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Paul McCartney’s Nirvana Reunion, Taylor Swift, Jay Z, Lana Del Rey Make Oscars Best Song List

Oscar Best Songs short list, Paul McCartney's Nirvana Reunion, Taylor Swift, Jay Z, Lana Del Rey, Dave Grohl, Karen O, the xx, Coldplay, M83, Florence and the Machine, José González, Ryan Adams

About a year ago, Paul McCartney sent the music media into a tizzy when he was quoted saying he would lead a “Nirvana reunion.” And then he did, in fact, front a band backed by Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, and honorary Nirvana member Pat Smear at New York’s Madison Square Garden during 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief. The new song they debuted together, “Cut Me Some Slack,” turned out to be for Grohl’s Sound City: Real to Reel documentary film soundtrack, and it’s nominated for a 2014 Grammy.

EGOT ahoy: McCartney, Grohl, Novoselic, and Smear’s “Slack”-ripper leads the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ not-so-short list for next year’s Best Original Song award. The Macca-led Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2014 inductees are up against a few carryovers from the Golden Globes’ 2014 Best Song nominees, namely Taylor Swift’s One Chance song “Sweeter Than Fiction,” U2’s Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom tribute “Ordinary Love,” and Coldplay’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire skyburst “Atlas.”

The 75-song list is heavy on material from this year’s lavish The Great Gatsby soundtrack: Jay-Z “100$ Bill,” Lana Del Rey’s reported Kanye West-Kim Kardashian proposal song “Young and Beautiful,” the xx’s “Together,” and Florence and the Machine’s “Over the Love.” Other notable contenders include M83’s Oblivion title track, Karen O’s Her lullaby “The Moon Song,” and José González’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Ryan Adams ballad “Stay Alive.” Grohl’s Sound City also has another Oscar opportunity with Stevie Nicks-led “You Can’t Fix This.”

Notable omissions, at this point? Well, Inside Llewyn Davis‘ “Please Mr. Kennedy,” sung by Justin Timberlake with fellow cast members Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver, didn’t make the cut despite a Golden Globes nod, presumably because the song isn’t completely original. By the same token, you won’t see Arcade Fire’s Reflektor track “Supersymmetry” even though director Spike Jonze has said the song was written specifically for his film. That absence is ostensibly because the song was on the album first. Hey, it’s the Oscars.

Arcade Fire still have their shot at an Academy Award. Their Her score is on the list of potential Best Original Score nominees, alongside M83’s Oblivion score, and Mike Patton’s score for The Place Beyond the Pines. Read more about that 114-film pool here.

Last year’s Best Original Song trophy, of course, went to Adele for her James Bond theme “Skyfall.” If history is any guide, many of our preferred candidates will fall out by the time nominations are announced. Songs by Rick Ross, the Black Keys with RZA, Fiona Apple, Karen O, Beck, and Arcade Fire all failed to cross over from the 2013 short list to the televised Oscar nods. That’s after the Academy overhauled its Best Song nominees rules following the fiasco that was 2012, when only two songs made the cut and none were deemed worth performing on TV.

Another rule-related note to bear in mind: Only two songs from any one film can be nominated, so The Great Gatsby won’t be sweeping.

The Academy announces its 2014 Oscar nominations on January 16. The 86th Annual Academy Awards are scheduled for March 2.

The full 2014 Academy Awards Best Original Song short list:

“Amen” from All Is Lost?
“Alone Yet Not Alone” from Alone Yet Not Alone
“Doby” from Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
“Last Mile Home” from August: Osage County?
“Austenland” from Austenland?
“Comic Books” from Austenland?
“L.O.V.E.D.A.R.C.Y” from Austenland
“What Up” from Austenland?
“He Loves Me Still” from Black Nativity
“Hush Child (Get You Through This Silent Night)” from Black Nativity
“Test of Faith” from Black Nativity
“Forgiveness” from Brave Miss World?
“Lullaby Song” from Cleaver’s Destiny?
“Shine Your Way” from The Croods
“Happy” from Despicable Me 2
“Gonna Be Alright” from Epic?
“Rise Up” from Epic?
“What Matters Most” from Escape From Planet Earth?
“Bones” from For No Good Reason
“Going Nowhere” from For No Good Reason?
“Gonzo” from For No Good Reason?
“The Courage to Believe” from Free China: The Courage to Believe?
“Let It Go” from Frozen?
“100$ Bill” from The Great Gatsby?
“A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)” from The Great Gatsby
“Over the Love” from The Great Gatsby?
“Together” from The Great Gatsby?
“Young and Beautiful” from The Great Gatsby
“The Moon Song” from Her?
“I See Fire” from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug?
“Bite of Our Lives” from How Sweet It Is?
“Try” from How Sweet It Is?
“Atlas” from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire?
“Better You, Better Me” from The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete
“Bring It On” from Jewtopia
“Aygiri Nadani” from Kamasutra 3D?
“Har Har Mahadeva” from Kamasutra 3D?
“I Felt” from Kamasutra 3D?
“Of the Soil” from Kamasutra 3D
“Sawariya” from Kamasutra 3D?
“In the Middle of the Night” from Lee Daniels’ The Butler?
“You And I Ain’t Nothin’ No More” from Lee Daniels’ The Butler?
“Let’s Take a Trip” from Live at the Foxes Den
“Pour Me Another Dream” from Live at the Foxes Den?
“The Time of My Life” from Live at the Foxes Den?
“Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom?
“Monsters University” from Monsters University”
“When the Darkness Comes” from The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
“Sacrifice (I Am Here)” from Murph: The Protector
“The Muslims Are Coming” from The Muslims Are Coming!
“Oblivion” from Oblivion
“Sweeter Than Fiction” from One Chance?
“Nothing Can Stop Me Now” from Planes?
“We Both Know” from Safe Haven?
“Get Used to Me” from The Sapphires
“Stay Alive” from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty?
“So You Know What It’s Like” from Short Term 12?
“There’s No Black Or White” from Somm?
“Cut Me Some Slack” from Sound City?
“You Can’t Fix This” from Sound City?
“Let It Go” from Spark: A Burning Man Story?
“We Ride” from Spark: A Burning Man Story?
“Becomes the Color” from Stoker?
“Younger Every Day” from 3 Geezers!?
“Here It Comes” from Trance?
“Let the Bass Go” from Turbo?
“The Snail Is Fast” from Turbo?
“Speedin'” from Turbo
“My Lord Sunshine (Sunrise)” from 12 Years a Slave?
“Make It Love” from Two: The Story of Roman & Nyro?
“One Life” from The Ultimate Life?
“Unfinished Songs” from Unfinished Song?
“For the Time Being” from The Way, Way Back?
“Go Where the Love Is” from The Way, Way Back?
“Bleed for Love” from Winnie Mandela