Which Tune Should Have Won Song of the Year at the 1990 Grammy Awards?

The first Grammy Awards ceremony of the 90s featured a contested battle for Song of the Year honors. Always one of the most prestigious awards, the trophy was up for grabs among five very solid competitors. Grammy voters went with Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” that night in 1990 as the winner. We’re here to help you decide if they got it right or not.

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“The End Of The Innocence” by Don Henley

Henley knew well the wisdom in grabbing an excellent piece of music, even if he didn’t write it. That formula worked for him when he penned lyrics to a Mike Campbell track, which turned into “The Boys Of Summer”. “The End Of The Innocence” emanated from a piano piece by Bruce Hornsby. From that foundation, Henely constructed a moving song about the time in life when ideals, both in terms of relationships and politics, are traded in for consolation.

“We Didn’t Start The Fire” by Billy Joel

Joel wrote the song with his ire up after a youngster he met claimed that Billy’s generation had it easy. He penned the lyrics to “We Didn’t Start The Fire” first, which explains the minimal melody. While the song is an impressive achievement, the final product comes out a little like a novelty. It doesn’t even try to make larger connections between the rapid-fire facts and figures. And the chorus is the only part of the music that rises above the pedestrian.

“Wind Beneath My Wings” by Bette Midler

Songwriters Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley first envisioned this song for Bob Seger, believe it or not. Several artists took their crack at “Wind Beneath My Wings” in the 80s. Midler found the perfect vehicle for its orchestrated melodrama as the theme song to her film weeper Beaches. Hey, a lot of folks love the sentiments expressed by it, so we shouldn’t cast aspersions. Still, it’s winners like this that saddled Grammy voters with a sappy reputation for quite some time.

“The Living Years” by Mike + The Mechanics

Both lyricist B.A. Robertson and Mike Rutherford, the Genesis guitarist and founder of Mike + The Mechanics, had recently dealt with the deaths of their fathers as “The Living Years” came together. Robertson managed to touch on a universal theme in a way that felt new, as the title phrase alone is strikingly evocative. Of course, it didn’t hurt at all that the writing pair could hand the song off to the golden voice of Paul Carrack to bring all those emotions home.

“Don’t Know Much” by Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville

The legendary writing team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil penned this one with Tom Snow, who also owned a long list of credits. “Don’t Know Much” bounced around for nearly a decade before it landed in the lap of Ronstadt and Neville. (Ironically enough, Bette Midler was one of the artists who recorded it.) It’s a lovely, restrained meditation on love, although the gorgeous duet performance by Ronstadt and Neville certainly takes it a long way.

So, who do you think should have won Song of the Year at the 1990 Grammy Awards? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

Photo by Mark Sagliocco/WireImage