Our Town (James Taylor song)

"Our Town" is a song used in the 2006 Disney/Pixar animated film Cars. It was written by longtime Pixar contributor Randy Newman and recorded by James Taylor.

Story

The song is a ballad that recounts the economic decline of the fictional town of Radiator Springs after the creation of Interstate 40.

Awards and nominations

At the 49th Grammy Awards, the song won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. The same night, Newman's work for Cars won for Music in an Animated Feature Production at the 34th Annie Awards. The song was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song.

International version

As the track is a background song, not key for the understanding of the plot, "Our Town" was left untranslated in most foreign dubbings. However, it numbers a few translations in various language versions.

All official versions of "Our Town"
Language version	Performer	Title	Translation
German	OleSoul	"Unsere Stadt"	"Our Town"
English	James Taylor	"Our Town"
Spanish (European)	Toni Cruz	"Tu ciudad"	"Your Town"
Portuguese (European)	Manuel Rebelo	"O Meu Lar"	"My Town"

References

"'Cars' wins best animated feature award". USA Today. February 12, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2014.

Cars

Films

Cars	Cars (2006) Cars 2 (2011) Cars 3 (2017)
Planes	Planes (2013) Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014)

Short films

Mater and the Ghostlight (2006)

Television series

Cars Toons (2008–2014)
Cars on the Road (2022)

Characters

Music

Cars
- "Real Gone"
- "Life Is a Highway"
- "Our Town"
Cars 2
Cars 3
- "Ride"

Video games

Related	Rush: A Disney–Pixar Adventure Disney Infinity

Attractions

Category

v t e Pixar music
Albums	Toy Story A Bug's Life Toy Story 2 Monsters, Inc. Finding Nemo The Incredibles Cars Ratatouille WALL-E Up Toy Story 3 Cars 2 Brave Monsters University Inside Out The Good Dinosaur Cars 3 Coco Incredibles 2 Toy Story 4 Onward Soul Luca Turning Red Lightyear Elemental Inside Out 2
Songs	"You've Got a Friend in Me" "When She Loved Me" "If I Didn't Have You" "Real Gone" "Our Town" "Down to Earth" "We Belong Together" "Ride" "Remember Me" "The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy" "Nobody Like U" "Steal the Show"
Other albums	Woody's Roundup: A Rootin' Tootin' Collection of Woody's Favorite Songs Monsters, Inc. Scream Factory Favorites

v t e Randy Newman
Studio albums	Randy Newman 12 Songs Sail Away Good Old Boys Little Criminals Born Again Trouble in Paradise Land of Dreams Bad Love Harps and Angels Dark Matter
Live albums	Randy Newman Live
Compilations	Lonely at the Top: The Best of Randy Newman Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman The Best of Randy Newman The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1 The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 2
Musicals	Randy Newman's Faust
Soundtracks	Avalon Toy Story James and the Giant Peach A Bug's Life Toy Story 2 Meet the Parents Monsters, Inc. Cars The Princess and the Frog Toy Story 3 Monsters University Cars 3 Toy Story 4 Marriage Story
Songs	"Mama Told Me Not to Come" "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" "Sail Away" "He Gives Us All His Love" "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear" "Political Science" "You Can Leave Your Hat On" "Louisiana 1927" "Rednecks" "Short People" "I Love L.A." "You've Got a Friend in Me" "When She Loved Me" "If I Didn't Have You" "It's a Jungle Out There" "Our Town" "When We're Human" "Friends on the Other Side" "Down in New Orleans" "Almost There" "We Belong Together" "The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy"
Related	Discography Accolades Nilsson Sings Newman Alfred Newman David Newman Emil Newman Joey Newman Lionel Newman Thomas Newman

Awards for "Our Town"

v t e Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media
1980s	"Somewhere Out There" – James Horner, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil (songwriters) (1987) "Two Hearts" – Phil Collins & Lamont Dozier (songwriters) (1988) "Let the River Run" – Carly Simon (songwriter) (1989)
1990s	"Under the Sea" – Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (songwriters) (1990) "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" – Robert John "Mutt" Lange, Michael Kamen & Bryan Adams (songwriters) (1991) "Beauty and the Beast" – Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (songwriters) (1992) "A Whole New World" – Alan Menken & Tim Rice (songwriters) (1993) "Streets of Philadelphia" – Bruce Springsteen (songwriter) (1994) "Colors of the Wind" – Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz (songwriters) (1995) "Because You Loved Me" – Diane Warren (songwriter) (1996) "I Believe I Can Fly" – R. Kelly (songwriter) (1997) "My Heart Will Go On" – James Horner & Will Jennings (songwriters) (1998) "Beautiful Stranger" – Madonna & William Orbit (songwriters) (1999)
2000s	"When She Loved Me" – Randy Newman (songwriter) (2000) "Boss of Me" – John Flansburgh & John Linnell (songwriters) (2001) "If I Didn't Have You" – Randy Newman (songwriter) (2002) "A Mighty Wind" – Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy & Michael McKean (songwriters) (2003) "Into the West" – Annie Lennox, Howard Shore & Fran Walsh (songwriters) (2004) "Believe" – Glen Ballard & Alan Silvestri (songwriters) (2005) "Our Town" – Randy Newman (songwriter) (2006) "Love You I Do" – Siedah Garrett & Henry Krieger (songwriters) (2007) "Down to Earth" – Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman (songwriters) (2008) "Jai Ho" – Gulzar, A. R. Rahman & Tanvi Shah (songwriters) (2009)
2010s	"The Weary Kind" – Ryan Bingham & T Bone Burnett (songwriters) (2010) "I See the Light" – Alan Menken & Glenn Slater (songwriters) (2011) "Safe & Sound" – T Bone Burnett, Taylor Swift, Joy Williams & John Paul White (songwriters) (2012) "Skyfall" – Adele Atkins & Paul Epworth (songwriters) (2013) "Let It Go" – Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez (songwriters) (2014) "Glory" – Common, Che Smith & John Legend (songwriters) (2015) "Can't Stop the Feeling!" – Max Martin, Shellback & Justin Timberlake (songwriters) (2016) "How Far I'll Go" – Lin-Manuel Miranda (songwriter) (2017) "Shallow" – Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando & Andrew Wyatt (songwriters) (2018) "I'll Never Love Again" – Lady Gaga, Natalie Hemby, Hillary Lindsey & Aaron Raitiere (songwriters) (2019)
2020s	"No Time to Die" – Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell (songwriters) (2020) "All Eyes on Me" – Bo Burnham (songwriter) (2021) "We Don't Talk About Bruno" – Lin-Manuel Miranda (songwriter) (2022) "What Was I Made For?" – Billie Eilish O'Connell & Finneas O'Connell (songwriters) (2023)

v t e World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song
2000s	"Come What May" – Written by David Baerwald and Kevin Gilbert (2001) "If I Didn't Have You" – Written by Randy Newman (2002) "The Hands That Built America" – Written by Adam Clayton, The Edge, Bono, and Larry Mullen, Jr. (2003) "You Will Be My Ain True Love" – Written by Alison Krauss and Sting (2004) "Old Habits Die Hard" – Written by Dave Stewart and Mick Jagger (2005) "Our Town" – Written by Randy Newman (2006) "You Know My Name" – Written by Chris Cornell and David Arnold (2007) "Down to Earth" – Written by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman (2008) "Jai Ho" – Written by A. R. Rahman, Gulzar, and Tanvi Shah (2009)
2010s	"The Weary Kind" – Written by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett (2010) "We Belong Together" – Written by Randy Newman (2011) "Lay Your Head Down" – Written by Brian Byrne and Glenn Close (2012) "Skyfall" – Written by Adele and Paul Epworth (2013) "Happy" – Written by Pharrell Williams (2014) "The Apology Song" – Written by Gustavo Santaolalla and Paul Williams (2015) "None of Them Are You" – Written by Carter Burwell and Charlie Kaufman (2016) "City of Stars" – Written by Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul (2017) "Black Panther" – Written by Kendrick Duckworth, Mark Spears, Kevin Gomringer, Tim Gomringer, and Matt Schaeffer (2018) "Shallow" – Written by Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando, and Mark Ronson (2019)
2020s	"Stand Up" – Written by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo (2020) "Call Me Cruella" – Written by Nicholas Britell, Florence Welch, Steph Jones, Jordan Powers, and Taura Stinson (2021) "No Time to Die" – Written by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (2022) "Your Personal Trash Man Can" – Written by Thomas Mizer and Curtis Moore (2023) "What Was I Made For?" – Written by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell (2024)

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