This year's Academy Award nominees
for Best Original Song feature previous winners like Billie Eilish/Finneas, Jon
Batiste, and Mark Ronson/Andrew Wyatt, as well as songwriter Diane Warren, who
has earned a record-breaking 15th nomination and received an honorary Oscar.
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| Scott George (center), a music consultant on Apple’s Killers of the Flower Moon, composed “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People).” STEWART COOK/COURTESY OF APPLE; MELINDA SUE GORDON/APPLE TV+ (2) |
The fifth nominee is a remarkable addition: Scott George, a member of the Osage Nation, who serves as a housing director for low-income Native Americans and is a skilled musician with 40 years of experience performing Osage ceremonial dances.
George received a nomination for
composing “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My
People),” a captivating, drum-filled chant lasting over six minutes,
featured in Apple’s film Killers of the Flower Moon. George, known as
the "head singer" in his
tribe, was also a music consultant for Killers, which portrays the
systematic assassinations of the Osage people in the 1920s by white settlers
seeking control of the oil on their land.
When Martin Scorsese, whom George affectionately refers to as "Marty," attended one of George's tribe's ceremonial dances and experienced their traditional music, the director knew he wanted something similar for one of the closing scenes of the film. Killers of the Flower Moon, which earned 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
"We kind of knew what he wanted, but because that’s our ceremonial
[music], we didn’t know how we were going to deliver that. We don’t really
allow cameras in there," George explains. "We talked about it and said, ‘We’ll just have to make our own song.’"
"Wahzhazhe" is performed by the Osage Tribal Singers and
features vocals from Scott George and two dozen female and male singers who
gathered around the drum. For this interview, George sat in his office in
Shawnee, Oklahoma, taking a break from his normal life at Citizen Potawatomi
Nation, where he has worked for 19 years.
"I’m hoping the phone doesn’t ring or something while I’m sitting here," he jokes.
Are you surprised by the
nomination? It’s been a very competitive year for film songs.
Not having been involved in this
before, we really didn’t understand the process. We barely got it submitted in
time because it had to be put in a written form. We didn’t really understand
what we were in for. When I’ve talked to other people and they said, “Well, there were over 200 songs in there,
and the people judging this were the composers and musicians,” it really
shed a different light.
Because in the beginning, I
thought, “Well, we’re tied to the movie
and, kind of rough to say, but they’re just throwing us a bone.” Then when
they said that, I said, “Wow, maybe
there’s something to this.” So I’m like, “Wow, that’s just crazy.”
I’ve talked to all the guys and ladies that sing with us, and they can’t believe it, either. I think our whole tribe was all going crazy that day [the Oscar nominations were announced]. I had a call from one of my sisters who works in the tribe. She said, “We might as well just shut this place down. We can’t get nothing done.”
Any talks about a live performance
at the Oscars?
We’ve been getting hints that it
might happen, but I believe that's more on Apple’s side. We haven’t heard
anything from the Academy’s production committee yet. We’re all hoping for the
opportunity. I think it would be nice to be able to do that.
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| Cast and crew attend Killers of the Flower Moon premiere on October 16, 2023 in Los Angeles. FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES |
Your nomination is historic for your people, as well as Lily Gladstone’s best actress nod. What’s it like to know that you both are making history?
It's not surprising to me that Lily
has been nominated. She's great.
As for us, if you really think
about it, our music is probably thousands of years old. For it to be
recognized, maybe for the first time ever, it’s overwhelming in that sense. But
I’m kind of hoping that people might listen to it a little more. You can
download anything, and on YouTube you can access all that stuff. I’ve been
singing for over 40 years.
All my life, I’ve always tried to introduce people to it. [Those] that don’t have an ear for it, they’re like, “It just all sounds the same to me” — in reality, there’s a lot of intricate dips and changes in tone and everything else that we try to put in there. So if somebody were to give it a little time to get used to it, they might come to understand it a little bit better.
Composer Robbie Robertson passed
away last year and earned a posthumous nomination for scoring the film. Did you
get a chance to work with him?
We didn't meet one-on-one. I think he wasn't feeling well by the time we arrived, but he did choose this song from the two that were submitted. After practicing both songs for a while, we recorded them and sent them to Marty.
What was it like working with
Martin Scorsese?
It was a great experience. When we filmed this song, it probably took all day — or it felt like it did. We must’ve sung it a dozen times. We were able to go up with him and sit with him to view it on the monitor. He introduced himself and thanked all of our people for being there. He was really nice to work with. He knew what he wanted.
Is this your first time composing a
song for a film?
Yes, it is for a film. I have
composed other songs, usually for veterans or people who have been honored in
some way. There are other reasons for composing, but this will be the first
time someone has suggested making one for a movie. Our intention was that after
the movie is over, we could use the song to honor our own people whenever the
need arises.
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| Scott George. FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES |
Many of our people are asked to be the head man or lady dancer, and we discourage them from using their family song outside of our arbor because we're concerned that others might copy it and use it elsewhere. So this song could be used for that purpose. After the movie is over, we will probably attend a dance where we will announce that we are going to place this song on the drum, meaning it will be public and anyone can sing it.
What do you think of the other
songs that are nominated?
I find the songs beautiful, especially the melodies and the use of pianos. They are really beautiful songs. I'm a bit surprised that there isn't a really lively song among them. The one composed by Diane Warren has a bit more pep to it, but most of them are just really beautiful songs.
So what’s next for you? Would you
want to do more film stuff?
It's been enjoyable. I mentioned to
someone the other day that I'll be glad to see the end of all this and get back
to being myself and doing what I do. I don't know if there will be another
opportunity like this.
There are over 500 tribes in the United States, and we all have our own music. Any future project would have to be specific to our own people. For every tribe, there are at least as many composers and singers as you saw sitting around that drum.
I’m sure a lot of them also feel
represented in this song and in this film as well…
I hope so. Some of the younger
generation I'm around have already told me, "Why don't you go put it on the drum, Uncle?" I told them,
"Let's finish this first, and then
you guys can sing it." They've been listening to it and are ready to
go.
I get the feeling, and I've already heard, that people are proud that we're out there representing not just us, but all indigenous people.
Have you already thought about what
you’re going to wear to the awards? I imagine you’re going to take your
wife.
Oh, yes, definitely. She's been really focused on that part. She's been shopping and looking around, saying, "What am I going to do?" She's the one who stresses out about it. I told her, "Well, I already know what I'm wearing." But she said, "Well, you can't just wear that. You have to wear something else." So we'll figure it out.
