In part 3, we ventured to Narnia with Carrie Underwood, lamented starvation with orphans, blamed Canada with Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and stayed alive with Bee Gees. Before we dive into the third part of this epic musical countdown, let's recap the criteria for ranking this list:

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1. Be a good song. Obviously.

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2. Have a legitimate application in the movie. No “Hey, let’s score a hit real quick” end credits nonsense. You have to at least use music from the movie, be inspired by an iconic line, something...

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3. Be written for the movie. Many songs have iconic moments in movies, but they weren’t written for the movie or are covers. Those don't count. However, songs from movie musicals adapted from the stage are okay because those are direct adaptations.

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4. No “used in a movie but only became famous after someone else covered it decades later or it became a staple of something else” songs.

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5. If it’s just kind of tacked on there at the end, even if it’s a great song and accurately depicts the film’s themes, etc. it won’t make it on. It has to feel like it’s truly part of the movie in a more tangible way. Lots of leeway here, but it won’t be ignored, Dan!

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Sadly, these criteria mean many great songs had to be left off, and we must pay tribute to them before kicking off the countdown: someone play the “My Heart Will Go On” recorder cover!

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“Kiss from a Rose” - Seal, from Batman Forever (1995)

“Shake Ya Tailfeather” - Nelly, Diddy, and Murphy Lee, from Bad Boys II (2003)

“I Will Always Love You” - Whitney Houston, from The Bodyguard (1992)

“The Way You Look Tonight” - Fred Astaire, from Swing Time (1936)

“White Christmas” - Bing Crosby, from Holiday Inn (1942)

“Love Is All Around” - Wet Wet Wet, from Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” - BJ Thomas, from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

“Love Love” - Take That, from X-Men: First Class (2011)

“Masterpiece” - Madonna, from W.E. (2011)

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Now, on to part 4!

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33. “Happy” - Pharell Williams, from Despicable Me 2 (2014)

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“Happy” had one goal: to sound happy, and not just happy, but so irresistibly and infectiously happy that it would make people addicted to its specific kind of happiness. Boy, did it work. Twenty nations topped, 14 million copies, and an Oscar nomination later, and it’s safe to say it worked. It’s a bit awkwardly used in Despicable Me 2, which holds it back on the ranking, but this bridgeless neo soul banger has held up remarkably well, despite the naysayers’ insistence to the contrary.

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32. “The Circle of Life” - Carmen Twillie and Lebo M., from The Lion King (1994)

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A movie has to sell you on it in the first five minutes: what if I told you one movie pulled it off in the first five seconds?

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South African singer Lebo M belts out a literal welcome to Simba, the future King of Pride Rock, and in doing so, teams with Carmen Twillie to provide the perfect musical accompaniment to a vibrant, colorful introduction to Disney’s most iconic movie.

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It reflects how much creative genius goes into our most beloved films; Disney could’ve taken the more conventional route and kicked things off with some expository dialogue and a corny musical number but leaned into an authentic intro for a movie that stands as the most iconic statement of the Disney Renaissance.

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31. “Hold My Hand” - Lady Gaga, from Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

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Any song that makes Hans Zimmer say, “This is my score” is great; that alone would have landed “Hold My Hand” a spot on the list. But it’s actually a genuinely great song; simple, forthright, beautifully produced, and sung with Gaga’s signature belting passion. It’s odd; it doesn’t seem like it would fit the ending of a movie like Top Gun: Maverick, but somehow, it does, and rather seamlessly at that.

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30. “Hard-Knock Life” -  The Orphans , from Annie (1982)

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First things first: this is for the version from the 1982 original, not from the dreadful 2014 remake, because what the actual fuck is that scene?

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Now that that’s out of the way, “Hard-Knock Life” benefits from having actual children’s vocals not auto-tuned to high heaven. These kids are getting hosed, and the song’s approach makes that abundantly clear. It’s fun, a little silly, but an overall fantastic way to let kids let loose their feelings about the adults forcing them through the hard-knock life.

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P.S. The best version is actually from the 1999 television movie.

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29. “When You Wish Upon A Star” - Cliff Edwards, from Pinocchio (1940)

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The Disney song is a bonafide classic, no doubt. Cliff Edwards’ gentle vocal as Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio's most trusted ally, pairs with an (admittedly weepy) instrumentation to create a sensation of truly wishing on a star and a swell of hope that those wishes could come true. In that sense, it accomplishes its title's aims, but we really need to address that “bridge.”

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Fate is kind/She brings to those who love/The sweet fulfillment of/their secret longing…

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I’m sorry, find me a single child walking this planet who could tell you what that means.

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28. “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” - Jason Weaver, Rowan Atkinson, & Laura Williams, from The Lion King (1994)

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Why is it always the dramatic, weepy songs that get the Oscar? In fact, “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” wasn’t even nominated. In fairness, there are only so many slots and many songs from The Lion King to nominate, but they excluded the best one. It’s got the most fun production and the most sing-a-long quality of the entire soundtrack. It's a fun song and brilliant retrospective foreshadowing of why Simba ventures to the gorge where his father gets killed. What more could you want, Academy?

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27. “Ghostbusters” - Ray Parker, Jr., from Ghostbusters (1984)

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Let’s address the elephant in the room: the infamous lawsuit Huey Lewis filed against Ray Parker, Jr., accusing him of stealing the melody from his band’s song, “I Want A Drug,” was justified.

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It’s also the better song.

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All that messiness aside, we live in a time where it feels like even movies that you think couldn’t have the fun sapped out of them somehow manage to feel lifeless. Look no further than the most recent Ghostbusters installment, Afterlife…

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So, it’s nice to listen to Parker Jr.’s iconic theme and revisit a simpler age of shameless, unadulterated fun. That’s what Ghostbusters is, and what song could ever do that justice than, well, “Ghostbusters?”

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26. “Moon River” - Audrey Hepburn, from Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

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“Moon River” is a testament to authenticity. Songwriter Johnny Mercer’s lyrics evoke his cherished childhood memories of Savannah, Georgia, and Hepburn sings the song herself in lieu of an overproduced dubber swooping in and (though probably giving a more technically proficient performance) sapping the emotion. It’s the moment struggling writer Paul Varjak falls in love with socialite Holly Golightly, for which we can’t knock him. It was brilliant to take such a simple song and refine an elegant beauty like Hepburn to a sweatshirt, jeans, and a towel wrapped around her hair while strumming a guitar by a window. The pairing makes for an iconic scene befitting an iconic song.

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25. “Under the Sea” - Samuel E. Wright , from The Little Mermaid (1989)

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The original “Under the Sea” (and the film itself, quite frankly) look significantly better by comparison after taking in the atrocious 2023 remake. You’d think there’s no way to make a movie like this so muddied, colorless, and lifeless, but wow, did Disney pull it off.

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Still, as a standalone achievement, “Under the Sea” is everything you could want from a Disney song: clever, bouncy, distinct (you can never go wrong with a steel drum), and most of all, fun. God is this song fun. We need more fun in our lives, and if we ever need a welcome dose of it, all we have to do is venture… under the sea (I’m sorry).

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24. “Pure Imagination” - Gene Wilder, from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

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Generations of children have gathered around the TV to take in annual showings of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It’s a movie overflowing with memorable sequences, but the one that’s most earned its cultural impact, the years of viewers raised on its whimsy, is the moment Gene Wilder opens the door to the candy room, equipped with edible, well… everything: gummy bears! candy canes! pinata balls! licorice! mushrooms filled with cream! Who can forget that chocolate river, tainted by that gluttonous Augustus Gloop?

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It truly is a room, and a moment, of pure imagination, and Gene Wilder’s gentle delivery sells it.

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23. “The Weary Kind” - Ryan Jenkins, from Crazy Heart (2009)

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In truth, it's Jeff Bridges’ performance that elevates Crazy Heart above its familiar trappings more than anything else, but “The Weary Kind” does its fair share of the load too. Bingham’s rasp layers the song with an emotional weight that expertly reflects the journey of alcoholic singer Otis Blake as he finds redemption through his relationship with a younger journalist, her young son, and his own child from a decades-old relationship. It’s a moving acknowledgement of all the ways he’s erred, how deep the hurt he’s caused runs, what realizations he’s concluded about life, and how ardently he’s devoted to being better moving forward.

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22. “Drive It Like You Stole It” - Sing Street, from Sing Street (2016)

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Writing a good movie band song is a true art. The song has to be good to justify us even watching the movie and backing the band, but it can’t be so good that it feels like Led Zeppelin incarnate and we’re wondering why the group isn’t always selling out arenas. “Drive It Like You Stole It” is a perfect ‘80s throwback with some addictive synth-pop layers and an irresistible hook. If you’re not aching for a “Where Are They Now?” sequel after, you’re wrong.

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21. “May It Be” - Enya, from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

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It isn’t quite a travesty that Enya walked away winless on Oscar night for “May It Be,” but it’s sinful in retrospect. The Fellowship of the Ring is the least polished of the trilogy, which is actually a compliment. It feels like a fantasy movie with its own world, untainted by perfection. It’s visually immersive and thematically dense, with emotional highs and lows that end on a somber, though hopeful, note. All of this gets captured by Enya in a way few songwriters could’ve managed; as we feel soothed (though contemplative) with its mellow melody, its lyrics instill a feeling of promise and hope for our heroes as they embark on the next chapter of their epic journey.

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20. “Second Nature” - Bon Iver, from Don’t Look Up (2021)

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If your closing credits song is going to be this shameless of an Oscar grab (which failed), it needs to feel like a truly great song and really needs to have the film’s themes come full circle. Bon Iver creates an addictive atmosphere with a light, hypnotic production, and speaks to Don’t Look Up’s environmental measures (which, considering how many private jet using stars occupy its cast list, are admittedly ironic). It feels like an additional resolution to a movie where everyone dies, and one that feels just as worth listening to, an impressive feat.

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19. “My Heart Will Go On” - Celine Dion, from Titanic (1997)

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You’d think it’d be a lock for the top ten, right? It has all the ingredients: a legendary songstress, the world’s biggest movie, its indelible place in the cultural zeitgeist, and how ubiquitous it is within the film itself, always appearing at the most swelling, romantic moments.

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So, what gives? Well, because some of these lyrics are, well, bad.

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“Love was when I loved you?” Huh?

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Praise James Horner for his shameless recycling, which ultimately gave birth to the world’s most recognizable cheesefest, but the actual words… sink… Dion’s signature tune to outside the top ten.

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18. “Yellow Flicker Beat” - Lorde, from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)

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As Katniss Everdeen becomes the lamest revolutionary of all time, The Hunger Games… quatrilogy limps to the finish line. Temporarily saving the day is Lorde with a slow-building banger in “Yellow Flicker Beat.” Lyrically, it's a tad on the nose and not like other girls-y, but it’s relentless musically and perfectly captures the burgeoning revolution and how the people of Panem see their beloved Mockingjay.

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17. “Child Stars on Your Television” - TV Child Stars, from Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003)

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Is Dickie Roberts underrated? No. It certainly doesn’t deserve a measly 22% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the concept is better than the execution. Outside of Rob Reiner’s meeting with Dickie and some delightful cameos, the movie’s best and most memorable scene is at the very end, when a collection of iconic child stars from yesteryear gather for a “We Are the World” parody about the difficulty of everyday interactions with fans. It’s a tad juvenile, but it’s genuinely funny and sharper than the rest of the movie.

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16. “Crazy for You” - Madonna, from Vision Quest (1985)

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This has nothing to do with the song, but why is this movie named Vision Quest? Why would any movie, ever, ever, EVER, be named Vision Quest? You had a hit song from pop’s biggest new star in a movie about two people falling in love. Ya know, going… CRAZY FOR EACH OTHER?!?! It was RIGHT THERE!!!

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Anyway, “Crazy for You” is Madonna’s first ballad. Considering she’s the world’s best-selling female recording artist, we cannot justifiably say she should’ve leaned into the genre more often. Still, this is an incredible song: catchy, straightforward, and a fantastic anthem for Louden (Yeah, the guy’s name is Louden) and Carla as their romance unfolds in a smoky bar.

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