These are the songs nominated for the 2019 Academy Awards

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A few days ago the nominees for the Oscar 2019 Awards were announced, and among them, the songs nominated for "Best Original Song"

This category have been won in previous years by songs like "Skyfall" by Adele for Skyfall, "Across the River" by Jorge Drexler for Motorcycle Diaries and "Lose Yourself" by Eminem for 8 Mile. Those are songs that symbolize the accompanying film, representing their character and suggesting their plot. Let's explore, then, the songs nominated for this year's Academy Awards.

Leer en español: Estas son las canciones nominadas al Óscar 2019

• "All the Stars" by Kendrick Lamar and SZA for Black Panther

Kendrick, perhaps the best and greatest rapper in the world today, cured an entire album inspired by Black Panther. "All The Stars", his main single, features the rapper of Compton and SZA, his companion to his label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), reflecting on the problems of fame, money, and love.

On the production of Soundwave (which usually takes care of many of the beats of TDE) and Al Shux, Kendrick is much more direct than usual, leaving aside the metaphorical and encrypted lines to opt for clarity:

"Tell me what you are going to do to me / The confrontation is nothing new for me/ you can bring a bullet, a sword, a morgue/ but you can not bring the truth". In turn, SZA, of the most prominent voices of contemporary R & B, is fragile: "I only cry without reason/ I only pray without reason / I give thanks for life, for the day / For the hours and for another life breathing", sing

• "I'll Fight" by Jennifer Hudson for RBG

As in the film, Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg raises her voice and makes herself heard: "I'll fight" makes it clear that you have to give fights when they are necessary, for one and for yours. It is a cry for justice, but also for accompanying the battles of those who are close, no matter how personal they may be.

Produced by Harvey Mason Jr. and written by Diane Warren, the song accompanies the power and beauty of Hudson's voice with piano keys and percussion very similar to the rattle of trap music. It's a song to listen to when everything seems to go wrong, and so find the guts to not fall knocked on the canvas, as Judge Ginsburg did.

Hudson sings for solidarity: "When it's dangerous / and it takes something away from you / Everyone takes what they can from you / Until you have almost swum from you / When each night is a battle you can not win / And the pain is like a weight that you carry / I will help you carry it. "

Also read: 'Secreto' and other couple's musical colaborations

• " The Place Where Lost Things Go" by Emily Blunt for The Return of Mary Poppins

When we wake up from a nightmare, sometimes we just need a voice that lulls us and tells us that everything will be fine. That is the function of this song, which during the film is sung by Mary Poppins to comfort the children she cares for at the death of her mother, reminding them that she still accompanies them, and she has not left completely if they continue to remember her.

Its instrumentation is subtle and appeased, and its lyrics are comforting and simple; it even has a certain vaporous and ethereal condition, it feels like that moment when it is difficult to discern whether one is awake or dreaming. That fuzzy limit is beautifully described in the song, telling what goes through the minds before falling asleep.

"Memories that you have shared / They have gone away altogether, you have feared / All are still around you / Even though they have disappeared / There is nothing left, really / Or it has left without a trace / Nothing has gone away forever / It is only out of place", says the song.

• "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper for A Star

As if it were a pool, in love it can be scary to go straight to the bottom and get away from the surface. But, just as it is scary, it is also what can give more happiness, if jumping into the void is rewarded. "Shallow" is precisely a ballad about how you have to jump headlong into love without thinking twice.

Bradley Cooper refers to that void that maybe love can fill when he asks "Tell me something, girl / Are you happy in this modern world? / Or do you need more? / Is there something you're still looking for?" Lady Gaga answers him with questions, too: "Tell me something, child / Aren't you tired of trying to fill that void? / Or do you need more? / Isn't it hard to stay hard? "

Both have doubts, of course, but they reconcile them by moving away from the surface, far from where they can be hurt. Being a conversation more than two monologues, the song in slow and nostalgic ballad tones allows us to accompany the journey of the two lovers, from the initial fear and doubt to the confidence and security in that for more than everything in your life you go Well, love is missing.

• "When to Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Death is universal, but each society thinks it differently. This ballad, composed of notes of guitars and a harmonica, is a tribute to the cowboys and where they go after their life ends, what happens when instead of spurs on their boots what they carry are wings on their backs.

Even the strongest symbols of what it is to be a cowboy, like a campfire or a rodeo – explains the song – eventually, comes to an end. Although it is undoubtedly a tragic song, it also dignifies the death of the cowboy and his way to the afterlife.

"When they cover my body / On a thin linen sheet / And remove my six irons / Take my boots off my feet / Unleash my pony / She must want to explore / I will be halfway to heaven / Advancing with my own horsepower, "describes the song in the movie after a deadly battle. Along with the cowboy choirs and the feeling of an old canteen, the lyrics take us directly to the funeral of the old west.

For these and more movie songs, our playlist continues: Nominated for the 2019 Oscars

LatinAmerican Post | Santiago Cembrano

Translated from "Estas son las canciones nominadas a los Óscar 2019"