by Julian Spivey The Grammy Awards have handed out almost 60 trophies for Song of the Year in its history, but surprisingly many of these honored songs from the music industry’s biggest awards ceremony haven’t really stood the test of time as “all-time” greats. In fact, many of the winners are downright lame: Barry Manilow’s “I Write the Songs,” Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life,” USA for Africa’s “We Are the World” and Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” These aren’t exactly “Like a Rolling Stone,” which wasn’t even nominated. Frankly, it was hard to even make a top 10 of the greatest Grammy Song of the Year winners. If I were to make a list of the 100 greatest songs of all-time there’s a good chance not even one of these songs would make the list. Here are the 10 I settled on as the greatest Song of the Year winners of all-time: 10. "Every Breath You Take" by The PoliceThe Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” written by Sting, took home the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1984. More than 30 years later the song might feel more stalker-ish than romantic, but it’s still just as catchy as ever. 9. "Little Green Apples" by O.C. Smith“Little Green Apples,” written by Bobby Russell, is a beautiful song that was the story of the 1969 Grammy Awards. O.C. Smith’s soulful R&B version went to No. 2 on the Billboard charts and won Song of the Year, while my favorite version Roger Miller’s, released the same year, took home the honor for Country Song of the Year. The song should not have won over The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” though. 8. "Don't Know Why" by Norah JonesTime will not look kindly upon the Grammy’s Song of the Year award, but I do believe most would think the modern Grammys have done better when it comes to the honor. I don’t care for songs like Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” or Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab,” but most would agree they are worthy. My favorite modern-ish winner is Norah Jones’ piano ballad “Don’t Know Why,” written by Jesse Harris, from 2003. It’s one of the more soulful winners in recent history. 7. "Smooth" by Santana feat. Rob ThomasThe 2000 Grammy Awards absolutely belonged to Carlos Santana, who’s album Supernatural won nine awards including Album, Record and Song of the Year. “Smooth,” written by Matchbox Twenty vocalist Rob Thomas and Itaal Shur, felt like it would go down as one of the all-time great songs at the time. It’s still great to this day, but you’re probably not going to see it on too many “greatest songs of all-time” lists. 6. "Michelle" by The BeatlesIf you were to rank the greatest Beatles songs of all-time I don’t believe “Michelle” would even be in the top 20, but it’s the only Beatles song to ever win the Grammy for Song of the Year. Better Beatles songs like “Hey Jude,” “Yesterday” and “Let It Be” were nominated, but beaten out by the likes of “Little Green Apples,” “The Shadow of Your Smile” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” It shouldn’t be any surprise that “Michelle” was the Beatles Grammy breakthrough though as the Paul McCartney penned song is a romantic love ballad even featuring a verse in French. That’s too sweet for the Grammys to ignore. 5. "Tears in Heaven" by Eric ClaptonThe Grammys were really digging some Eric Clapton in the 1990s with “Tears in Heaven,” co-written by him and Will Jennings, winning in 1993 and “Change the World,” written by Wayne Kirkpatrick, Gordon Kennedy and Tommy Sims, winning in 1997. Clapton, no doubt, had better songs two decades prior, but his sweet and tragic ballad for his deceased son “Tears in Heaven” was a popular winner and kept Billy Ray Cyrus’s “Achy Breaky Heart” (yes, it was nominated) from winning. 4. "Just the Way You Are" by Billy JoelThere’s a good chance if I were to rank Billy Joel’s greatest songs that “Just the Way You Are,” winner for Song of the Year in 1979, wouldn’t crack the top 10. In fact, I’m not even sure it’s one of Joel’s own favorites as he doesn’t perform it in concert near as much as his other hits. But, I could see how the cutesy love song would be hard to pass up by a Grammys committee that loved cutesy love ballads around this time. 3. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & GarfunkelSimon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” was the big Grammys winner in 1970 taking home Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year and three other awards. The sweet ballad featuring lovely vocals from Art Garfunkel was basically the definition of “Grammy Bait.” The song, considered by many to be Simon & Garfunkel’s best, wasn’t even the best track off the album (that would be “The Boxer”) and probably should’ve fallen to The Beatles’ “Let It Be” in hindsight. 2. "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce SpringsteenIn typical Grammys fashion, a music legend like Bruce Springsteen won Song of the Year in 1995 for “Streets of Philadelphia,” a song that’s likely not even one of his 20 greatest recordings of all-time. The song, written for Jonathan Demme’s 1993 film “Philadelphia,” about a character (played by Tom Hanks) dying of AIDS would also win Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. Springsteen would be nominated for Song of the Year twice more for “The Rising” (losing to Norah Jones’ “Don’t Know Why”) and “Devils & Dust” (losing to U2’s “Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own”). 1. "Always on My Mind" by Willie Nelson“Always on My Mind,” written by Wayne Carson, Johnny Christopher and Mark James, was first recorded by Elvis Presley in 1972. Presley’s overdone version would reach the top 20 on the Billboard charts, but it’s Willie Nelson’s understated take, released in 1982, that has become the definitive version of the song. Nelson’s version would also win CMA Song of the Year in two consecutive years (because that used to be a thing). It’s not Nelson’s greatest song, in my opinion, that would be his 1975 single “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” but it’s right up there.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
July 2024
|