LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 06: Selena Gomez attends the 2020 Hollywood Beauty Awards at … [+]
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As always, it’s important to remember that the Grammys for Song of the Year and Record of the Year aren’t the same award, although the nominees in the two verticals often overlap and the names seem to suggest. that they are.
Song of the Year is awarded to songwriters, with the best written song (whatever that means) deserving the honor. Sometimes the trophy is awarded to a hit that the world couldn’t stop listening to, while in other cases it is awarded to lesser-known compositions that are unmistakably beautiful.
Typically, the list of possible winners includes a healthy mix of both types of outings, and I expect that will be the case for the upcoming ceremony.
Here are my predictions for the song of the year.
Very probable
I put half a dozen tracks in the “very likely” category for song of the year nominations, and all but two of them made it to the Hot 100 top 10, with three of them reaching the top 10. first place, if only for a short time.
Taylor Swift’s “Cardigan” is the song of the year pure bait, and Grammy voters are sure to take it. She has been nominated several times before, and this latest victory may give the singer her best shot at winning this award. Both “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd and “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles should be included, as well as Billie Eilish’s short-lived top 10 “Everything I Wanted”.
I guess Maren Morris’ “The Bones”, the biggest country hit in quite some time, and HER’s “I Can’t Breathe”, a single that’s vital for people to hear right now, won’t be forgotten. by voters come this fall.
Possible
Aside from these six tracks, all of which could be certainties in the Song of the Year field, there are quite a few beloved compositions worth nominating, but which may or may not be the first selections voters will think of the when the time comes. for them to choose the possible winners.
Lil Baby’s “The Bigger Picture” was a hit and perhaps the hip-hop superstar’s most important single, as it deals with the racial issues this country is facing right now … and it can be. -be the rare rap piece to earn a place in the Song of the Year category.
“Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa, a very likely candidate for the year’s record, could also find its way into the race, as could the country and rock releases of The Chicks (“Gaslighter”), Fiona Apple ( “Shameika”) and even Bob Dylan (“Murder Most Foul”), although that last track comes in at 17 minutes, so maybe that’s a bit too long to seriously include.
Far shot
Further down in my rankings is another set of songs which all performed well on the charts and which were heralded as a job well done by the industry and critics alike, but which might not qualify as brilliant works of art. ‘art, or maybe that didn’t. t have impacts big enough to deserve the song of the year nods.
In the pop world, “Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi and even “Lose You to Love Me” by Selena Gomez could all sneak in.
In the R&B space, both Alicia Keys’ “Underdog” and Anderson .Paak’s “Lockdown” deserve this recognition, although they haven’t been major successes in terms of sales or flow.
Gabby Barrett’s growing talent “I Hope”, which turned out to be an extremely rare first smash from a solo country musician, could also be considered … but she may be too new and relatively unknown, even to this stage.
In other years many of these pieces may have had a better shot, but several symbolic locations that these “long-range” cuts seem to fill could be claimed by other pieces, more powerful or more successful or acclaimed by. criticism.
