“You’ve got to stand up. You can’t just sit back and talk about it. It feels like people are doing that right now and it’s great because we’re woke and once you’re woke, you don’t go back to sleep,” Warren told THR.
Songwriter Diane Warren has been nominated for an Oscar for best original song nine times over the past 30 years, but her latest for “Stand Up for Something” from Marshall is one she’s calling her “most important song.”
“It’s a call to action, especially in the times we’re in. Who knew how timely it would be,” Warren told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was written for Marshall, it was written to reflect who Thurgood Marshall was, but literally every day it becomes more relevant and so many amazing causes are adopting this song right now.”
While speaking about the inspiration behind the song, Warren turned to powerful protest anthems, like Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.” “I want to write a song that you march to and I want to change the world with this song, and I just over and over listened to those kinds of songs,” she said. “So this song that’s almost from that time is even more so for this time.”
Warren is no stranger to penning songs that not only resonate with listeners but also make a difference in the conversations and actions in our society, like her nominated song “Till It Happens to You,” from The Hunting Ground, which Lady Gaga performed at the 2016 Oscars.
“You’ve got to stand up. You can’t just sit back and talk about it,” she said. “It feels like people are doing that right now and it’s great because we’re woke and once you’re woke, you don’t go back to sleep. So this is the woke national anthem.”