While we are in the midst of football, baseball, and basketball season, I still enjoy scratching the itch of writing about movies and music. Last week, I analyzed what Christian Bale characters would win in a brawl. I still often ponder the thought. Today, I’ll be examining something that I find to be very important: the usage of music in films. Lots of great movies can be elevated by good uses of music and bad movies like American Hustle can be semi-saved by a solid sound track.
Music in movies does a lot. A great score in a movie like “The Shining” conveys a scary and tense tone, even if something scary isn’t about to happen. It constantly builds you up. Or, one song can make a jaw dropping scene even more stunning. As important as it is for directors to get the perfect shot, getting the proper song or soundtrack is just as vital.
“Where Is My Mind?” by The Pixies in Fight Club
David Fincher is truly a genius. Where he excels is in his music selection in films. The Social Network has one of the best scores of all time, but his greatest choice musically came when he selected “Where Is My Mind?” to be the song you hear as the towers fall to end Fight Club. I think it fits so well because the song is asking the question, “where is my mind?” Through the whole film, Tyler Durden is navigating his weird brain that has manufactured a cult of people fighting and making soap, while also creating a fake alter ego that’s the anti-version of himself. Once everything clicks at the end of the film for Durden, he’s still wondering, “where is my mind?”
“Where Is My Mind?” has morphed into a cultural phenomenon of a song and for myself, when I hear it, I immediately envision Ed Norton and Helena Bonham Carter looking at the buildings fall. I don’t think that any other song has become more synonymous with a film than “Where Is My Mind?” with Fight Club. “You met me at a very strange time in my life.”
“No More Mr. Nice Guy” by Alice Cooper in Dazed and Confused
In my opinion, Dazed and Confused has the greatest soundtrack of all time. There were many choices for a great example of music being used, but “No More Mr. Nice Guy” by Alice Cooper plays at the PERFECT time. The chorus of “No more, mister nice guy, no more mister clean” plays right as Ben Affleck’s character is paddling one of the freshmen boys as a part of the initiation to high school.
“Singing In The Rain” by Gene Kelly in A Clockwork Orange
Many of the examples I use in this blog are songs fitting a scene like a glove. They’re very close to perfect, but are only used in one instance. For “Singing In The Rain” in A Clockwork Orange, it’s so much more. The first time you hear it is when Alex DeLarge sings it as he’s raping a mans wife who he and his goons recently crippled. That’s the the first time.
The second time you hear Singing In The Rain is when DeLarge sings it again after being taken in by this same man. When the man took in the beaten and battered man, he had no clue that he was the one who crippled him and raped his wife. This flipped a switch in the man’s head to lock Alex in his attic and torture him. Kubrick also uses Beethoven throughout as a form of torture, but the way that “Singing In the Rain” jogged the mans memory is wild to see when you’re watching the film.
“Bellbottoms” by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in Baby Driver
If Dazed and Confused is 1A for film soundtracks, Baby Driver is 1B. My playlist the past few month has actually been bolstered by many of the songs in the Edgar Wight flick. It was difficult to narrow it down to one song, but the opening scene is perfected by the song “Bellbottoms”. It starts off with a not slow, but not very fast tempo, but when the bank robbers return to the car and Baby takes off, “Bellbottoms” hits a fast stride and amplifies. The ensuing car chase to open the film is so electric and is made better by the rock song.
“Hip To Be Square” by Huey Lewis and the News in American Psycho
“Their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in ’83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically.” Mary Harron directed an iconic scene that is built largely around a Huey Lewis and the News song and has become so renowned in today day and age.
All through American Psycho, you see that music plays a large role. Bateman consistently talks about his records and is always listening to music. He plays “Hip To Be Square” as he butchers Paul Allen, but what amplifies the song, is how Bateman talks about it. He delivers a concise monologue where he describes the bands style and sound…then he drops an axe on Allens skull. A gruesome, yet memorable scene.
“Pursuit of Happiness (Remix)” by Kid Cudi in Project X
Project X has an absolutely fantastic soundtrack and I toiled between “Heads Will Roll” or the “Pursuit of Happiness” remix, but the “Pursuit of Happiness” remix plays at the perfect time. It’s a party montage following the cops showing up at the house and precedes Costa yelling, “TO THE BREAK OF DAWN YO”. Then you see high school kids dancing around, Miles Teller bashing a gnome with a bat, and all the kids taking Molly. It’s an electric scene and “Pursuit of Happiness” just amplifies the fun you have watching it.
“No Tears” by Scarface in Office Space
Office Space is full of dry humor and stereotypical jokes. The scene where Michael Bolton is rapping to Scarface in his car, then sees a black guy and proceeds to role his window up is hysterical. Using “No Tears” is perfect because it’s showing how the traditional “9-5” worker may act professional in his or her cubicle, but lets loose on the drive in or out of work. “No Tears” is actually a pretty good song too and Bolton is going in, but halts his rhythm when he sees a black guy walk by. Then, he picks back up his bar spitting when the guy gets passed his car. Just hilarious.
“Nightcall” by Kavinsky in Drive
The thriller genre coupled with a synth soundtrack and neon colors is UNDEFEATED. “Nightcall” not only fits the vibe of Drive, but fits lyrically. The driver is a recluse who doesn’t say much. With his personality, I feel like the chorus of Nightcall fits so well: “There’s something inside you, It’s hard to explain”. Nightcall plays as Ryan Gosling is roaming the city and the opening credits role. When you hear the synth style sound with city lights and dark cinematography, it just feels right.
“Fat Lip” by Sum 41 in American Pie 2
This era of music paired with coming of age movies has a special place in my heart. The American Pie series uses lots of punk music like Blink-182, Green Day, and Alien Ant Farm, but the usage of “Fat Lip” by Sum 41 in American Pie 2 fits great. Fat Lip features the lyric, “I know I’m not the one you thought you knew back in high school, Never going, never showing up when we had to”.
This movie is about the boys summer back together after their first year of college. While they still love to raise hell, they’re all not the same person…except for Stifler. Some are more sexually experienced and others have matured in general, like Finch. “Fat Lip” plays while the group is driving to a summer beach house and radiates a fun vibe.
