The top 5 songs from Grease that get us grooving 40 years later
The film Grease told us that “Grease is the word,” while inviting us to do everything from “Look at me, I’m Sandra Dee” to believe in those “Summer Nights.”
The first time that I saw the movie Grease, I was in the midst of a bummer of a breakup. I sobbed my way through the romantic tunes and tried to stop snuffling during the humorous songs (I managed to giggle during “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee”).
Since then, I’ve seen Grease more times than I want to admit, and I now recognize that while some of the songs are witty and wise, some can be silly or at times, problematic.
With that, we’ve got the ranking of all the Grease songs, from the brilliantly best to the blatantly bad.
1. “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee”
I love this song. From Stockard Channing wowing us with her wonderful imitation of a prim and proper Doris Day in the original Grease (“Watch it, hey, I’m Doris Day; I was not brought up that way”) to Vanessa Hudgens rocking her performance in the Grease Live TV event, “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee” hasn’t lost its charm.
2. “We Go Together”
If there’s one song that epitomizes the spirit of the movie Grease, it’s “We Go Together.” While some of the words might seem a tad silly (“Boogedy boogedy boogedy boogedy” put this song in second place rather than first place), the upbeat spirit of the tune perfectly supports the lyrics. There’s something oh so charming about summer romances that is captured in the words:
"We go togetherLike rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dongRemembered foreverAs shoo-bop sha wadda wadda yippity boom de boomChang chang changitty chang sha-bopThat’s the way it should beWah-oooh, yeah!"
3. “Greased Lightning”
It’s John Travolta and those hip-wiggling dance moves rather than the lyrics that revved up our engines in “Greased Lightning.” Moreover, we’re in an era where cars steer themselves, making the “fuel injection cutoff” description more of a reason to yawn than to get excited.
Sorry, car music fans, but “Greased Lightning” slides into third place.
4. “Summer Nights”
The song “Summer Nights” ranks near the bottom. While Danny gets sizzling hot with his part of the tune, Sandy comes off more as sickeningly sweet than sympathetic.
Particularly concerning: In the era of “Me Too,” some of the lyrics hit the wrong note, such as Kenickie asking “Did she put up a fight?” That put “Summer Nights” into a close tie for last place.
5. “Hopelessly Devoted to You”
And the dubious awards for the worst song in Grease go to (drum roll, please) “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” I love Olivia Newton-John, but I wanted to take her character Sandy by the shoulders and tell her, “He’s not worth it!”
Among the lyrics that make us wince:
"You know I’m just a fool who’s willingTo sit around and wait for youBut baby can’t you see there’s nothing else for me to doI’m hopelessly devoted to you"
Bonus: Olivia Newton-John loves all Grease songs
As for what the original Grease performers think, Olivia Newton-John talked with Billboard about the tunes, praising them as “fun” with “great energy.” She admitted that she cherishes the fact that Grease has become “nostalgic for [her] generation,” with fans continuing to purchase the album as “a way for them to remember those feelings of watching the movie and feelings of that time period.”
Related Story: Grease 40 years later: pretty problematic?
Newton-John will forever be grateful to the way that the movie “greased the way” for her. And it gives us another reason to be hopelessly devoted to Grease. It’s leaving us saying “shoo-bop sha wadda wadda yippity boom de boom!”