musical movie scenes

On-Track Soundtracks

by Oggy Bleacher

Soundtracks can serve multiple purposes in film. They can be contrived, such as the use of Asia’s “Heat of The Moment” in the The 40 year-old Virgin (2005). Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) has gone through the trouble and humiliation of having a poster of Asia’s debut album framed; yet he never listens to any music by Asia (or any band) in the film. Instead, the Asia hit is part of the external (heard only by the audience) soundtrack as Stitzer chases his girlfriend on his bicycle. Not only is the song choice too obvious (Asia recorded better songs such as “Days like These” and “Don’t Cry”), but also it has no real connection to the scene. “Bicycle Races” by Queen would have been a better fit. The strategy is tacky and obvious; it's like trying to sell a step-ladder with Simon and Garfunkle's "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Put a hit song in a crappy movie and you have a hit movie...wrong! You just have a crappy movie with a good soundtrack.

On the other hand, specific songs have been written directly into the script itself (internal soundtrack) such as in Say Anything (1989) when Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) stands in the rain with a boom-box over his head as it blasts Peter Gabriel’s “In your Eyes” at girlfriend Diane Court’s (Ione Skye) house. Touching, Shakespearean, and relevant, the movie wouldn’t be the same without that scene and that song.

When done well, internal soundtracks make an instant connection with an audience and lift the song AND the movie to a higher level.

Here is a list of the top ten movie scenes where recorded music plays an important and cinematic role:

10-Top Gun (1986) -Jingoistic crap, but the bar scene where Maverick (Tom Cruise) serenades Charlotte Blackwood (Kelly McGillis) with the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" as it plays on the jukebox, is priceless. The ensemble singing, the “look-at-how-cute-I-am-in-my-uniform” Cruise, the embarrassed McGillis. It makes the beach volleyball scene appear shallow and superfluous. Hey, if it was reenacted for my high school lip-sync contest, then it must have been important.

9- Saving Private Ryan (1998) - The Ranger Battalion hangs out prior to the last battle, telling stories, making sticky bombs, and listening to Edith Piaf's “ Tu es Partout” on a phonograph. Upham (Jeremy Davies) translates the sad heartbreak of this song. Another Piaf song, “C’etait Une Histoire D’Amour” plays right up until the German tanks start to rumble in the distance. Imagine this scene without any music and you’ll have something similar to hundreds of other scenes from movies about WWII. Add the scratchy record, the bleak ruins, Upham’s innocent translation, “We loved each other tenderly, Like we loved all lovers,” and you have something worth watching: A very realistic moment of men at war who find and treasure short moments of peace.

8-Taxi Driver (1976) - Travis Bickle (DeNiro) listens to "Late For The Sky" by Jackson Browne as he tips the television back until it falls to the ground. "How long have I been sleeping? How long have I been drifting along through the night?" Travis is a few chords short of a ballad at this point.

7- Witness (1985) – John Book (Harrison Ford) starts an old car in a barn and the first song that comes on the radio is Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World", a very appropriate tune for an Amish farm. "Don't know much about history." In a movie that has very little dialogue, there is actually this charming song and dance routine between Book and Rachel Lapp (Kelly McGillis). The growing relationship between Book and Lapp, the “off the grid” farm, and the irony of the lyrics all make this scene touching and effective.

6- Risky Business (1983) – Joel Goodsen (Tom Cruise (again)) lip-syncs "Old Time Rock & Roll" by Bob Seger to celebrate being alone in his house clad only in briefs and a T-shirt. “Take those old records off the shelf. I’ll sit and listen to ‘em by myself.” Often imitated, never duplicated, this dedication to adolescence resonated with every teenager in the audience. This is the ivy college bound Goodsen busting out of his “Good Son” mold. Well staged and not contrived, this scene acts as the point of no return for Goodsen, after which he becomes a pimp. Katie Holmes was 5 years old.

5- Harold and Maude (1971) - The opening scene finds a despondent Harold (Bud Cort) walking around his gigantic home in complete silence. He puts a Cat Stevens record on a freestanding turntable. The song, "Don't Be Shy", is a jovial tune that turns out to be Maude’s (Ruth Gordon) credo in life. Harold eventually embraces this philosophy, but as the film begins he has misinterpreted the song’s message and ‘hangs’ himself exactly as the song ends. The soundtrack is comprised entirely of Cat Stevens songs, but the Dir. Hal Ashby’s decision to insert the music directly into the script was absolutely the right one. “Don’t be Shy” becomes the motif of the movie, played on the record, by Maude on the piano, and finally by Harold on the banjo.

4-Apocalypse Now (1979) - Beside the great Motown songs on the gunboat, the best use of recorded music in Dir. Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam masterpiece is Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" "We'll come in low out of the rising sun. We'll put the music on about a mile out," says Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall). Then he unleashes hell and German opera on "The Slopes" The driving music and close association between Valkyries (Norse death angels who stalked battlefields) and UH-1 Huey assault helicopters can’t be ignored. “The boys love it.”

3-Almost Famous (2000) -Not only is "America" by Simon and Garfunkle used effectively, but "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John serves as the turning point in the film as the band recognizes that they are bound by their appreciation of music. One by one they join in singing the song as it plays on the bus radio. Not only that, but the lyrics "Seamstress for the band. Pretty Eyes. Pirate Smile. You marry a music man." referring to Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) are perfect. Dir. Cameron Crowe was a rock journalist and knows the drill when it comes to pop music. His soundtracks are carefully considered. Could it be a coincidence that he is married to Nancy Wilson of Heart?

2-Pretty in Pink (1986) - Duckie (John Cryer) lip-syncs the entire "Try a Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding. This is a bizarre scene as Andie Walsh (Molly Ringwald) is waiting for her date with 'Richy” Blane McDonnagh (Andrew McCarthy). But Duckie loves Andie and can't really express himself except through this song, which Andie totally ignores. Give John Hughes credit for not having this song be an instantly dated Simple Minds / WHAM! tune. Current pop songs can be part of the surrounding soundtrack (like "If You Leave" by OMD at the prom), but a song that these kids are actually listening to for pleasure would never be so obviously 1986.

1-Boogie Nights (1997) - Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) sits on a couch in the middle of a drug swindle, strung out, panicked, desperate, but when Ricky Springfield's "Jessie's Girl" plays on the drug dealer Rahad Jackson’s (Alfred Molina) mix tape, he freezes and becomes focused. The lyrics, "They make me feel so dirty when they start acting cute..." are exactly what Dirk needs to hear. He is absorbed by the message of jealousy and believes it was written about his life, specifically for his ears. Diggler, an ex-porn actor has lost his anonymous “girl” to the metaphoric "Jessie". He wants what he can't have. All this exposition without a word of dialogue. Kudos to Dir. P.T. Anderson for filling the screen with Diggler’s bedraggled face and letting it stay there as the song plays and Diggler has an internal dialogue with the lyrics until his epiphany is complete. Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" precedes this song posing the question, “What’s your price for flight?” and not only causes Rahad to stop his inspection of the fake drugs, but leads him to rant about the importance of making mix tapes, an anachronistic activity with pitfalls such as the tape ending before the song. Nena’s “99 Red Balloons”, a song about the ruinous effects of military paranoia, plays as the hustle deflates. All of these details make this scene the all-time greatest use of recorded music in film.

Some honorable mentions are:

Reservoir Dogs (1992) – Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) plays "Stuck in the Middle with You" by Stealer’s Wheels as he dances around a cop who is about to lose his ear. (The film’s opening dialogue is Dir. Tarantino’s essay on Madonna songs)

Silence of the Lambs (1991) – Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) sits on the toilet shitting out the pen clip he is going to use pick his handcuffs lock. He is listening to Bach's Goldberg Variations. A blood-splattered Lecter later conducts an imaginary orchestra with a baton as he clubs a guard to death.

Pulp Fiction (1994) - Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) enter a Twist contest. Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" is the song they dance to. If Travolta didn’t love performing this scene then I’ll eat my hat.

Tommy Boy (1995) – Buddies (Chris Farley and David Spade) argue over the car radio station until The Carpenters’ “Superstar” comes on. Then they both pretend not to like it, when it is impossible not to like. Everyone loves The Carpenters. Everyone!

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) - Mike (Robert Romanus) tells his buddy Mark (Brian Backer) to play something off of Led Zeppelin’s 4th album when it gets time to make out with his date. First of all, the date just starts when Mark puts Zeppelin on the car radio. Second of all, he is playing "Kashmir" off of Physical Graffiti, which is a heavy, pulsating guitar song, not at all date music. It completely freaks Stacy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) out. Written by Cameron Crowe.

High Fidelity (2000)– Based on audiophile author Nick Hornsby’s pop predilections, this movie is full of pop music references and recorded music. Record store owner Rob (John Cusack) says he can sell four copies of a Royal Trux CD simply by playing the music on the store’s main speakers. This demonstrates how easily influenced people are, which will prove his superior musical taste. It works!

Muriel’s Wedding (1994) – Muriel and Rhonda (Toni Collete and Rachel Griffiths) lip-sync ABBA’s “Waterloo”, a song comparing an overpowering love affair to the end of Napoleon’s reign as Emperor. Insane? Consider that as the performance takes place, Muriel’s enemy fights with the woman who slept with her husband, thus making Muriel the metaphoric Duke of Wellington.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) puts “Buffalo Gals” on the record player as a conversation starter for George (Jimmy Stewart) because they had sung it four years earlier after the high school dance, harmonizing the lyrics “By the light of the moon”. A frustrated George declines an encore. Mary winds up smashing the record, but they all live happily ever after.

Wayne's World Wayne, Garth and crew ride around in their Gremlin listening to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. They lip sync every word and brought Queen some well deserved props.

Deer Hunter- Before the hunting trip and before the wedding the guys all hang out at the bar and sing "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" by the Four Seasons. Michael Cimino can be criticized for many things but here too much of a good thing was still good.

Color of Money (1986) – Vincent Lauria (Tom Cruise) is an arrogant pool player learning the art of the hustle from Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman). When Vincent sneaks out to prove how good he is, Eddie finds him in a pool hall listening to Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and crushing his opponents. By playing well, Vincent ruins his chance to hustle, but he is unaware of this as he blithely dances around the table sinking balls. Eddie is horrified. “I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vics,” sings Zevon. Vincent continues, “And his hair was perfect!" whilst combing his hair back with his hand. Dir. Scorsese knew what he was looking for with the combination of Cruise, Billiards, and Werewolves, and he nailed it.