Ranking the Songs from the Film Version of Grease

1978’s Grease is the highest grossing musical film in American history, and for good reason. It capitalizes on the 1950's nostalgia that was so strong in the ‘70’s, it has star power in leads John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, and it has a rocking soundtrack, which was the 2nd highest selling album of the year, behind the soundtrack to another Travolta film, Saturday Night Fever. So without further ado, here’s my ranking of the songs in Grease.

**NOTE: For the purpose of these rankings, only songs that are sung by the characters of the film and/or contribute to the plot of the film will be considered, which means song such as “Born to Hand Jive” and the rest of Johnny Casino and the Gamblers’ setlist will not be considered, nor will Frankie Valli’s “Grease”, which is heard in the opening and closing credits.**

10. “We Go Together” — Cast

This is a fun song and a nice way to wrap up the film, but it serves no purpose other than that. The tune also isn’t helped by the fact that half of the lyrics are random nonsense that I have trouble singing along to. As someone who loves to sing, not being able to sing along is awful upsetting. Also, what’s the deal with the flying car?

9. “There Are Worse Things I Could Do” — Rizzo

At this point the songs from here on out are all quality tunes, so Stockard Channing shouldn’t feel too bad about this placement. It speaks more to the overall quality of the songs in Grease than it does to the quality of this particular song. If you were to rank the songs based on how much they do for character development, this one would probably top the list, as we see a different side of Rizzo than is on display up until that point. However, these are my rankings, and I consider things such as entertainment value and plot development more than character development. For those reasons, this song finds itself towards the bottom of the rankings.

8. “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee” — Rizzo and Pink Ladies

Now is when the rankings start to get tough. This song is super cute and fun, and Stockard Channing puts on a great performance, but like the other Channing spotlight mentioned above, this song does more for character than plot. Had Sandy left the Pink Ladies and started a life of crime in order to impress them in response to being called a square, this would be ranked higher. Unfortunately, all that happens is Sandy pouts and Rizzo says an equivalent of today’s Right Wing catchphrase “PC culture is ruining our country.” The line “get your filthy paws off my silky drawers,” almost catapulted this tune to #7, but John Travolta’s Elvis impression keeps it off.

7. “Greased Lightnin’” — Danny and T-Birds

This is one of the more iconic songs from the film, due in part to the hilarious choreography of the T-Birds dancing and singing around their car. This song has more plot importance than “Sandra Dee” because the renovation and eventual racing of Kenickie’s car is a major subplot of the story. “Greased Lightnin’” is a fun bopper, and as I mentioned in the previous summary, Travolta’s Elvis impression is what cements its place as a solid #7. If only the big race that it leads up to weren’t such a letdown.

6. “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee” (Reprise) — Sandy

I decided to distinguish the reprise from the first appearance of the song because the lyrics and tone of the reprise differ from the first appearance. Sandy sings this after Danny wins the race at Thunder Road, and it’s during this brief song that we learn of Sandy’s plans to completely change her image in an attempt to impress Danny (which is dumb and a bad way to end the film, but whatever). Even though the reprise isn’t as fun or as long as the first appearance, it serves more importance to the plot, therefore, it beats out the first appearance, as well as “Greased Lightnin’”.

5. “Beauty School Dropout” — Teen Angel and Female Angels

Frankie Avalon’s brief appearance in the film is legendary. With lines like “Who wants their hair done by a slob?” and “But no customer would come to you unless she was a hooker!”, the song is far and away the funniest in the film, and it also has plot importance as it inspires Frenchie to drop out of beauty school and “go back to high school”. Good thing too, based on her dye job, I wouldn’t want to see Frenchie give a hair cut.

4. “You’re the One That I Want” — Danny, Sandy, Pink Ladies, and T-Birds

In terms of plot importance, “You’re the One that I Want” is about as big as it gets. After an hour and a half of flip-flopping between couple, friends, and enemies, Danny and Sandy finally profess their love for each other before riding off in a flying car. It’s a fun song that’s great to sing along to, but it gets a major deduction for the way it comes about. Sandy decides to change up her entire look and sacrifice who she is in order to impress Danny. I don’t think “Change everything about yourself in order to get a guy to fall for you,” is a great moral of a story. Nonetheless, it’s a darn good tune.

3. “Sandy” — Danny

A classic tune about love lost. After Sandy strands Danny at the drive-in when he gets a little too touchy-feely, John Travolta croons out this heartfelt ballad longing for his love to come back to him. In this song we get to see Danny’s true feelings about Sandy, and it sets up his later actions to try and win her back.

2. “Hopelessly Devoted to You” — Sandy

Olivia Newton-John gives the strongest vocal performance of the film in this song, with 2nd place going to Frankie Avalon’s “Beauty School Dropout”. This song follows the scene where Danny acts like a jerk to Sandy at the pep rally. Sandy runs off, disgusted by the way Danny treated her in front of all his friends. “Hopelessly Devoted to You” is one of the best tunes in the film from a musical and lyrical standpoint, and also plays an important role in the plot of the film.

1. “Summer Nights” — Danny, Sandy, Pink Ladies, and T-Birds

I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that the best song in the movie is also the first song, but that’s the case in my opinion. Travolta and ONJ knock the ball out of the park on this split-screen duet, both telling their sides of the story of their summertime soiree. This song has great music, vocal performances, and humorous lyrics, with little gems from various members of the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds. This song sets up the entire film, and it does so with a bang.