Seven songs that were robbed of their Oscar nomination

We’ve already looked at seven times Oscar voters blew the Song of the Year selection. Today, we have a different mission. Today, we pick out seven other times when they failed to even give a nomination to an eminently deserving tune. These snubs are even more egregious than the first batch of songs. Some are understandable but still maddening. And some make no sense whatsoever.

Rules regarding nominations in this particular category have been on a roller coaster from the beginning. In 1945, 14 songs received nominations. In 2011, there were only two nominees. Part of that has to do with the relative decline of musical films, but still, that’s a pretty big gap. These days, the number is set at five, and that works fairly well.

What passes for a great movie song, at least in the eyes of older, homogenous Oscar voters, has generally lagged behind the times. Oftentimes, they are looking back a decade or two to what used to be popular when making selections. That – and nominating Diane Warren – are two virtual locks for any modern-day Oscar presentation.

These seven songs should have received Oscar Award nominations

Warren is the flip side of this little essay. Going into this year’s show, she has been nominated fifteen times, and when she fails to win for “The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot, it will mark the fifteenth time she has failed to win the prize. She did at least get an honorary Oscar in 2022.

At least Warren’s songs get nominated. Here are seven songs that didn’t make it that far, despite being overwhelmingly deserving.