Items22The creator’s order
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Across 110th StreetBobby Womack co-wrote the title song for Across 110th Street with J. J. Johnson and sang it. He gives the groove an easy stride while singing about the hard decisions of getting by. The worn edges of his voice make those choices feel lived in, even if you’ve never seen the neighborhood the film…0 - 2
Rainbow ConnectionPaul Williams and Kenny Ascher wrote this for Kermit in The Muppet Movie. The little banjo figure and Jim Henson’s patient delivery leave room for the question in the melody. It sounds like someone thinking seriously about what they still want to believe.0 - 3
Lose YourselfEminem wrote the words to this 8 Mile song and composed its music with Jeff Bass and Luis Resto. The guitar figure can keep circling for as long as he needs it to, and his sentences keep getting more urgent over it. That mix of repetition and pressure makes the chorus feel like a decision he has…0 - 4
Le FestinMichael Giacchino brought Camille in to sing this French song for Ratatouille. Listen to the way her voice hangs back while the little band keeps swaying, then lets the higher notes open up. The arrangement makes contentment sound like something the singer has arrived at after a long wait.0 - 5
Moon RiverIn Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Audrey Hepburn sings Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s song with very little force. The melody has room to travel because she keeps it at the scale of a private thought. If you mostly know it from bigger vocal recordings, listen to what this one leaves hanging at the ends…0 - 6
That Thing You Do! (1996)First released Sep 24, 1996Adam Schlesinger wrote the title song for Tom Hanks’s That Thing You Do! The soundtrack’s fast version puts the snare and bright guitars to work before the first line arrives. The harmonies make a simple complaint about somebody’s behavior easy to sing back after one chorus.0 - 7
Don't You (Forget About Me)Simple Minds recorded the song for The Breakfast Club. Jim Kerr starts by calling out over a huge drum sound, but it’s the question in his delivery that gives the chorus its pull. The wordless ending makes it sound as if he’ll keep the conversation going as long as the band is still playing.0 - 8
The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart) (2010)First released Jan 19, 2010Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett wrote this for Crazy Heart. There is a steady guitar underneath, but it’s the way Bingham’s rough voice keeps letting words slip into the next line that makes you lean in. He sounds as though he’s giving advice he hasn’t learned to take himself.0 - 9
Theme From ShaftHayes wrote the theme for Shaft and made this fuller recording for the soundtrack album. The hi-hat and wah-wah guitar are already telling you how to walk before he starts describing the man. When the backing singers cut across him, the theme turns into a little argument about its own hero.0 - 10
Dos OruguitasLin-Manuel Miranda wrote this Spanish-language song for Encanto. Yatra keeps his voice close to the guitar, even as the melody stretches into its bigger lines. The two caterpillars in the song have to let go before they know what they will become, a story the performance carries on its own.0
