I've decided to restrict this only to songs originally from movies. Thus, beloved movie songs like "As Time Goes By", "Singin' in the Rain", and "Everybody's Talkin'", all of which came out years before they were immortalized in Casablanca, Singin' in the Rain, and Midnight Cowboy, respectively, are not included. You also won't see any musical numbers that originated in theater. I don't know why the American Film Institute for their list of the best movie songs in 2004 used a song like "The Sound of Music", which wasn't originally for the film, when they could have used the song "Something Good", which was originally written for the movie (and is far superior). (At any rate, as fantastic as "Something Good" is, it's not on this list, either.) The same goes for a few unforgettable songs by rock stars. For example, you'll find a Prince song on this list, but you won't find any of the great songs by Pink Floyd from the film The Wall, the 1982 musical that used songs from their 1979 album.
The best movie songs are:
21. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python's Life of Brain)
"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", from the 1979 comedy Monty Python's Life of Brian, is perhaps the best musical representation of the British "stiff upper lip" attitude there is. It is certainly a song, with its advice to chin up and keep going (even if you're being tortured by Romans), that has endured; Eric Idle, who wrote the song and performs it during the final scene of the film, even sang it at the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics. These days, it's especially popular at funerals. "Galaxy Song" from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life is also delightful.
20. Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)
Memorably sung by B.J. Thomas, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is written by the songwriting team Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who both won the Oscar for Best Original Song; Bacharach also won for Best Original Score. Bacharach won another Oscar for co-writing the song "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)". It's an unusual song for a Western, but Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is an unusual Western. As good as the radio version is, it's something else to watch the complete version with orchestration as Paul Newman charmingly rides around on a bicycle, pursued by an ox.
Written by Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock and performed by the band Berlin,
"Take My Breath Away" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1987. The 1980s in cinema have often been lampooned for the gratuitous (and fake-looking) lovemaking scenes, and the love scene in Top Gun between Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis is pretty random, but "Take My Breath Away" elevates the scene above the rest. The rhythm by Mororder (nicknamed "the father of disco") is iconic; ten years ago, Saturday Night Live had some fun with it (with a little help from Paul McCartney).
18. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away (Help!)
Written and sung by John Lennon, "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" is not the best Beatles song, but that just reminds us how great most of their music was. (At least it's one of their fifty best.) For a film as cluttered and dull as Help! is, it's a breath of fresh air when the Fab Four pause for a moment, relax in their room, and sing a song that has nothing to do with the plot (if that word can be used) of the film. It's a great tune, one you've likely often heard on the radio, and it features Lennon channeling his inner-Bob Dylan.
17. Let's Go Crazy (Purple Rain)
"Purple Rain" may have been the song more widely associated with Prince, but the chart-topping "Let's Go Crazy", which opens the album and the film, is the superior one. (It certainly wasn't played ad nauseam after the star's death in 2016.) A eulogy for "this thing called life", "Let's Go Crazy" is an energetic masterwork from an artist at the top of his game. All of the songs on this album are terrific, and "Let's Go Crazy" is the perfect way to start it. Prince's songs "Trust" and "Partyman" for the Batman soundtrack are likely honorable mentions on this list.
16. Stayin' Alive (Saturday Night Fever)
"Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees is the coolest song on this list. It was a huge success for the group, and they would eventually tie the Beatles with six consecutive number-one hits (before Whitey Houston beat them both with seven). John Travolta strutting down the streets of New York to this song is him at the peak of his coolness, and the only time he has come close to matching it was when he and Uma Thurman danced to "You Never Can Tell" in Pulp Fiction. Travolta was already a star from television, but Saturday Night Fever made him a superstar, earning him an Oscar nomination. The song was not nominated. It has, however, literally saved lives. Last year, a man used the information he learned from a hysterical episode of The Office regarding "Stayin' Alive" to save a woman's life.
Widely celebrated as one of Dolly Parton's most popular songs, "9 to 5" feels like a call-to-arms and tribute to workers everywhere. Parton wrote and sung the song for the comedy of the same name that starred her, Jane Fonda, and Lilly Tomlin as three office workers who team up to overthrow their sexist manager, played by Dabney Coleman. Particularly with lines like "they just use your mind and they never give you credit," "9 to 5" also has a strong feminism bent to it. It was even used by Elizabeth Warren during her recent campaign for president. Earning an Oscar nomination, it reached the number-one spot on three Billboard charts. As Wikipedia puts it, the project "launched her permanently into mainstream popular culture."
The wonderfully calm "Mona Lisa" originally comes from the 1950 film noir Captain Carey, USA, starring Alan Ladd. It was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, the songwriting team who also wrote "Silver Bells", the Oscar-winning "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)", and the theme music for Bonanza. "Mona Lisa" earned Livingston and Evans an Oscar for Best Original Song. The original version in the film is performed by Charlie Spivak, but the most well-known version has been Nat King Cole's, whose rendition topped the charts for five weeks in 1950 and was featured in the film of the same name in 1986, starring Bob Hoskins and Michael Caine.
13. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Meet Me in St. Louis)
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" can always be heard on the radio at Christmastime, but many have forgotten that it is originally sung by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis, directed by Vincent Minnelli. Written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, it's a song about persevering and "muddling through" at a time that often can be difficult for many; it stands in contrast to many holiday songs that are overly sappy. The Frank Sinatra version is fine, but it contains a line that should be more controversial: The story goes that Sinatra was going to include it on his album A Jolly Christmas, and he asked Martin to "jolly up" the line about "we'll have to muddle through somehow." Martin stripped the song of its necessary melancholy by changing it to "hang a shining star upon the highest bough." Stick with the Garland version; it's better.
12. Be Our Guest (Beauty and the Beast)
Sung with such an apparent sense of fun by Jerry Orbach, Angela Lansbury, and others, this song really took Beauty and the Beast completely into the realm of enchantment. After all, the silverware are singing songs about French dining. The song was written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken; they were also nominated for the song "Belle" earlier in the movie. Both songs lost; the winner was the film's title song, also written by Ashman and Menken. Ashman and Menken won the same awards for The Little Mermaid two years before Beauty and the Beast. After Ashman died, Menken continued writing songs and music for Disney animated films, winning four more Oscars for Aladdin and Pocahontas.
11. Theme from New York, New York (New York, New York)
Possibly the best-known song about New York City, we have Robert De Niro, in his third collaboration with Martin Scorsese, to thank for this song, as the songwriters John Kander and Fred Ebb have claimed that De Niro criticized their original theme, thus sending them back to start from scratch. While the film was not as much of a critical success as others directed by Scorsese, "New York, New York" the song will last forever. And while the version by Liza Minnelli, the star of the film, is fantastic, this song has since been closely associated with Frank Sinatra, who recorded a version just after the film was released, and is probably the best version.
10. (I've Had) The Time of My Life (Dirty Dancing)
Composed by Frank Previte, John DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz, this iconic climactic scene would not be nearly as unforgettable without the song and the vocal performance of Jennifer Warners and Bill Medley. The title of the film had apparently concerned Previte that he had walked into the wrong kind of movie, but he became convinced that the movie would change his life, so he took it. In addition to winning a Grammy, it won Best Original Song at the 1988 Oscars. It also was number one on the Billboard Top 100. According to Patrick Swayze, the team had turned down 149 songs before finally settling on "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", and even though they had already shot that final dance scene with another song playing, they re-shot it to the new one.
Like "Mona Lisa", the original version of this song might surprise you when you hear it, for it sounds remarkably different than the more famous version. It's originally from a 1955 prison film called Unchained and was written by Alex North and performed by Todd Duncan. The song was nominated for Best Song but lost to "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" from the film of the same name. "Unchained Melody" has since been recorded my more than 670 artists in several different languages, with the most famous version being by the Righteous Brothers in 1965. That version was used in a very sensual scene between Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze in the 1990 hit romance-horror-comedy flick Ghost, which also incorporated it into its musical score by Maurce Jarre to great effect.
8. White Christmas (Holiday Inn)
Irving Berlin's nostalgic holiday song and its many cover versions are frequently heard around Christmas. Berlin was Jewish, so reportedly it was not a simple task for him to write a song about Christmas nostalgia. He did, though, and it's a notably secular song, one that has been immensely popular for the past seventy years. The lyrics, as everyone knows, are about someone dreaming of having a snow-filled Christmas like the ones they used to remember, of children singing and Christmas cards and all that fun stuff. With a positive wish that everyone has a merry and bright Christmas, it's a very soothing tune, especially Bing Crosby's version.
Widely regarded as one of Eminem's best (if not his best) raps, "Lose Yourself" was the first hip-hop song to win Best Original Song at the Academy Awards, an award it richly deserved. Eminem wrote the lyrics in between takes during the filming of 8 Mile, and other than the "Mom's spaghetti" line, it works. So, too, does the combative tone that will stay with you. Eminem was not at the Oscars to accept his award in 2003, but he did make a surprise appearance at this year's awards to sing it, delighting everyone (except, it seemed, Martin Scorsese, although his daughter later insisted that her father actually really liked the performance).
6. Don't You (Forget About Me) (The Breakfast Club)
The 1985 teen comedy-drama film written and directed by John Hughes has definitely been re-evaluated in recent years, but the song is just as well-loved today as it was back then. Written by Steve Schiff and Keith Forsey, who produced the film's soundtrack, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" is sung by the Scottish band Simple Minds. Despite some of their early reservations about it (partly because they didn't get it and partly because it wasn't one of their own songs), the song would eventually reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It has become practically the theme song of '80s teen films and was predictably used to pay tribute to John Hughes after his death.
"When You Wish Upon a Star", written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington, is from the fascinating and frightful 1940 Disney animated film Pinocchio (as everyone knows). The first Disney song to win an Oscar for Best Original Song, it is widely regarded as Disney's best. In some countries, it's even a Christmas song. Cliff Edwards as Jiminy Cricket opens the film with his celestial singing in a way few others have been able to do. There's a reason why this film has come to symbolize what Disney would prefer us to think of when that corporation pops into our head. It's a song about dreams, and that no matter who you are, no aspiration is impossible.
4. Mrs. Robinson (The Graduate)
Easily one of Simon and Garfunkel's most recognizable singalong tunes, "Mrs. Robinson" became the duo's second chart-topper and the first rock song to win Record of the Year at the Grammys. Originally titled "Mrs. Roosevelt", Paul Simon pitched the song to director Mike Nichols (who liked it very much), and the song was changed to "Mrs. Robinson", Ann Bancroft's character in the film. It's a cheerful antithesis to "The Sound of Silence" from two years earlier, which was used to open The Graduate.
3. Nobody Does It Better (The Spy Who Loved Me)
"Nobody Does It Better", written by Marvin Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager and sung by Carly Simon, is perhaps the Bond song most unlike what audiences expect from a Bond song, and yet it's undoubtedly the best. The Spy Who Loved Me is the tenth official Bond film, and other than the Paul McCartney rock 'n' roll song for Live and Let Die, no other song had taken such a noticeable departure from the heaviness of the previous tunes (other than Madonna's song for Die Another Day, but that doesn't have to be mentioned). It's been covered numerous times, from Julie Andrews to Radiohead, whose lead singer Thom Yorke declared it "the sexiest song that was ever written." It was also used to pay tribute both to Bond actor Roger Moore and Desmond Llewelyn, who played Q, after they died in 2017 and 1999, respectively. Its orchestra and Simon's smooth vocals make it such an enormously comforting, if vain, song.
2. Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (Mannequin)
The teen romcom Mannequin has easily been forgotten, but the Jefferson Starship Oscar-nominated power ballad "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is immortal. Written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren, you're guaranteed to hear this one at prom or a wedding. (Some couples have even impressively danced to it as their first dance.) With all due respect to "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" should have taken home the prize in 1988. (Warren has been nominated for eleven Oscars, including as recently as 2020, but has never won.) This song is perfect.
1. Over the Rainbow (The Wizard of Oz)
The lists that the American Film Institute used to do years ago were quite terrible, but one they got right was identifying "Over the Rainbow" as the greatest movie song in American cinema. This song is nostalgia supreme. Composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg in a classic scene featuring Dorthy and her dog, Toto (and directed by the uncredited King Vidor), it's a song that will likely spark so many emotions. What really makes it a stunning song is Judy Garland's voice. At just the age of 16, she seemed to become the calm voice of a world heading into a second world war and struggling through the Depression. What makes it all the more remarkable is that she was abused repeatedly during this time, including being slapped by director Victor Fleming when Burt Lahr's antics were making her laugh. Her story is further proof that how Hollywood has treated women is nothing new.
In these trying times, as the world faces another crisis, struggling to contain a massive pandemic and survive another possible economic depression, "Over the Rainbow" is likely a song that can offer at least a bit of an attempt to alleviate many who are anxious about the state of affairs. The song will last far longer than any calamity thrown our way.
The teen romcom Mannequin has easily been forgotten, but the Jefferson Starship Oscar-nominated power ballad "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is immortal. Written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren, you're guaranteed to hear this one at prom or a wedding. (Some couples have even impressively danced to it as their first dance.) With all due respect to "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" should have taken home the prize in 1988. (Warren has been nominated for eleven Oscars, including as recently as 2020, but has never won.) This song is perfect.
1. Over the Rainbow (The Wizard of Oz)
The lists that the American Film Institute used to do years ago were quite terrible, but one they got right was identifying "Over the Rainbow" as the greatest movie song in American cinema. This song is nostalgia supreme. Composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg in a classic scene featuring Dorthy and her dog, Toto (and directed by the uncredited King Vidor), it's a song that will likely spark so many emotions. What really makes it a stunning song is Judy Garland's voice. At just the age of 16, she seemed to become the calm voice of a world heading into a second world war and struggling through the Depression. What makes it all the more remarkable is that she was abused repeatedly during this time, including being slapped by director Victor Fleming when Burt Lahr's antics were making her laugh. Her story is further proof that how Hollywood has treated women is nothing new.
In these trying times, as the world faces another crisis, struggling to contain a massive pandemic and survive another possible economic depression, "Over the Rainbow" is likely a song that can offer at least a bit of an attempt to alleviate many who are anxious about the state of affairs. The song will last far longer than any calamity thrown our way.
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