The Nominees: Song Of The Year
Billie Eilish's hauntingly beautiful song for Barbie has already earned accolades and is likely to win her a 2nd Oscar. Might it also be the track that sees her score her 3rd major Song/Record Grammy in the last 5 years?
We're now just 10 days away from the 2024 Grammys, which means it's high time to preview another general category at the ceremony. In case you missed it, here is my breakdown of the Best New Artist field. Next award up in our pre-Grammys bonanza: Song of the Year!
Song of the Year is one of two awards to serve as a prize for a song in a general capacity, rather than a genre field (like Best Pop Performance, or Best Rap Song, etc.). The other, of course, is Record Of The Year. Annually, the inevitable question from reasonable people-- myself included --is, what is the difference between the two? To be honest, I've never really known a good answer, so, from the horse's mouth: "The Record Of The Year category recognizes the artist’s performance as well as the overall contributions of the producer(s), recording engineer(s) and/or mixer(s) if other than the artist. The Song Of The Year category recognizes the songwriter(s)." Essentially, I think what this is saying is that Record Of The Year is more a trophy for the general production of a song, while Song Of The Year is more about the bare-bones music and lyrics.
Of course, it isn't necessarily that simple, because 7 times in the last decade, including just a couple years ago with Silk Sonic's "Leave The Door Open," the same single won both awards. There's a good chance that phenomenon could happen again, as this year, over half of the field are also nominees for Record of the Year.
All that being said, here are the nominees for SOTY, in order from least to most likely to win, according to odds from GoldDerby.com.
"Dance The Night" - Dua Lipa
Odds: 10-1
Peak Chart Position (General): 6th
Daniel's Music Rating: 8/10
Daniel's Lyrics Rating: 6/10
Arguably chief among the many aspects that caused Barbie to be the buzziest cultural event of the year was the soundtrack, and this disco-op number from Dua Lipa was the score's lead single. Conventional thinking was that it would also be the film's push for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, but it has since been eclipsed, so much so that it was not even nominated for the award. This fairly shocking snub might boost Dua's odds in this race, giving her an 'underdog' angle amongst voters. Would it be a deserving winner? Well, you could certainly find much worse. The lyrics aren’t exactly profound on their own, but they are perfect within the context of the movie, totally encapsulating the simultaneous "party!!"/existential crisis vibes. And as is par for the course with this artist, musically it's irresistible. A stronger chorus might make it memorable, sure, but the verses, beat and bridge are all terrific.
"A&W" - Lana Del Rey
Odds: 9-1
Peak Chart Position (General): n/a
Daniel's Music Rating: 6/10
Daniel's Lyrics Rating: 9/10
In many years-- maybe even in most years --the Song of the Year race has at least one track that is nominated less because it made a cultural impact, and more because it’s just really, really good. This year, "A&W" is that nominee. Lana del Rey's single off her Grammy-nominated album was named by several entertainment publications to be the best song of 2023, even though it barely cracked the Billboard Top 200 on mainstream radio. Admittedly, musically there isn't a ton is going on, though that’s not really necessary when you have such a gorgeous, dynamic voice as you do with Lana. That said, this is one of the few times I have to give credit to producer Jack Antonoff, which I am loathe to do; the mid-track switch from hushed piano ballad to a trap-beat dystopian breakdown perfectly mirrors the singer's tone. A renowned songwriter, del Ray's lyrics are unsurprisingly the star here. Though her words may appear to be self-flagellation, look closer and you will see they’re a biting critique of the media cycle and society’s treatment of her and women like her.
"Kill Bill" - SZA
Odds: 8-1
Peak Chart Position (General): 1st
Daniel's Music Rating: 8/10
Daniel's Lyrics Rating: 7/10
SZA's been a beloved artist in the industry for several years now, but "Kill Bill" brought the R&B/Pop queen her first #1 single. The lead off of Grammy-nominated SOS is one of the many double nominees for both this award and Record of the Year. In true SZA form, the strength of this track musically is all about her vocal performance, but the beat, bass line, and the keys all accompany her very well. She took a lot of heat for her lyrics, from different angles: many roll their eyes at how prone SZA is to write sad or angry heartbreak songs, and this one is no different. Many others (read: many willfully ignorant men) protested the violent refrain "I might kill my ex/his new girlfriend's next." But, while the lyrics may seem immature or even graphic, they’re unquestionably self-aware and tongue-in-cheek, filled with multiple clever references to the film of the same name, and the juxtaposition of her aggressive sentiment with her honeyed voice is, frankly, a tremendous listening experience.
"vampire" - Olivia Rodrigo
Odds: 7-1
Peak Chart Position (General): 1st
Daniel's Music Rating: 8/10
Daniel's Lyrics Rating: 8/10
"vampire," released early last summer, was Olivia Rodrigo's first single since the massive success of her debut album in 2021, and no surprise given the stature of the young star, was another chart-topper. Musically it almost combines the appeal of her two successful singles from that first album, “drivers license” and “good 4 u.” It starts off sounding like the sad piano ballad she's so good for, but about halfway through it transitions sharply to angry, punchy rock. This is extremely effective, hooking you in emotionally and then getting you head-banging by the end. In her vulnerable words, you can tell Rodrigo has graduated from the perhaps simpler teen angst of SOUR, to a more grown-up understanding of heartbreak and unfortunate but necessary realization of manipulative behavior. After "drivers license" was shockingly denied both of Song and Record of the Year two years ago, this track has the chance to bring Olivia one of both, and you'd be hard-pressed to argue it wouldn't be deserved.
"Flowers" - Miley Cyrus
Odds: 7-1
Peak Chart Position (General): 1st
Daniel's Music Rating: 9/10
Daniel's Lyrics Rating: 4/10
She has, of course, been a star for over 15 years now, but for such a big pop star, Miley Cyrus has felt somewhat outside of the mainstream for a while now. That changed entirely with last year's "Flowers," which marked her first #1 single since 2013's "Wrecking Ball." It's megasmash status is unsurprising; there's no question this song is a banger. The funky bass, and disco-inspired synth and strings bring an irresistible vibe and frame Cyrus' gorgeous, husky voice perfectly. This song’s weakness is in its lyrics, which already are pretty simple, but throw in the fact it’s literally just a slight rewrite of Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” and yeah, it's hard to argue that a win for this track would be simply down to songwriting merit.
"Butterfly" - Jon Batiste
Odds: 13-2
Peak Chart Position (General): n/a
Daniel's Music Rating: 6/10
Daniel's Lyrics Rating: 7/10
For the second time in three years, Jon Batiste is not only a surprise nominee for Album of the Year, the biggest award of all, but also has one of the songs from said album nominated for Song of the Year. Likely the reason the oddsmakers are fairly bullish on Batiste's chances to win this award, despite "Butterfly" likely being an unknown for most voters before this surprise nomination, is because of his huge Grammys night in 2022, which saw him win the most awards of any artist or band, including the big one. That said, I find this nomination sort of ironic; Jon is a wildly multitalented and original musician, but this is a pretty basic cut from him. It’s a very pretty, soulful song, to be clear, but not one that I think will stick in too many people’s mind; it really just plays like early John Legend. The lyrics paint a beautiful picture, but they, too are nothing overly impactful.
"Anti-Hero" - Taylor Swift
Odds: 11-2
Peak Chart Position (General): 1st
Daniel's Music Rating: 5/10
Daniel's Lyrics Rating: 7/10
'Pop Taylor' is back, after a brief foray into indie folk with twin 2020 albums folklore and evermore, the former of which won her a record 3rd Album of the Year Grammy. With the return of Pop Taylor naturally comes the very basic, pastiche, over-synth'd trademarks of her Pop era and in particular, Jack Antonoff’s production. Taylor's name brand is big enough that at this point she could probably make just about any song hit #1 just by virtue of having her name on it, but it's not hard to see why "Anti-Hero," lead single off of Grammy-nominated Midnights, was a big hit. It’s certainly catchy, and easily consumable. That said... if we're being honest, it’s not particularly good musically, nor do her vocals fit this style well, in my humble opinion. And lyrically? This song is a perfect embodiment of what I (and I know I speak for many others) think is so frustrating about Swift as a songwriter. There are some CLUNKERS in here-- everyone laughed about the “sexy baby/monster on a hill” line, but there are other weak bars, and even the chorus is meh, an annoyingly millennial brand of humor (and I say that as a proud cringy millennial). But then! In the verses of the VERY SAME SONG, there are some absolute gold mines, lines I think few of her peers could conceive of.
"What Was I Made For?" - Billie Eilish
Odds: 5-1
Peak Chart Position (General): 14th
Daniel's Music Rating: 9/10
Daniel's Lyrics Rating: 8/10
Singles from the Barbie movie bookend the odds of the Song of the Year race. Billie Eilish has already gone head-to-head with Dua Lipa in multiple awards shows to date, and they will do again so. As was the case with the latter's song, the lyrics of "What Was I Made For?" fit perfectly within the context of the film it was written for, but in this case they pack a powerful emotional punch no other tracks from the soundtrack do. The verses and chorus basically serve as the central question, the emotional heavy lifting of the movie. Musically, it’s Billie at her absolute best; her gorgeous, soft voice, conveying a deep sense of melancholy over the backing of her brother Finneas’ piano. The quiet harmonizing chorus that comes in over the course of the song kicks it up a notch. It's the heavy favorite to win Billie her second Academy Award, and were it to also earn her her second Song of the Year Grammy, I suspect few would complain.
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