Ranking All the Songs from the Nobody Soundtrack
If you like the John Wick films, you’ll love the 2021 action thriller, Nobody, a film about a meek and mild family man with a dark past, an uncertain future, and a simmering cauldron of rage burning in his belly. It’d be wrong to say it’s a John Wick clone, but it covers a lot of the same ground – which, considering Derek Kolstad is the main scriptwriter for both, is probably to be expected. The soundtrack is as enjoyable as the film, featuring an eclectic mix of blues, jazz, funk, and rock. Here’s how we rank all the songs from the Nobody soundtrack.
15. Serye Glaza – Natasha Korolyova
If you can’t resist a bit of Europop, this upbeat confection from Ukrainian singer Natasha Korolyova won’t disappoint.
14. I’ve Gotta Be Me – Steve Lawrence
I’ve Gotta Be Me was written by Walter Marks for the Broadway musical Golden Rainbow. A few months before the production opened in February 1968, its star, Steve Lawrence, released the song as a single, reaching number 6 on the Billboard Easy Listening Chart. It’s been covered by dozens of artists since, but it’s Lawrence’s original that made it onto the Nobody soundtrack.
13. I Won’t Give You Up – Almost Here
If jazz is your bag, this deeply mellow, gorgeously chill track from Almost Here won’t disappoint.
12. Straighten Up and Fly Right – Dean Hudson and his Orchestra feat. The Sherry Sisters
Straighten Up and Fly Right was written by Nat King Cole and Irving Mills and first recorded by the Nat King Cole Trio, who spent ten weeks at the top of the Harlem Hot Parade with it in 1943. It s been covered by dozens of artists since, but it’s Dean Hudson’s version that made it to the Nobody soundtrack.
11. Let the Good Times Roll (Feel So Good) – Bunny Sigler
Shirley and Lee were the first ones to record Let the Good Times Roll (Feel So Good), scoring a top 20 hit with it in September 1956. Ten years later, Bunny Sigler decided to fuse it with the song Feels So Good and see what happened. What happened was another top 20 hit.
10. Life Is a Bitch – Luther Allison
Blues guitarists don’t get much better than the late, great Luther Allison. Before Life Is a Bitch wound up on the Nobody soundtrack, it had a starring role on Allison’s 1987 album, Serious.
9. Let the Good Times Roll – Shirley and Lee
The makers of Nobody clear have a bit of a thing for Let the Good Times Roll. Not only does Bunny Sigler’s cover version make an appearance on the soundtrack, but the original by Shirley and Lee pops up too.
8. Heartbreaker – Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar earned her breakthrough with this sleeper hit from her debut album, In the Heat of the Night, which spent a whopping four and a half months on the US Billboard Hot 100 with a peak position of number 23 in 1979.
7. You’ll Never Walk Alone – Gerry & The Pacemakers
What started as a show tune from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel ended up becoming one of the most enduring soccer anthems of all time after Liverpool FC adopted Gerry and the Pacemakers 1963 cover as their unofficial anthem. Since then, it’s been chanted at more matches than anyone could even begin to count.
6. The Impossible Dream – Andy Williams
Mitch Leigh composed the music, Joe Darion wrote the lyrics, the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha popularised it, Robert Kennedy said it was his favorite song, and a couple of hundred people have recorded it – of all of those versions, it’s crooner Andy Williams’ velvety cover of The Impossible Dream that made it onto the Nobody soundtrack.
5. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Even if you couldn’t tell the difference between Beethoven and Bach if your life depended on it, there’s a good chance you’ll recognize Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minora, a composition which not only ranks as one of Tchaikovsky’s most popular compositions, but as the best-known piano concerto ever written.
4. I Told Myself a Lie – Clyde McPhatter
Despite being one of the pioneering figures in doo-wop and R&B, addiction, bad management, and depression robbed Clyde McPhatter of the success he deserved. But even if his life was mired in tragedy, his contribution to the musical landscape of the ’50s and 60s, both as a solo artist and a member of the Drifters, ensured his legacy. I Told Myself a Lie might not have been a hit, but it’s still a gorgeous example of his greatness.
3. Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On – Edwin Starr
Written by Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield and recorded at varying points by artists like The Temptations and Yvonne Fair, Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On found its ultimate expression in the hands of Edwin Starr, whose sinfully groovy version can be found on the Nobody soundtrack.
2. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Nina Simone
The Animals, Elvis Costello, Santa Esmeralda, Joe Cocker, Yusuf Islam, Lana Del Rey, and countless others have all covered Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, but it’s Nina Simone’s timeless orginal that can be heard on Nobody.
1. What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong
When Louis Armstrong released What a Wonderful World in 1967, it bombed in the US, purely because Larry Newton, the president of ABC Records, had taken enough of a dislike of it to refuse to promote it. He probably regretted the decision in the end – it’s now sold millions of copies, been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and is widely considered one of the greatest songs of all time.