“You’ve Got A Friend In Me” — Randy Newman (Toy Story Theme)

(Just before we get started properly, I’ve just noticed when I press “publish” on this article, it will be my 300th story on Medium. That feels like a bit of a milestone. My thanks to the lovely people who are kind enough to read what I write around here.)

Randy Newman has been writing songs since the early 1960s, but probably none of them as famous as “You’ve Got A Friend In Me”, the theme tune for the ‘Toy Story’ movie franchise.

More than a theme, “You’ve Got A Friend In Me” infuses the ‘Toy Story’ movies as it’s used in different versions and as background music at various other points too. You don’t just hear it over the titles.

It’s a musical theme we return to over and over again, in a range of different treatments and from a range of different directions, in the same way as the animated characters return to their own timeless themes of love, friendship and heartbreak over the course of the movies.

“You’ve Got A Friend In Me” might be Randy Newman’s most famous song, but he’s no slouch in the songwriting department.

He’s had 20 Oscar nominations and won two Oscars for his work in films like ‘Monsters, Inc’ and ‘A Bug’s Life’…although, ironically, neither of his Oscar wins was for “You’ve Got A Friend In Me”. On top of that, Randy Newman has picked up three Emmys and seven Grammys over the years.

Excellent though his other songs are, I don’t think Randy Newman has written a better song than “You’ve Got A Friend In Me”. In fact I don’t think many songwriters, alive or dead, have written a better song.

It’s a song about a very special sort of friendship. The sort of friendship where you know another human being will be there for you no matter what, and they’ll ask no questions and make no judgements.

I once heard the late motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, talk about the sort of friend you could call up in the middle of the night from the cell of a foreign jail where you’d been unjustly accused of a crime you hadn’t committed, and that friend would immediately jump on a plane, no questions asked, and not rest till they had you acquitted of all charges and brought you home safe again to your family.

That’s the sort of friendship Randy Newman writes about…

You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me
When the road looks rough ahead
And you’re miles and…