Can You Guess the Oscar-Winning Song Based on the Lyrics?

Though movies are a visual medium, it’s often the musical score or soundtrack that can elevate a film from merely good to something emotionally stirring. In some cases, music can virtually eclipse the movie. Whitney Houston’s 1992 soundtrack for The Bodyguard might be as culturally resonant as the film itself; Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” will immediately remind fans of 1997’s Titanic, and vice versa.

See if you can identify the Oscar-winning songs by their lyrics in the quiz below:

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has some stringent rules for Best Original Song contenders. The tune has to be written exclusively for the movie, meaning an artist can’t dust off an older track and expect a nomination. The Academy also puts a four-Oscar limit on any one winner, meaning that if a song has five writers or collaborators, they might have to share a single statuette. (So far, that hasn’t happened.) And since 2008, a film can only have up to two songs nominated for the category.

The rules can sometimes freeze out songs on a technicality. Madonna missed out on a nomination for “Masterpiece” for the film W.E. in 2012 because it was the second song played during the closing credits. The rules stipulate that a potential nominee has to appear no later than the start of the end credits. She did get a consolation prize of sorts: The song won a Golden Globe, where no such rule exists.

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