Tag Archives: Randy Newman

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Song of the Day #1,088: ‘If I Didn’t Have You’ – Billy Crystal & John Goodman

After my recent two weeks of Randy Newman posts, I had some requests for even more.

During those weeks, I focused on Newman’s sincere and sarcastic sides, but it occurred to me that I had a whole other facet of the man to explore: his wonderful work for the movies (especially Disney). Newman has been nominated for more than a dozen Oscars, winning twice.

This week I’ll feature five songs Newman wrote for animated Disney films. Most of these are sung by other people but all maintain his distinctive style.

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Song of the Day #1,057: ‘Potholes’ – Randy Newman

I’m finishing up my second week of Randy Newman songs with another selection from his most recent album, 2008’s Harps and Angels. Last week I featured ‘Losing You,’ a very touching song about being unable to forget.

‘Potholes’ is that song’s opposite — a very funny song about being unable to remember.

Newman hasn’t written much about himself over the decades his career has spanned. He is more comfortable putting himself in the shoes of an often unlikable narrator. Even the songs that seem to be about him are really twisted versions of his reality.

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Song of the Day #1,056: ‘The World Isn’t Fair’ – Randy Newman

My second selection from Randy Newman’s Bad Love is a cousin to the song I featured yesterday. Again, Newman is singing about his own dumb luck, this time as tongue-in-cheek political commentary.

Newman starts off talking (and yes, he increasingly spends talks more than sings many of his songs) about Karl Marx, the “public-spirited boy” who imagined a world in which “no one could rise too high” and “no one could sink too low.” But as proof that such an idealistic worldview isn’t realistic, Newman provides Marx with a glimpse of his own blessed life.

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Song of the Day #1,055: ‘My Life is Good’ – Randy Newman

Today’s Randy Newman song is far less bleak than this week’s first two entries. It’s quite fun, actually.

Last week’s selection from Randy Newman’s 1983 album Trouble in Paradise was ‘Real Emotional Girl,’ a sensitive portrait of a fragile woman. The Randy Newman of ‘My Life Is Good’ would brush aside that emotional girl in pursuit of the next hedonistic notch on his belt.

Ostensibly playing himself in this track, Newman takes us on a tour of the pleasures of being rich and famous. Travel, drugs, women, celebrity… the good life.

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Song of the Day #1,054: ‘Old Man’ – Randy Newman

Last week’s selection from Randy Newman’s classic 1972 album Sail Away was the charming and sweet ‘Memo to My Son,’ a song about how wonderful and exasperating it is to have a child.

This week’s track, nestled just a few spots away on the same album, takes a decidedly more cynical look at a father-son relationship at the other end of life. ‘Old Man’ is told from the perspective of a son at his father’s death bed. But this isn’t a heartfelt goodbye. This is the son’s opportunity to throw a lifetime of uncaring neglect back in the old guy’s face.

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