Among the contenders in this year’s original song race are two on opposite ends of multiple spectrums. One is an intimate empowerment ballad from a Tyler Perry historical drama on Netflix. The other is the equivalent of an “I want” song (more like an “I will” song) from a Disney animated sequel. One is the latest contender by a 15-time nominee and honorary Oscar recipient who has been in the business for more than 40 years, sung by a recent Oscar winner herself. The other is the first big-screen work by a pair of 20-something prodigies who made a splash with the equivalent of unauthorized musical fan fiction — which won them a Grammy. Here, the songs “The Journey” and “Beyond.”
“The Journey”
“The Journey” feels different. It’s an empowerment anthem, sure, and Diane Warren has crafted many of those. But this one moves unexpectedly yet assuredly from major to minor in flowing modulations that convey the unsure terrain faced by women of color who wanted to serve their country in World War II. (Tyler Perry’s film “The Six Triple Eight” concerns the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion and stars Kerry Washington and Oprah Winfrey.)
“All the times they thought that they could hold you back / But you’ve always known there was no chance of that / You’re made / Too strong,” sings H.E.R., in a glorious vocal on the track she produced and performs.
“I feel this is not only one of the best songs, if not the best song, I’ve written for a movie; it’s one of the best songs I’ve ever written in my life,” Warren says. “You’re supposed to love them all equally, but you don’t.”
When asked about that fluidly modulating chord progression, she grabs her guitar and plays, naming as she goes: “It’s G, D minor … C, C minor …” For the non-music heads out there, in pop music, in the key of G, C and D are the usual complimentary chords and are expected to be major; those switches to minor are what give the song its unusual quality. “ ‘It’s all part of the plan,’ ” Warren sings as she plays, “ ‘The journey … the journey’ … I can’t sing it like Gabby can … Oh my God, her vocal on that song is insane.”
Warren has known H.E.R. (born Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson) since the Oscar-winning composer, multi-instrumentalist and singer was 14; Warren played the song for her, and the singer was so excited that she recorded piano and vocal parts in Warren’s studio, then went to New York and produced and recorded the version used in the film. H.E.R. has said she had never sung notes as high as those demanded by “The Journey.”
Warren wrote it before seeing the film; her friend, Keri Selig, a producer on “The Six Triple Eight,” described the entire story to her, scene by scene. Seeing it all in her head, Warren composed “The Journey” — then saw the film.
“I love the movie that inspired it. But then if it gets at life outside of it … I go on TikTok and see these videos people make with the song and stuff like that. Some of them just really make you cry.”
“Beyond”
Then there’s the blazing young talent of Barlow & Bear — Abigail Barlow, 25, and Emily Bear, 23 — notable for the Grammy-winning “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,” among their many other accomplishments (already). The duo are now the youngest people to write the lion’s share of a Disney song score, for “Moana 2.” And they’re stepping into the shoes of some other wunderkind named Lin-Manuel Miranda. Is that daunting, inspiring or …?
“I think it’s a healthy dose of both,” says Bear, poised at her piano. “I feel like most creatives would agree that a daunting and challenging project creates the best kind of pressure cooker to make the best music. The Disney legacy as a whole is such a huge deal for us. So, to have a hand in continuing that thread, it is a lot of pressure. But again, it pushes us to be the best versions of ourselves.”
Their youth helped them relate to the boldly exploring Disney heroine who, since the first film, has become her people’s “wayfinder” and now must locate a legendary island that could be the key to linking all the peoples of the oceans.
“When we booked this job, I think Emily was a year older than Moana is in the sequel, so we just immediately felt connected to her and also her journey of growth,” Barlow says. “It was sort of weirdly mirroring what we were going through — the challenges of being a young woman just trying to find your place in the world and going on this epic journey; it really felt like we were stepping into that.”
With “Beyond,” a big belter in the “Let It Go” tradition and something of a spiritual successor to the first film’s “How Far I’ll Go,” Moana faces something new: “A call straight from her ancestors looking toward the future instead of trying to discover the past,” Barlow says. “It’s more of a question song than an ‘I want’ song.”
“But then it turns into a statement at the end,” says Bear. “She is like, ‘I will go beyond,’ and that is the answer to ‘How Far I’ll Go.’”
Then Bear attacks the wildly arpeggiating sound of “Beyond” on the piano, remarkably conveying the power of the ocean, building rapidly to something symphonic as Barlow’s crystal-clear soprano sings Moana’s thoughts: “What lies beyond? / Under skies I’ve never seen / Will I lose myself between / My home and what’s unknown?”
Then the song lands with the booming declaration: “I am Moana! / Of the land and of the sea / And I promise / That is who I’ll always be / I must go / I will go / It will go / What lies beyond.”