Hypothetical "Best Song" Tony

[slimandslam]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 12:58pm

So, the Tony Awards do not include an award for Best Song. But what if they did?

Okay, theater mavens and award-watchers, let's fill in this bit of history. Starting from (say) the 1970-71 season, what songs most likely would have won a Best Song Tony in each season?

I'll start the ball rolling: I suspect that "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from Dreamgirls would have won in 1982. (I'm on less certain footing for more recent years.)

Note #1: let's assume that this award takes both the songwriting and the performance into account.

Note #2: I hope that posts on this thread contain people's views on what songs would have won - not opinions on which song he/she would have voted for. That's a different thread, which I'm not going to start.

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 1:03pm

Its an interesting category... but that might even have to have subcategories for types of songs. Ragtime's open is fantastic.. but is that really a best song? Elton John produced Aida music before it hit the stage, would "Written in the Stars" qualify? Maybe it should be “best stand-alone song.”

[slimandslam]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 1:07pm

Good point, MJHF. I guess we should assume that it's stand-alone.

We should also assume that any song that wasn't written specifically for the musical is ineligible. "Springtime for Hitler" and "Knights of the Round Table," for example, would be out of the running.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 1:12pm

For last season, I would probably say "Once Upon A Time" sung by Eden Espinosa in Brooklyn.

[theatahguy]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:08pm

ok, i'm bored at work--i'll play.

**for the older shows, easy--which song has stood the test of time?

**i would also assume that a song written for another medium would not be eligible (hence, the choice from 1994).

71--Ladies Who Lunch (Company)
72--Broadway Baby (Follies)
73--Send in the Clowns (A Little Night Music)
74--????
75--Ease on Down the Road (The Wiz)
76--What I Did for Love (A Chorus Line)
77--Tomorrow (Annie)
78--...someone else can tackle this one
79--A Little Priest (Sweeney Todd)
80--Dont Cry for Me, Argentina (Evita)
81--Lullaby of Broadway (42nd Street)
82--And I Am Telling You (Dreamgirls)
83--Memory (Cats)
84--The Best of Times or I Am What I Am (La Cage)
85--Free at Last (Big River)
86--Unexpected Song (Song & Dance)
87--On My Own (Les Miz)
88--Music of the Night (Phantom of the Opera)
89--????
90--Love Changes Everything (Aspects of Love)
91--Something from Will Rogers Follies
92--?????
93--Something from Kiss of the Spider Woman
94--Loving You (Passion)
95--As If We Never Said Goodbye (Sunset Blvd)
96--Seasons of Love (Rent)
97--Something from The Life
98--Wheels of a Dream (Ragtime)
99--oh, who knows...
00--Written in the Stars or Elaborate Lives (Aida)
01--I Wanna Be a Producer (The Producers)
02--Run Freedom Run from Urinetown? Gimme Gimme from Millie?
03--You Cant Stop the Beat (Hairspray)
04--Defying Gravity (Wicked)
05--Fable (Light in the Piazza)

DISCUSSION???

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:11pm

I will qualify this list that I only chose what I believe would have actually won, not what I want to win, songs written only for the stage, and I awarded songs when a Best Score award was not given.

1971 - Being Alive (Company)
1972 - Broadway Baby (Follies)
1973 - Send in the Clowns (A Little Night Music)
1974 - Lion Tamer (The Magic Show)
1975 - Ease on Down the Road (The Wiz)
1976 - What I Did For Love (A Chorus Line)
1977 - Tomorrow (Annie)
1978 - The Legacy (On the Twentieth Century)
1979 - A Little Priest (Sweeney Todd)
1980 - Don't Cry For Me, Argentina (Evita)
1981 - The Grass is Always Greener (Woman of the Year)
1982 - And I am Telling You I'm Not Going (Dreamgirls)
1983 - Memory (Cats)
1984 - I am What I am (La Cage aux Folles)
1985 - Muddy Water (Big River)
1986 - Unexpected Song (Song and Dance)
1987 - I Dreamed a Dream (Les Miserables)
1988 - Music of the Night (Phantom of the Opera)
1989 - When I Get My Name in Lights (Legs Diamond)
1990 - You Can Always Count on Me (City of Angels)
1991 - Lily's Eyes (The Secret Garden)
1992 - I'm Breaking Down (Falsettos)
1993 - The Day After That (Kiss of the Spider Woman)
1994 - I Wish I Could Forget You (Passion)
1995 - As If We Never Said Goodbye (Sunset Boulevard)
1996 - Seasons of Love (Rent)
1997 - The Oldest Profession (The Life)
1998 - Ragtime (Ragtime)
1999 - The Old Red Hills of Home (Parade)
2000 - The Gods Love Nubia (Aida)
2001 - Betrayed (The Producers)
2002 - Run, Freedom, Run (Urinetown)
2003 - You Can't Stop the Beat (Hairspray)
2004 - There's a Fine, Fine Line (Avenue Q)
2005 - Fable (The Light in the Piazza)
2006 - Hell No (The Color Purple)


Edit: I realized I put Follies in the season it opened, rather than by Tony deadline, which erased my previous 1972 selection of I Don't Know How to Love Him. I believe the Tony voters would choose Broadway Baby.

I stand by the rest as most likely choices by Tony voters in their respective years. This is based on strength of the season, popular opinion (critics, audiences and Tony distribution), strength of the composer, and voting trends.

Updated On: 5/9/06 at 02:11 PM

[fossemoves]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:22pm

One would have to assume rules would work similarly to those for the Oscars...only songs written specifically for the stage production would be in consideration as well as revivals that recieve new material...

I've long wondered and debated why there isn't a 'best song' category - even now Tony Awards being given to replacement actors recreating roles...There are so many shows out there that didn't have the greatest score and could never win best score but had that one power house song that could have made it a Tony Winner...

Some that jump to mind are...

My New Philosphy - You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
I Will Never Leave You - Side Show
Astonishing - Little Women
Freedom's Child - The Civil War
Second Chance - Steel Pier
If I Can't Love Her - Beauty and the Beast

and of course there are those tried and true favorites that would have come from the tony winner that season anyway

Wheels of a Dream - Ragtime
Ship of Dreams - Titanic
Seasons of Love - Rent

[fossemoves]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:22pm

One would have to assume rules would work similarly to those for the Oscars...only songs written specifically for the stage production would be in consideration as well as revivals that recieve new material...

I've long wondered and debated why there isn't a 'best song' category - even now Tony Awards being given to replacement actors recreating roles...There are so many shows out there that didn't have the greatest score and could never win best score but had that one power house song that could have made it a Tony Winner...

Some that jump to mind are...

My New Philosphy - You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
I Will Never Leave You - Side Show
Astonishing - Little Women
Freedom's Child - The Civil War
Second Chance - Steel Pier
If I Can't Love Her - Beauty and the Beast

and of course there are those tried and true favorites that would have come from the tony winner that season anyway

Wheels of a Dream - Ragtime
Ship of Dreams - Titanic
Seasons of Love - Rent

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:31pm

If there was such an award, I would hope they wouldn't award it this year. There's just not a good song - let alone a good SCORE.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:34pm

Bway.com has Best Song in their awards thing.

I would give it to a song in TCP.

The title song (Reprise)...or "What About Love?"...or "Push Da Button"

Updated On: 5/9/06 at 02:34 PM

[fossemoves]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:35pm

I don't know about that...some of the new stuff for Tarzan was pretty above average...

[Pippin]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:37pm

what about "all for Laura" or "Evermore without you" from WIW.

if not that, my vote goes to "What about Love" from TCP.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:40pm

"What About Love" sounds like a song written for a lame Lifetime original movie musical about an abused wife, who become bulemic due to her husband's abuse. The song is just lame.

The only song from "The Color Purple" that is really GOOD is the title song.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:42pm

Maybe that's because it's a pretty Lifetime story.

Maybe Lifetime X...but still.

[slimandslam]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:47pm

Glad some folks were willing to play. A few stray thoughts:

**It looks like y'all thought that the Best Song would come from the Best Score most of the time. Are Tony voters predictable enough that this would usually be the case? (I suspect the answer is "yes," but it's more than just a hypothetical question.)

**It also looks like any song that became something of a hit would be validated by the Tony voters. Would the voters do this, or would they more likely use the award as fossemoves suggests, to highlight some overlooked craftsmanship? (In 1977, for example, the voters may not have felt the need to give "Tomorrow" any more acclaim, or even to hear the da**ed thing again.)

**In 2004, would "Defying Gravity" and "Popular" have split the Wicked vote, allowing "There's a Fine, Fine Line" to cop the award? Would this have been viewed as an upset, in the same way that the 2004 Best Musical award was viewed?

**Mister Matt: gutsy pick for 1974 - The Magic Show didn't even get a Best Score nomination - but I suspect you nailed it. (On the down side, Follies was part of the 1972 Tony season.)

Oh, this is fun.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:48pm

Well, in 2004, there's no way in hell that the best song would have come from WICKED.

For me, the best score was CAROLINE, OR CHANGE - and the best song that year would have been a toss up between "Lot's Wife" and "There's a Fine, Fine Line."

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:49pm

**In 2004, would "Defying Gravity" and "Popular" have split the Wicked vote, allowing "There's a Fine, Fine Line" to cop the award? Would this have been viewed as an upset, in the same way that the 2004 Best Musical award was viewed?

Didn't people say that having both Idina and Kristin nominated would split the votes allowing someone else to win?

Just saying...Popular is an OK song, but Defying Gravity really became the "famous" song from the show.

Though I think No Good Deed is better, in all its cliché glory.

"Lot's Wife" or "I Hate the Bus" are better than anything in WICKED. I agree.
Updated On: 5/9/06 at 02:49 PM

[mejusthavingfun]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:50pm

LOL Munk! So true about "What about Love"

[fossemoves]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:50pm

Excellent insights...

And part of me says - knowing the Tony Nominating Commitee's history, a few unpopular shows would make the list and I think Tony Voters would be more inept to award shows that were over looked for whatever reason...

I mean seriously, Side Show is not a great show, but how great would it have been for the girls to win that Tony or for that song to have won an award like this. It would give validation to the performances without validating the show.

[theatahguy]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 2:58pm

I feel that this category would've been used, like was suggested by slimandslam, to produce a "hit" song from a popular show whenever possible, hence several of my suggestions--see 2004--I cant stand a damn song from Wicked but come on--the award would SURELY have gone to Defying Gravity over I Hate the Bus (which would've been my pick--the list of my preferences would look wildly different).

Nice, MisterMatt, on the I Dont Know How to Love Him selection. JCS somehow slipped my mind.

[slimandslam]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 3:24pm

Well, theatahguy, I suspect you're generally right, but that this category would often produce some strange voting.

The thing is, the potential field of nominees is so freakin' huge in any given year that the nomination votes would be wildly diffuse. A hit song would get an obvious nomination (if only from the name-recognition factor); however, once the nominations were out, many of the voters would look at the other three/four nominations and think, "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that one. Hey, I like that song, and [insert name here] sang the hell out of it. It gets my vote, rather than [insert name of overplayed hit]."

That said, I think that the herd mentality would set in in many years as well. For example, I could guarantee you that the Best Song winner from 2001 would come from The Producers. The voters clearly wanted to give that show a whole heap o' Tonys (mostly deserved, I suspect - I wasn't in NY that year), and would have relished another category in which Mel Brooks could be rewarded. Which song? I have no idea - I Wanna Be a Producer, Betrayed, and Along Came Bialy are all plausible choices. But it would've come from The Producers.

Similar scenario from 1996 vis-a-vis Rent - Seasons of Love is the safest pick, but the voters might have gone for something else from that show. But not from any other show.

In short: I suspect that the voters would usually (not always) want to reward a popular show, but not necessarily the most popular song within that show.

[being.jeremiah]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 4:12pm

"For The First Time" from Tarzan. Mmm.

[jv92]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 4:37pm

If I were to vote (and if the category actually existed)
1971 - The Ladies who Lunch (Company)
1972 - I'm Still Here (Follies)
1973 - The Glamorous Life (Night Music)
1974 - No Award
1975 - Time Heals Everything (Mack and Mabel)
1976 - Nowadays (Chicago)
*Really hard to pick a best song from Chicago*
1977 - Easy Street (Annie)
1978 - No Award
1979 - A Little Priest (Sweeney Todd)
1980 - A New Argentina (Evita)
1981 - The Grass is Always Greener (Woman of the Year)
1982- No Award (Unless you counted Off-Broadway)
1983 - No Award
1984 - Look Over There (La Cage)
1985 - No Award
1986 - No Award
1987 - Master of the House (Les Miserables)
1988 - Children Will Listen (Into the Woods)
1989 - No Award
1990 - It Needs Work (City of Angels)
1991 - No Award
1992 - No Award
1993 - Where You Are (Kiss of the Spider Woman)
1994 - No Award
1995 - No Award
1996 - No Award
1997 - Second Change (Steel Pier)
*Really hard to pick a best song from Steel Pier*
1998 - Ragtime (Ragtime)
1999 - No Award
2000 - No Award
2001 - Jeanette's Showbiz Number (The Full Monty)
2002 - Run, Freedom, Run (Urinetown)
2003 - You Can't Stop the Beat (Hairspray)
2004 - No Good Deed (Wicked)
2005 - Dividing Day (The Light in the Piazza)
*Oh God, DRS and Piazza, tough choice. But Dividing Day next to Octet, is the standout of the season.*
2006 - Show Off (The Drowsy Chaperone)
Updated On: 5/9/06 at 04:37 PM

[Chopstitute]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 4:42pm

You guys are sort of analyzing it as Best Hit Song, which isn’t necessarily the case, though the voters would probably pick it that way, for example, Wicked. Personally, I don’t even like Defying Gravity (I perfer Wonderful, or No Good Deed), though that would be the one that got a nod. I agree with munkustrap178, and the best from 2004 would probably come from Carolina or Change, at least in my opinion.

I think it would be picked from a score in Best Scores.

[sondheimboy2]

Posted: 5/9/06 at 4:57pm

The best song of 1989 would have been "It's Hard to be the Diva" from "Starmites."