Mike’s Favorite Original Songs of the Decade: #89 – “Lost Stars,” from Begin Again

89. “Lost Stars,” from Begin Again

The forgotten John Carney film. Which is funny, because it’s not like Sing Street and Once are that much out there that people are gonna have widely known both of those. But for people who do know those films, they don’t really know this one. And that’s because this is his one big ‘Hollywood’ film. It’s got Keira and Mark Ruffalo and the Weinstein Company produced it (which I suspect is why no one ever saw it). While Once is very much this little indie musical, and Sing Street is more just about the kids making the band, this is very much a ‘plot’ movie. Mark Ruffalo is a down-on-his-luck music executive who finds Keira, a singer-songwriter, and decides he’s gonna help her become a success. Sort of the ‘this is my last shot’ kind of thing. Jerry Maguire… you’ve seen this movie before. But the one thing the movie does do very right (and it is quite a solid movie in its own right) is this song, which is just gorgeous. Adam Levine performs the ‘credits’ version, but the one that appears within the film is sung by Keira, and is the one that I much prefer. Because it just feels much more authentic and less… studio. It’s a really lovely song that was nominated for an Oscar, though very much overlooked by all the other nominees that year.

Also, fun fact: the guy who co-wrote this song is the same guy who wrote one of the essential songs of my childhood, The New Radicals’ “You Get What You Give.” So now you know that on top of having this wonderful song in your life.