In Contention

Listen to Beth Rowley’s ‘You’ve Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger’ from ‘An Education’

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Beth Rowley in An EducationWe skipped one of these on Monday so we’ll double up today with a pair of tunes from Lone Scherfig’s “An Education.”

“You’ve Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger” from singer Beth Rowley featured prominently in the trailer for Scherfig’s film and, frankly, given the breezy, nostalgic flavor of the tune, most may not have realized that it was an original song.  But it is, and one of the more beautiful entries in the category this year.

The song’s usage in the film hits the subtext on the nose but it’s a rather beautiful moment nevertheless.  Carey Mulligan’s young, unassuming Jenny begins to fall hard for Peter Sarsgaard’s David as Rowley ramps up her vocals in the background via live performance.  The contextual implementation (and the fact that Rowley gets to sing her tune on screen — quite the unique circumstance) leads me to believe this could be more of a contender than we think at the moment.

Have a listen to the track below and tell us what you think.

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Comments

21 responses to “Listen to Beth Rowley’s ‘You’ve Got Me Wrapped Around Your Little Finger’ from ‘An Education’”

  1. Guy Lodge Avatar

    Absolutely my favorite contender of the bunch.

    I’m still thinking this’ll be the one that surprises a lot of people on nomination morning — only for them to then reconsider the song and the voting system and think, “Oh, of course.”

  2. Guy Lodge Avatar

    Now, the real question in this category is: which song will be the lone Globe nominee to make the Oscar cut, only to lose on the night — as has been the case for the last four years?

    And which non-Globe-nominated song will eventually take the Oscar — as has been the case for the last five years?

    I say “The Weary Kind” follows the first trend, and breaks the second.

  3. Kristopher Tapley Avatar

    I don’t know what would win otherwise, though. If both Nine songs get in, I wouldn’t expect either to take it. Same with Princess. It seems like Bingham and Burnett’s to lose.

  4. Paul Outlaw Avatar
    Paul Outlaw

    This was one of my favorite scenes in An Education. Brings a smile to my face again just listening to it. But I am a sucker for nightclub scenes with sultry female vocalists, so this was a no-brainer. (See Paltrow’s genius opening number in Infamous.) Unfortunately, I don’t think this song stands a chance.

  5. Ryan Avatar
    Ryan

    Didn’t know this was an original song. Loved it when I heard it in the movie…

  6. Guy Lodge Avatar

    @Kris: My thoughts exactly. Plus, T-Bone Burnett is the kind of credible, slightly older-skewing muso type they like to reward.

  7. Marshall Avatar

    This is my favorite song of the year. It’s the most played song in my iTunes library.

    If this doesn’t make it…well, what a snub that would be.

  8. Reuben Avatar

    My favorite of the bunch too.

  9. Speaking English Avatar
    Speaking English

    Wow… didn’t expect to be alone on this one. It’s not a bad song, but I don’t think it’s a great one either. And its place in the movie is neither prominent nor particularly memorable.

  10. Holden Avatar
    Holden

    The only song that I’ve heard that’s in contention that I absolutely loved in this category was “All is Love” from Where the Wild Things Are. I really like it.

  11. aspect ratio Avatar
    aspect ratio

    “The Weary Kind” is my favorite (both personally and Oscar-wise) but I’d love for this song to make the cut too, it’s lovely.

  12. Hans Avatar
    Hans

    This song…

    was perfect to listen to at the end of my day.

  13. Me. Avatar
    Me.

    It’s an original tune? Seriously?

    Ok I have my best original song winner.

  14. Kristopher Tapley Avatar

    English: You’re dead wrong on that, buster. Not prominent? Are you kidding me? I’m now convinced you’re just trying to be as contrarian as you can as of late. Boring.

  15. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    What about Petey’s Song from Fantastic Mr Fox?

  16. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    I thought Rowley over-acted her 10 seconds on screen. The tune is nice though.

  17. Jim T Avatar
    Jim T

    I really like this song and I remember how cozy I was feeling when I was listening to it during that scene. The, I don’t know how to say that, art direction also helped.

  18. Speaking English Avatar
    Speaking English

    No Kris, the film genuinely did nothing for me. I was apathetic to the whole middling affair. And prominent or not, it failed to stick with me. There… that’s a better way of putting it.

    And listening to it again doesn’t change that.

  19. Eunice Avatar
    Eunice

    I loved this song when it first appeared in the trailer, and as of now, this is my bet for Best Original Song. If it doesn’t win, this will be a snub of a rather unforgivable decree. Haha.

    But seriously. :)

  20. phillip e.medwed Avatar

    A wonderful song and a wonderful scene to perform it in! I didn’t realize it was Beth Rowley in the scene, but then again, I had never known about this very talented and sweet looking siren until I started listening to the “An Education” soundtrack.Like I commented about the song “smoke without fire” I would love to perform both the above track “I’ve Got You Wrapped Around My Finger” and “So Sublime” when I perform at Karaoke>

  21. phillip e. medwed Avatar

    Beth, you definitely have me wrapped around your finger with that ‘torch’ like style you put into that wonderful song, you are a wonderful talent! I wish you the greatest of success!