As it turns out, my unprofessional, uninformed Best Song Oscar prediction was wrong. Melissa Etheridge’s “I Need to Wake Up” from Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth beat out Randy Newman’s “Our Town” from Cars. I prefer Melissa Etheridge’s earlier work — and I’m hardly an Al Gore fan — but this is the one that won the Oscar, so here’s a taste of the lyrics.
Have I been sleeping?
I’ve been so still
Afraid of crumbling
Have I been careless?
Dismissing all the distant rumblings
Take me where I am supposed to be
To comprehend the things that I can’t seeCause I need to move
I need to wake up
I need to change
I need to shake up
I need to speak out
Something’s got to break up
I’ve been asleep
And I need to wake up
Now
Etheridge performed the song live at the Academy Awards. Her website has more, including a discography.