney.  —Joe

"It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" by DJay and Shug (performed by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, respectively, and written by Three 6 Mafia)

from Hustle & Flow: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture, 2005

This song is usually the punchline of "you know, Tom Cruise and Glen Close don't have Oscars, but guess who does?" Did anyone else also misremember Hustle & Flow as the 50 Cent biopic? That's obviously Get Rich or Die Tryin', which also features Terrence Howard. But that's not this. Still, the purveyors of "Slob on My Knob" have grabbed Oscar gold.  —Sam

"Theme from Shaft" by Isaac Hayes

from Shaft, 1971

Shit, I meant to choose songs only from movies that I've seen before. But I've never seen Shaft. It's on the Film Club list, don't worry. We'll get there. Here's the thing, though: I'm going to have to watch it eventually. That's how it goes. That's my self-imposed duty as member of this Film Club. If I said that I wasn't sure if I was going to watch it, then what would Film Club look like? It's called integrity. It's like if someone from the Academy, like a voting member, stated that they weren't going to watch all the films that they were tasked with voting on. What would that mean? Wouldn't the votes be meaningless? Can you imagine a world in which people who ostensible care so much about movies that they want to be a part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and yet they can't even be bothered to watch all the nominated movies? That would be crazy, right?  —Joe

This was my biggest surprise "that's an Oscar winner?" mentally followed with a "hell yeah." This made Isaac Hayes the third African American to win an any Oscar. I realize I've never seen Shaft. I went and checked, and yes, it's on the PoYB 400 film list, so let's circle back in, uh, a while. Regardless, this song's so commonly re-sampled and parodied in other media that it is essential.  —Sunny

"Lose Yourself" by Eminem

from 8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture, 2002

One time I tried to rap the first bars of this song at an open mic and I realized how hard rapping is. I can't do it. I can only somewhat do the version of rapping that Drake tries to do. But I can't hold a candle to Eminem, that larger than life figure. It plays in gyms around the world to this day.

"He has symphonies in his head... he's a good man, with a good heart." —Jeff Bass, in his speech, on Eminem  —Zach

"The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News
from Back to the Future: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack, 1985

It's been, I dunno, close to a decade since I've seen any of the movies in this trilogy (though I wonder if the first one would be a good Family Movie Night pick eventually? maybe in a couple years), but from what I recall, there was at least a little bit of a discussion about the ethics of purposefully changing the trajectory of your life for the better, right? Marty brings a sports almanac back to the past, doesn't he? Biff fucks it up or something. I refuse to look it up, because I'm not concerned about the details. I'm just saying that I understand the impulse, and I don't think that it gets ethically murky unless the decisions you make are going to make people's lives worse. I don't think there's anything wrong with betting on the World Series, winning some money, and putting that shit in a high-yield savings account to mature for 30 years instantly. Who exactly would that be screwing over? The bookies or something? Doc's gotta relax a little and let Marty have some fun.  —Joe

The Back to the Future trilogy, as a whole, is something of a cheat when I list it as one of my favorite films. The original BttF actually celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, and it was a little frustrating how there seems to be a growing online backlash to the movie over its real and perceived "problematic" elements, but which mainly seem to boil down to it being seen as an easy target by content creators trying leaning into snarky surface-level commentary for brownie points in the cultural wars... Sorry if that seems like a weird rant, part two is a childhood favorite, even if it boils down to "the hoverboards are cool!" Just let us enjoy stuff!  —Batts

"It Might as Well Be Spring" by Margy Frake (performed by Jeanne Crain, dubbed by Louanne Hogan, and written by Rodgers and Hammerstein)

from the film State Fair, 1945

Fresh off taking in Blue Moon, the Lorenz Hart "one night in my life" Linklater film, I was curious if the forgotten lyricist had ever struck Oscar gold. His ideological purity seems to have kept him outside the Academy's good graces. But not Rodgers and that fat, talentless fuck Oscar Hammerstein. I've never heard of this song or the movie State Fair. But while Hart is lying dead in a Manhattan gutter, these jokers are yucking it up in Holly-weird.  —Sam

"Save Me" by Aimee Mann

from Magnolia: Music from the Motion Picture, 1999

This song was performed in the film Magnolia and in the television show called PORTLANDIA. Yes, PORTLANDIA, the show that the haters enjoy trolling, but that is universally beloved, even in the hearts of the people who deny it to themselves. PORTLANDIA, PORTLANDIA. Say its name. Everyone already knows. PORTLANDIA.  —Zach

"Accidentally in Love" by Counting Crows

from Shrek 2: Motion Picture Soundtrack, 2004

I am sorry to report that I finally got around to listening to This Desert Life by Counting Crows the other week, and I am now a certifiable fan of Counting Crows. I will now go to the mat for this band. They made good music! I can't verify anything after the surprisingly great Shrek 2 song, but I can say that I've never heard a bad Counting Crows song, and that I probably have never heard a just-okay Counting Crows song either. I'm sorry if that makes me a... what does that make me? I was gonna say Boomer in the '90s, but is that accurate? My parents are boomers and they absolutely listened to Counting Crows in the '90s. But they would never give a fuck about Shrek 2, ya know? I guess I don't either. But I do care about Counting Crows. Whatever that makes me, consider me that. I should rewatch Shrek 2.  —Joe

"Miss Misery" by Elliott Smith

from Good Will Hunting: Music from the Miramax Motion Picture, 1997

I've always preferred the Seth Avett / Jessica Lea Mayfield versions of Elliott Smith to Elliott Smith himself. Still, this one is devastating. If you watch the live version of him performing it at the Oscars, you realize it's all soul, no ego. It's like watching a cat acting a certain way, because that's its nature. It had no chance against "My Heart Will Go On," but the fact it was performed is victory enough.  —Zach

"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" by B. J. Thomas

from Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head, 1969

Damn, nothing lasts on the internet. I'm sure it's out there somewhere, maybe in screenshot form, but at one point, there was a tweet, and it might be my all-time favorite tweet. But it was a tweet by B. J. Thomas, and it was in response to music critic Tom Breihan's tough but fair assessment of "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" for his The Number Ones column. I seem to recall Breihan taking issue with the fact that the song doesn't fit with the movie's feel and tone. That's a pretty common complaint. But still, B. J. Thomas took offense to the article anyway, and responded, at age 76, the tweet of: "Fuck you. BJ". It makes me giggle still, to this day, even almost five years after B. J. passed away. Hey B. J., fuck you  —Joe 

There was a period of time where I would come home from middle school and watch a portion of the VHS edition of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. I still hold that up as one of the best parodies ever, though the later films descended into a parody of the glory that was the original. This song—and Bacharach—are featured in a funny little sad part, with Mike Myers winking. Little did I know that this was formerly accoladed from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid many years prior. That scene is a happy one too! This song generally has become a stand-in for saccharine nonsense, but it actually is quite earnest. Glad Burt took home the hardware.  —Sam

"The Hands That Built America" by U2

from Gangs of New York: Music from the Miramax Motion Picture, 2002

There is a slim but real chance that Leonardo DiCaprio might have won his second Best Actor Oscar by the time this blog post goes up. According to the Oscar race articles I've read and podcasts I've listened to, Best Actor this year will either go to Leo, Timothée Chalamet, or Michael B. Jordan. To tie this Oscar race with this song, I do find it interesting how each of the movies these actors are nominated for says something about America's past, present, and future. Sinners shows the sins of America's past, while Marty Supreme shows average American selfishness in those who are hustling for "American Exceptionalism." And One Battle After Another just describes the modern world.  —Batts

NEXT WEEK: "Call Me by Your Name" — Pairs of songs, the first one whose title has the name of another artist in that title, and the second, your favorite song from the artist in that title (chosen by Joe)