Chris's Picks: You've Got a Friend in Me

[By Christopher Eckart, from the Winter 2025/2026 issue]

1995. I had just finished recording something (probably an intense minor-key world-weary folk song) in the studio in my neighbour’s house. The hourly rate was cheap and the engineer Michael J. Birthelmer was generous with his time and also his stories. On that night, he told me the story about the first time he heard Randy Newman on the radio. I listened politely, and just when I thought we’d get to the CD-burning stage of the session so I could listen to my takes, Michael put Randy Newman’s 12 Songs in the CD player and took me through his favourite tracks: "Let’s Burn Down the Cornfield," "Old Kentucky Home," "Uncle Bob’s Midnight Blues." Michael was, and remains, eclectic in his music and his delivery. He laughed, winced, slapped the console at Randy’s lyrical cleverness and really wanted me to get it. He was Sunday-morning revival preaching, but mentally I was watching Saturday morning cartoons somewhere else. I did not get it. Randy’s voice was bad, his arrangements unusual—could he even play guitar? I recognised nothing interesting in those songs so I took my burned CD and went home to listen to something that excited me.

Thirty years later I don’t remember or miss whatever I recorded in that session but I would cry if you told me I couldn’t listen to Randy Newman. “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” is where he starts and ends for a lot of people, and I celebrate that because the big song from the movie Toy Story (1995) is a masterpiece. The lyrics are simple and singable, but Newman situates and elevates them with his diction. “Miles and miles” instead of “far away,” “ol’ pal” instead of “best friend,” “there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you” is rhythmically so much more compelling than “I would do anything for you.” You don’t just hear the love between friends in this song, you feel it, and you feel that it’s personal and particular, and that makes it powerful.

As for the music... it’s a lot. I still find myself losing my way harmonically in the bridge sometimes, but the great chromaticism in the opening melody and the transition chords that reward a little listening attention are rich and deep. As a songwriter, this song inspires me to use a richer harmonic palette. “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” remains direct and fun despite the serious music underneath it because it centers the voice and the lyrics. Many of the instrumental touches like tuba walk-ups, string hits, woodwinds on the main lick and a chorus of voices singing ooh and only the single word “destiny” are brilliant. There are a lot of light touches but every one adds its little part to create a dynamic and harmonic background for the story of the lyrics. The more, and more closely I listen, the more I learn about composition and arrangement. Randy’s a master piano player, but how often does the piano stand out? Man, I’m jealous, and I default to guitar too much when I’d be better off getting out of the way of the voice and lyrics.

I guess I get it now. Thanks for trying Michael J., and thanks Randy Newman for delivering a perfect song I’ll never stop listening to.