Listen to all 15 original songs shortlisted for Oscars: From ‘Blitz’ to ‘Will and Harper’

Oscar voting started Jan. 8 and continues to Jan. 14 (extended two days because of the devastating California wildfires), and Academy members have 15 tunes to choose from in the race for Best Original Song. That’s how many made the cut when the shortlists were announced in December. It’s a wide-ranging list that includes country star Lainey Wilson, rock legend Elton John, musical theater favorite Lin-Manuel Miranda, and, of course, prolific movie songwriter Diane Warren. But who will make the final five? Listen to all 15 songs below and see what the songwriters had to say about their Oscar-contending compositions.

“Winter Coat” from Blitz
Written by Nicholas Britell, Steve McQueen, and Taura Stinson

“‘Winter Coat’ is not only meant to be a defining moment in the film but also for Rita (Saoirse Ronan),” the songwriters told Gold Derby. “It was initiated from a very personal place for me [Steve McQueen] because when my father died, wearing his coat was one of the things that would bring me comfort. We all wrote this song from a personal and physical place that evoked the memory of wrapping that person around you when a loved one is no longer with you. Sitting at the piano, we [McQueen and Britell] began carving out some lyrical concepts and tunes from Abbey Road. Those lyrics and ideas were then sent to me [Taura Stinson], and I built upon their themes, expanded the lyrical content, and helped to develop the overall song structure. This story centers around family and children being separated, husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, and soldiers away at the front. This music is meant to inspire hope, especially during uncertain times.”

McQueen previously won an Oscar for Best Picture for 12 Years a Slave but has not yet been nominated for music. Emmy winner Britell has three previous Oscar nominations for Best Original Score (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk, Don’t Look Up). Stinson earned an Oscar nom for co-writing the original song “Mighty River” for Mudbound (2017). So far, “Winter Coat” has been nominated by the Hollywood Music in Media Awards and the Society of Composers and Lyricists Awards.

“Compress/Repress” from Challengers
Written by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Luca Guadagnino

“The execution of that became extremely difficult in terms of what it wasn’t — making club bangers and just needle-dropping them into the movie,” Reznor said to Consequence. “Now we’ve got this prison cell of a four-four beat. The magic trick is that it feels like a needle drop, but it isn’t. It’s going to feel like techno music, but it’s going to be a score where we follow characters, repeat themes, create tension, and work to picture.”

Reznor and Ross are two-time Oscar winners for composing The Social Network and Soul scores. They were also nominated for their original score for Mank. In addition to their recognition from the Motion Picture Academy, they’re BAFTA, Critics Choice, Grammy, and Emmy winners. For “Compress/Repress,” they have been nominated at the Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes, Hollywood Music in Media Awards, and Society of Composers and Lyricists Awards.

“Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late
Written by Andrew Watt, Bernie Taupin, Brandi Carlile, and Elton John

“I love the song so much,” John recently told Gold Derby. “It’s a very personal song Brandi [Carlile] wrote two years ago when she came and stayed with me in southern France with her family. David [Furnish] showed her a rough cut of the documentary — which I hadn’t seen by then — and she was very moved because we’ve known each other for a long time. She wrote the song, and when I saw the lyrics — Bernie Taupin, Andrew Watt, Brandi, and I all had a say in it, but she wrote the main lyric — and it just moved everything to another place.”

Elton John is a two-time Oscar winner for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King and “I’m Gonna Love Me Again” from Rocketman. Bernie Taupin shared the Oscar for “I’m Gonna Love Me Again.” Grammy winners Andrew Watt and Brandi Carlile have not yet been nominated for Oscars. For “Never Too Late,” they won a Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Song – Documentary Film and earned a Society of Composers and Lyricists nomination.

“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez
Written by Clément Ducol, Camille, and Jacques Audiard 

“ Zoe [Saldaña] sometimes felt insecure with singing because she’s such a performer, such an accurate artist that she was not in her comfort zone,” Camille recently told Gold Derby. “And she often mentioned it to me and told me, listen, Camille, I’m not a singer. And I told her, yes, you’re wonderful singers. I mean, so many women are singers. It doesn’t mean they’re professional singers. It means that we sing along our life, and that’s how I feel deeply.”

Audiard’s film A Prophet was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but Ducol and Camille have no previous Oscar nominations. For “El Mal,” they won a Golden Globe and have been nominated for the Hollywood Music in Media Awards and the Society of Composers and Lyricists Awards.

“Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez
Written by Clément Ducol and Camille

“ Selena Gomez has, I would almost say, a French feel, a very Latin feel, like a European feel, in the way she sings, because it’s very intimate,” Camille said to Gold Derby. “It’s very fragile. She doesn’t sing like she’s doing a huge performance. She sings with her soul.”

Ducol and Camille have not been nominated for an Oscar. However, for “Mi Camino,” they have been nominated at the Golden Globes, the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, and the Society of Composers and Lyricists Awards.

“Sick in the Head” from Kneecap
Written by Adrian McLeod, Thomas Mackenzie Bell, James John Ó Dochartaigh, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, and Naoise Ó Cairealláin

“We just made that film because we thought it was a cool story to tell; it was our story in the Irish language in Belfast,” said the band to NME. “The fact it resonates with people from other cultures and other Indigenous languages is a bonus for us …considering every 40 days there’s an Indigenous language lost. The more languages we lose, the fewer perspectives we have on life.”

Although the writers of “Sick in the Head” have not received any previous Oscar nominations, the film is on the shortlist for Best International Feature, representing Ireland.

“Beyond” from Moana 2
Written by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear

“I never thought I’d be capable of anything other than a catchy pop song,” said Barlow in an interview with Screen Rant. “Working on this project taught me how to be a good collaborator. It taught me how to tell stories through music and made me grow as a songwriter. It also taught me how to collaborate with a huge village of people trying to make the impossible possible.”

Grammy winners Barlow and Bear have no previous Oscar nominations, but “Beyond” earned them a Hollywood Music in Media nomination for Best Original Song – Animated Film and a Society of Composers and Lyricists nom for Best Original Song for a Comedy or Musical Visual Media Production.

“Tell Me It’s You” from Mufasa: The Lion King
Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda

“[The title ‘Tell Me It’s You’] was a line of dialogue in the scene that Sarabi said to Mufasa, and I was like, ‘That is the greatest title for a K-Ci and JoJo song that doesn’t exist yet, but I’m going to write this one,” Miranda told Screen Rant about composing this song with inspiration from the screenplay.

Tony, Emmy, and Grammy winner Miranda is one Oscar away from EGOT. He previously earned nominations for Best Original Song for “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana and “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto.

“Piece by Piece” from Piece by Piece
Written by Pharrell Williams

As Williams recently told Gold Derby, the song “Piece by Piece” is about “how everything collectively is your story. If you think about all of the crazy times that you have experienced in your life, all the fun times, all the sad times, all of the most momentous times, and all the times that you were caught off guard by things that just blindsided you, they’re all piece by piece. And, interestingly, it’s sort of synonymous with, like, how the Lego world works.”

Williams is a two-time Oscar nominee: Best Original Song for “Happy” from Despicable Me 2 and Best Picture as a producer of the historical drama Hidden Figures. For Piece by Piece, he received nominations from the Annie Awards for Best Music in an Animated Feature. He was also nominated for Best Original Song – Documentary Film at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, where he won Best Music Documentary/Special Program.

“Like a Bird” from Sing Sing
Written by Abraham Alexander, Adrian Quesada, Brandon Marcel

“I believe the calling of every artist is to be a soundboard of the times, creating work that not only reflects the world but lives on beyond our physical existence,” Alexander told Gold Derby. “This film allowed us to tap into the essence of something deeply broken and often neglected: the truth that every human deserves love, dignity, and respect. Yet, our justice system often masquerades as infallible, hiding its glaring failures behind the illusion that free citizens are righteous while those imprisoned are irredeemable villains. Sing Sing challenges that narrative, restoring the humanity of inmates and shedding light on their stories. Through it, I wanted to embody their deepest longing the universal desire to feel freedom, to soar beyond confinement, to feel the wind beneath their wings … ‘Like a Bird.’”

Alexander, Quesada, and Marcel have no previous Oscar nominations, but “Like a Bird” has earned them nominations from Las Vegas and North Carolina film critics groups.

“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight
Written by Diane Warren

“I was inspired to write ‘The Journey’ by the amazing and inspiring true story of the Six Triple Eight Battalion,” Warren told Gold Derby. “These women faced so many obstacles and managed to get through every one of them and succeed beyond everyone’s wildest dreams. My favorite line in this song is, ‘When you’re going with your heart, you can go farther than you ever thought possible.’ Because it’s true, it’s the journey. H.E.R.‘s voice on this song reflects the strength and power of these women.”

Warren is one of the most renowned songwriters in Oscar history. Her original compositions have earned her 15 nominations. In 2022, she became the first songwriter to receive an Honorary Oscar. Her career accolades include a Grammy, an Emmy, and two Golden Globes. “The Journey” has already earned her nominations from the Hollywood Music in Media Awards and the Society of Composers and Lyricists Awards.

“Out of Oklahoma” from Twisters
Written by Lainey Wilson, Luke Dick, and Shane McAnally

Grammy winners Wilson and McAnally and Grammy nominee Dick have no previous Oscar bids. Still, they earned Hollywood Music in Media and Society of Composers and Lyricists nominations for “Out of Oklahoma.”

“Kiss the Sky” from The Wild Robot
Written by Delacey, Jordan K. Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack, and Ali Tamposi 

“Finding inspiration to write ‘Kiss the Sky’ for the pivotal flight scene in The Wild Robot was a deeply meaningful process,” Tamposi told Gold Derby. “The scene offered a rich emotional foundation, with its natural ebb and flow guiding the song’s structure and dynamics. Connecting with Roz, the protagonist, felt especially personal — becoming a mother had given me new insights into her journey, and I could draw from my own profound, emotional experience. Collaborating with my co-writers also brought its depth — as songwriters, we’ve all had to embrace vulnerability and take leaps of faith to pursue our craft. These varied sources of inspiration came together to create a song that captures the emotional intensity of the scene, adding another beautiful layer of resonance to Roz’s story.”

Although the writers of “Kiss the Sky” have not received any previous Oscar nominations, they have earned Golden Globe and Critics Choice bids for the Film. They also won the Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Song in an Animated Film.

“Harper and Will Go West” from Will and Harper
Written by Josh Greenbaum, Kristen Wiig, and Sean Douglas

“There was no shortage of inspiration once I saw a cut of the movie because it’s such a moving, funny journey to go on,” Douglas told Gold Derby about writing the song. “And then when Kristen, Josh, and I got down to writing it we wanted it to feel like a traveling folk song that evokes Americana (Petty’s Wildflowers and Wilburys, etc.), also try to thread the same needle the film does in making you laugh but also honoring the weight of Harper’s journey and the deepening of this friendship between the two of them.”

Wiig was a previous Oscar nominee for her screenplay in Bridesmaids. Greenbaum and Douglas have no previous Oscar nominations, but “Harper and Will Go West” has earned them all Hollywood Music in Media and Critics Choice nominations.