NPR Music All Songs Considered: Cruelly ranking the best original song Oscar nominees
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Mar 10, 2026 Two critics cruelly rank the Best Original Song Oscar nominees with sharp takes and playful banter. They debate Diane Warren’s placement, praise Nick Cave’s closing-credits mood, and defend an operatic contender tied to a documentary. The conversation builds to a tense top-two faceoff between a K-pop juggernaut and a cinematic pop ballad, ending with predictions about who might win.
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Diane Warren's Songs Have Become Predictable
- Diane Warren's songs feel formulaic despite powerful themes, repeating the same triumphant motifs for decades.
- Stephen Thompson argues many Warren Oscar entries read like throw‑pillows: generic lyrics about resilience that lack fresh insight.
Documentary Made Robin Sympathetic To Diane Warren
- Robin Hilton says the Diane Warren documentary made him like Warren personally even if not musically.
- He found her backstory — childhood struggles and relationship with her mother — moving and humanizing.
Train Dreams Works Best As Film Coda
- Stephen praises Train Dreams as a closing‑credits song that amplifies the film's themes of time and loss.
- He says Nick Cave's