Movies using music... Has it changed how you've heard a song?
 

I admit I am easily manipulated by music within scenes on TV and in movies. It's put in there for a reason... to elicit an emotion, and I fall victim to it every time. Scorsese, Sorkin, Crowe, and Soderburg are, IMO, the best at this.

My question is this...
Has there ever been a song that, due to its placement in a show or movie, has changed the way you've heard it forever?

What got me thinking about this was the Dire Straits song, "Brothers in Arms," which was in the West Wing episode, "Two Cathedrals." (BTW, for my money the greatest TV episode ever created). Without being knowledgeable of the lyrics, or anything about the song other than the mood it set on that show, it's now a song I seek out due to the way it brings me calm when the shot hits the fan.

Any song like that for you?

Donnie Darko Mad World.

Agreed

Oddly enough, since the song isn't in the movie, I think about that movie every time I hear the song "Talk Dirty to Me," because it has the words "cellar door" in it.

Goodfellas - "layla" And reservoir dogs - "stick in the middle with you" are two that immediately come to mind. The opening credits song from Drive, Kavinsky's "Nightcall" is one of those just perfect combos that stuck with me. Also, an episode of Entourage used Radiohead's "fake plastic trees" in an awesome way as well. Entourage just used music in a great way all the time.

Sandlot - Tequila

anybody remember the Miami Vice pilot, Phil Collins, In The Air Tonight,
was a great visual and worked for me ,I was mid teens
always think of that when I hear the song


gonna have to see if there is a u tube clip



the other one I have is hit girl and The Dickies doing banna splits, surreal , gorgeous violence

Goodfellas and "Jump Into the Fire" for me. Absolutely unforgettable with the helicopters and the guns and all that. Scorcese can really nail a moment with music. IMHO....

trailers do that to me i hear a song on a trailer and i have to download it.

I listen to the Pixies quite a bit, and every time I hear "Where Is My Mind" it makes me think of the end of Fight Club. That was a great moment.

American Graffiti changed a lot of songs for me.

You're hearing Scott Vener on Entourage. He's the music supervisor and chooses all of the songs for each episode.

Because you were hearing songs from that era in context?

Interesting question.

I already had an inclination for songs of the era but I think it brought some to a new level.

Having said that I as a photographer first but also an avid music lover I am often prone to being hit hard when a good song and visual are connected.

Like others, I've never heard Layla the same since seeing frozen gangsters in a refrigerated truck.

I can't think of too many others right now but I didn't like the song Shadow of the Sun, from the first Audioslave record, until I saw it against picture in Collateral.

It feels like whenever there is some movie where a person is strung out on drugs and they want to get that shot of them passing out in super glorious slow motion they always play Blinded By The Light.

'Satisfaction' in Apocalypse Now. Great imagery in that movie, and when I hear that song I instantly associate it with the Vietnam War.

When I listen to Bohemian Rhapsody today I'd really wish I never watched Wayne's World.

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Not that I don't like modern rock used in soundtracks, I miss the symphonic scores rarely used these days. Kubricks "2001 A Space Odyssey" comes to mind with it's use of Strauss and others

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Requiem for a Dream's soundtrack is another example of the symphonic score which has been used in other films but I love its simple style.

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Star Wars Imperial March is so Iconic now. Great Orchestral score

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Awesome Movie Soundtrack... One of my fav scenes is Air Cav blasting Wagner over loudspeakers to scare the vietnamese.

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He is a amazing.

The album version of that song has a different guitar solo than the movie version. The movie's version is more traditional.

Zodiac. Hurdy Gurdy Man.

Two songs that I can think of along those lines are:

1. Burning Bridges from the end of the movie Kelly's Heroes.

2. Worst Day Since Yesterday from the end of an episode of Stargate Universe.

The entire movie Moulin Rouge is filled with songs that seemed transformed in that there were many late 20th century pop songs that were made to fit well in a movie set in 1899. Many of the songs sounded like they could have been written for the movie even though they weren't.

not really a loggins fan.....but.....

Danger Zone from Top Gun

I may not have liked it if not for the movie.

"Slider...you stink!"

yeah...good one....ruined it. great damn song too...

Stuck In The Middle With You - Michael Madson is dancing and singing along with this song when he cuts the cops ear off in Reservoir Dogs.

JFC

Goddamn requiem for a dream.

On the same token I've hear songs before they were in a movie and its killed the movie because I thought to myself, " I know this song. It is lame."

Tiny Dancer from Almost Famous. What a great scene. I always think of that now when I hear that song. I also really like the song now, whereas before I never really gave it much thought.

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Tarantino might have been the best at using music to set a scene.

Requiem For A Dream definitely left a mark...

When I hear Stuck in the Middle With You, it makes me think about a guy getting his ear cut off.

And when I hear that song from Silence of the Lambs when the guy is dancing in front of the video camera with his junk tucked in makes me think about that guy dancing in front of a video camera with his junk tucked in.

that is GOLD right there!
****ING GOLD!


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Sister Christian - that scene from Boogie Nights

Don't Stop Believin now always is the last scene from the Sopranos

whenever I hear The Cars - Moving In Stereo....I instantly get a strong desire for some alone time...... :D

nsfw - tits!

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Ha--I see you already mentioned that. What's great is that the song would seem to have no connection whatsoever to such a disturbing scene.

When I hear the guitar solo to Layla by Eric Clapton I can't help but think of a mafia dude hanging in a frozen meat truck.

yes I KNOW. it's all happy sappy...he's dancing and singing...oh and by the way cutting the guys ****ing EAR OFF!
then he says something into the detached ear and says...can you hear that....and laughs. just disturbing as ****!

so now that song.....always reminds me of dismemberment. :shake:

I guess this is sort of obscure now, but the scene from Teachers where Nolte is going to quit and all the students quietly file into his classroom is really cool. The song is Edge of a Dream by Joe Cocker.

QT is pretty amazing how he pulls obscure songs and makes them his own.

The Bowie song from Cat People was used amazingly in Inglorious Basterds.

Alone Again Or from Bottle Rocket. Can't take a road trip without it now!

Everytime I hear one vision by queen I think about the famous scene when doug masters pops in a cassette in his f-16.


chappppyy

Full Metal Jacket - Paint it Black

The video stores had to keep ordering more video tapes because that part of the tape kept breaking.

THIS!

No director is consistently better at using music to create art in movies.

That wasn't Tarantino.

That was Karyn Rachtman.

Yes, Rikki Rachtman's sister.

Cameron Crowe has such an amazing feel for soundtrack and score but his best friend from childhood, Danny Bramson is the real star.

As great as the Tiny Dancer was in that movie, Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters really gets me every time. Plus, The Raspberries "Go All the Way" is such an incredible song, heard in one the Lester Bangs scenes, but for some unknown reason, it's not on the soundtrack

Except it's not him

Fight Club end scene with the Pixies was perfectly done.

Yep to both of these! Magnet and Steel always sticks in my mnd from Boogie Nights

"Kiss the Girl" always reminds me of crabs.

Goodfellas and Reservoir Dogs were the first two that jumped into my mind. I also like the way When You Wish Upon A Star is used throught Close Encounters.

Uhhmm the entire soundtracks for Boyz In The Hood and New Jack City.

Already mentioned - Donnie Darko "Mad World" and "Head over Heels" (and depending upon what version of the film you watch.....the opening with Echo and the Bunnymen's "Killing Moon" is amazing).

Sister Christian and Boogie Nights for sure

Fincher uses music in his films quite nicely (opening credits of Seven being a NIN remix of "Closer", etc.)

Baz Luhrmann has a way with music as well (the gospel rendition of "When Doves Cry" in Romeo and Juliet comes to mind).

MY fathers gun in Elizabethtown.

Springsteen in Jerry Maguire

Peter Gabriel in Say Anything.

Crowe uses music as well as anyone.
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Pretty much anytime a song was used in Forrest Gump, it was perfect.

Danger Zone



You know what movie that is from I don't have to say it.

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Another good one.

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Ecstasy of Gold at the end of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

TV is getting good at matching music to intended emotional beats.

But it's almost becoming overdone, with an industry of new music acts almost entirely catering to TV.

Walking Dead and Breaking Bad are awesome at matching music to the scene.

For TV...House always had good soundtracks to set the mood for different episodes.

Truth. And honestly, so did Scrubs.

Again, it's the music supervisors. Season Kent and Alex Patsavas are two of the best supervisors out there.

This "cottage" industry of music supervision has basically come into being due to less jobs and possibilities for talented people working in the music industry.

Instead of doing A&R, signing and developing bands, music supers are listening to music and placing it in TV shows and film.

I can't tell you how many Berkelee grad's I've worked with in the past year that know every song ever recorded from about 1948 to 2013. It's pretty amazing.

You're referring to score, which is completely different from song placement or "soundtrack".

Again, score.

I met and hung out with Jan (Scrubs composer) a few years back at an event. He's as odd as the music he creates.

No I was referring to song placement...use of music that was not written for that particular TV show...REM "Everybody Hurts"...Warren Zevon "Keep Me In Your Heart"...Curtis Mayfield "Superfly"...etc.

Oh, yeah, that's Gary Calamar. He's awesome.

And to give credit where credit's due.....even though I never really watched "House"....I believe the opening credits are Massive Attack's "Tear Drops"

And yes, Massive Attack is amazing.

Yeah, it is Massive Attack and yes they are

The new Dallas used a few Johnny Cash songs in scenes that fit perfect.

I love the music in that movie.

Greatest movie ever, I got to see it at a theater that was playing it one weekend only back in 2006, there were people everywhere dressed up like all the different gangs, I was dressed in regular clothes because I'm a boring normal dude.

"Don't You (Forget About Me)" - The Breakfast Club

"Por Ti Volare" - Step Brothers

"Afternoon Delight" - Anchorman

"Johnny B. Goode" - Back to the Future

"Take My Breath Away" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - Top Gun

"Unchained Melody" - Ghost

well...actually....it's been rerunning a lot lately. I watched it again very recently. much like the Planet Of The Apes movies from my youth.....I remembered it being TOTALLY AWESOME.....but watching it again....umm...there are some totally absolutely laughable moments....and said moments weren't supposed to be funny.

not a very good movie really. the nostalgic memory of it is so much better than the reality!

Yeah, it didn't age well. Watching it as a grown up doesn't help much, either. Not so easy to identify a bunch of gang punks as heroes when you're in your 40s.

Sopranos - Comfortably Numb

That changed the way you hear "Comfortably Numb"?

See, I think placements like these are lame and uncreative. "Everybody Hurts".

Lame.

What's particularly creative and inspiring to me is when a non-hit song that only fans of a certain band know is used in a emotional and moving way.

Someone earlier mentioned the Radiohead song "Fake Plastic Trees" on the season finale of Entourage, which was brilliant (and in my long standing opinion, should have been the series ending episode).

That was an excellent example of creative song usage. When the obvious hit song is used, it's just another excuse for a network or movie studio to exploit their own publishing catalog.