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Jewish World Review April 6, 2001 / 13 Nissan, 5761

Greg Crosby

Greg Crosby
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Consumer Reports


Academy Award Winning Song?

http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- BOB DYLAN’S "Things Have Changed" (from the movie, "Wonder Boys") has won the Academy Award for Best Song. The other nominees for Best Song this year were: "A Fool In Love," "I’ve Seen It All," "A Love Before Time," and "My Funny Friend And Me."

For those of you who missed the Oscar show or have not actually heard all of the nominated songs, you have no idea what a tough decision it must have been for the voters to pick the "best" out of this lineup. Why? Well, it would be akin to choosing the "Best Fragrance" from these choices: 1) A badly neglected public rest room, 2) Seven days worth of dirty baby diapers, 3) Vomit, 4) Limburger cheese, or 5) A two week old corpse.

Am I saying that all the songs that were nominated this year stunk? Yes I am. I’m saying that they don’t even qualify as semi-good songs, let alone Oscar nominees. If you think this is just another "they don’t make ‘em like they used to" old fogy complaint, just check out this list of some past winners for "Best Song":

"The Continental"
"Lullaby of Broadway"
"The Way You Look Tonight"
"Thanks For The Memory"
"Over The Rainbow"
"When You Wish Upon A Star"
"The Last Time I Saw Paris"
"White Christmas"
"You’ll Never Know"
"Swinging On A Star"
"It Might As Well Be Spring"
"On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe"
"Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah"
"Buttons And Bows"
"Mona Lisa"
"In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening"
"Lili"
"Three Coins In The Fountain"
"Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing"
"All The Way"
"Gigi"
"Never On Sunday"
"Moon River"
"Days Of Wine And Roses"
"Call Me Irresponsible"
"The Shadow Of Your Smile"
"Born Free"
"The Way We Were"
"You Light Up My Life"

Are all these songs great? Maybe not, but an awful lot of them are. And one thing is for sure, every one of them is memorable and singable, or at least humable. Times change. Music changes. Melodious, lyrical tunes have become passé. Singing "in tune" is old-fashioned and just not done anymore. How many Oscar winning songs of the past few years can you "hum?" How many do you even care to remember?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has attempted, through the years, to stay current and vital to the needs of the industry it serves and to the public at large. As times change, it has adapted -- altering categories, adding categories and eliminating categories when the need arises. In view of the direction that music has taken, perhaps it’s about time for the Academy to retire the "Best Song" category from its award lineup. To quote the ironic title of this year’s Academy Award winning song, "Things Have Changed."

Indeed.


JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. You may contact him by clicking here.

Up

03/30/01: Curiously strong
03/23/01: The Not Very Funny Papers
03/16/01: Acting Politically Correct
03/09/01: Get Off The Phone!
03/02/01: A Brief Statement by Al Gore (A Fantasy Which Will Never Happen)
02/23/01: President Bush Q & A Exclusive
02/13/01: Pregnant and in your face
02/05/01: Let 'em know
01/30/01: One Final Trashing
01/26/01: Don't look in the mirror
01/19/01: He Got It His Way
01/12/01: Be cool ... be very cool
01/05/01: What’s Next?
12/29/00: "Hi, I'm Megan And I'll Be Your Dealer This Evening."
12/23/00: A nice old-fashioned winter
12/15/00: A holiday carol for the Fat Lady
12/08/00: Vice president Queeg
12/01/00: Here we come a-caroling
11/23/00: Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
11/17/00: Gore’s Desperation
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11/03/00: Read this before you vote
10/27/00: Democratic Big Guns Shoot Blanks
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09/22/00: Put On A Tie, Ya Bums!
09/15/00: A sneak peek at The William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library
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07/27/00: Trick or Treat
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06/29/00: My Home Sweet Home
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06/13/00: The Sweetest Sounds
06/02/00: Another Opening, Another Show
05/22/00: What's next, The Million Mutt March?
05/19/00: Hail the Conquering Hero
05/12/00: Extra! Read All About It!
05/03/00: Clinton’s Transparent Department of Duplicity and Demagoguery
04/24/00: For The Children?
04/19/00: Liars And Cowards And Bums, Oh My!
04/11/00: Gripe, Gripe, Gripe
04/05/00: Counting the Race Cards
03/30/00: Speed Bumps
03/22/00: The Eyes Have It
03/15/00: Academia and Media --- They’re Just Not Right
03/09/00: Sweat The Small Stuff -- It’s Okay
03/02/00: Actors And Other Animals
02/23/00: Campaign 2000 --- Wake Me When Its Over
02/15/00: Who Wants to be Regis Philbin?
02/08/00: Aftermath of a Tragedy
01/31/00: Ask Mr. Politically Correct Man
01/25/00: I’d Like To Thank All The Little People
01/20/00: Merger Mania
01/11/00: Just Say JA-GWAAR
01/04/00: Who Was That Masked Man? My Hero!
12/28/99: New Millennium --- New Rules
12/21/99: Bubba’s Visit From Saint Nick
12/14/99: Call Me Mister
12/08/99: So Much Going On, So Little Time
11/30/99: Sunday Afternoon
11/22/99: The Best Money Can’t Buy
11/15/99: My Peter Pan Generation
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10/29/99: When my wife was young and Gay
10/22/99: Too Late for Dinner
10/15/99: Pondering, Musing and Supposing
10/05/99: A Message From Your Journalistic Human Interest Commentator
09/24/99: The Getting Away With It Decade
09/17/99: The Scoop of the Century
09/09/99: Important Millennium Advisory
09/03/99: Ask Mr. Politically Correct Man
08/26/99: Broadcasters, Please mind Your Manners
08/19/99: The Golden Age of Jerkdom
08/12/99: Dressing Down...and Out


© 2000, Greg Crosby