Musicals are derivatives of plays or films. Instead of relying on dialogue and occasional background music scores, they take the music to most of the movie. Musicals are an adaptation, an innovation, to something that could have otherwise taken static form. A piece of theatrical art can be set alive through musical interventions and keep the audience engaged. After all, who wants to sit for three minutes-long boring dialogue between two characters when you can have the two sing their conversation? I’m looking at you, “The Other Side” from The Greatest Showman!
Below, we will review the best songs from musical films that came out during the 2010s. Tell us which one you liked the best!
5. Another Day of Sun (La La Land, 2016)
This song is what was played in the opening parts of the movie. The scene where the song was played showed a traffic jam and several characters singing to the beat. And then they got bored due to the long lines, and one decided to get out of her vehicle and perform in the middle of the congested street.
Other people followed suit, and before you knew it, there was a sudden flash mob in the middle of the road, causing more traffic because they were stuck in traffic.
This song is one of the best because it sometimes calls you to “do the same” even though you know you really won’t. I wish we could do it, and invite other people to dance with us too.
4. Set It All Free (Sing, 2016)
Of course, we will also have animated musical films on this list! The song Set It All Free was “composed” and sung by Ash the Porcupine after she found her boyfriend cheating on her. She performed the song in the final performance of the movie, where she involuntarily shot some of her spikes to the audience while passionately singing about her experiences.
Indeed, we can say that the first half of the last decade was tattered with possessive love songs like Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” or Selena Gomez’s “The Heart Wants What It Wants”. In contrast, its second half saw songs promoting self-love and the abandonment of a lost cause of love, like “Flowers, Lose You to Love Me” and “Set It All Free”.
3. One Day More (Les Misérables, 2012)
Let’s just stick to the 2012 movie to be consistent with the introduction. “One Day More” was heard after “On My Own”, when the different characters were just one day away from seeing what destiny had ahead of them. In the song, we see Valjean and Cosette departing while Marius laments over the possibility of no longer seeing Cosette. Meanwhile, Éponine was still singing her sad songs. The revolutionists were getting ready while Javert was getting ready…to capture those revolutionists.
The ending of the song was also heavenly. Valjean sang the line, “One day more!” and all of the singing characters harmoniously blended their lines to form that one great conclusion for a song.
2. This is Me (The Greatest Showman, 2017)
The song expressed some ideas of doubt thrown by other people. And that’s true. Sometimes, people wouldn’t see what you can do, and you don’t have to show them that what they think of you is not you.
“This is Me” wanted to say that you should continue striving for what you want to be, and then they will see who you are once you’ve made your mark.
Speaking of success, the song also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for the year 2017.
1. All Too Well (2021)
All Too Well is Taylor Swift’s song appearing in All Too Well: The Short Film. The song was a rollercoaster of emotions in its ten-minute duration. It was like “On My Own”, but something happened in the beginning, rather than a character imagining an ideal love story.
A love story took place. However, all that began to spiral downwards, and all crumbled down. The love was lost, but the character remembered everything too well. The song was a great exposition of a broken love story.
There you have it, folks. Do you agree with the ranking and the best songs from each film? Let us know in the comments!
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