After a drunken conversation I was asked what, in my opinion, is the best use of a song in a film. Me being me meant I couldn’t answer straight away and decided to narrow down every choice I made to 10, therefore making an awesome list in the process.
Some stipulations had to be made though. It had to be a song that wasn’t written specifically for the film therefore ruling out Mrs Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel from The Graduate, which would have made my Top 10 otherwise. Also no songs from musicals where considered, although I was deliberating if I could use the medley from Moulin Rouge but as this was sung by the cast this was also discarded. I also didn’t want to use the same director too many times but (in one case) there are too many iconic moments to not pick, I changed my mind on this! The other choice I made was to only include ‘Pop songs’ as a pose to any song, so straight away this makes Also sprach Zarathustra from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ride of the Valkyries from Apocalypse Now and The Marriage of Figaro from The Shawshank Redemption exempt.
So below, in my opinion, are the 10 best uses of popular songs in films.
10 - John Farnham – You’re the Voice from Hot Rod
This is here purely on how hard I laughed (I could say I did actually lol) the first time I saw this scene. Hot Rod is in no way the best film in the world and certainly doesn’t deserve to be put in a list with the other 9 films but the moment this is played, in my eyes, is comedy gold. Starts off as uplifting as any 80’s power ballad should be when used in a soundtrack as Rod (Andy Samberg) is on his way to make the jump to raise enough money for his step-dads (Ian McShane) conveniently priced heart surgery. As the montage progresses and members of the public are singing along as well you get a sense of expectancy and is getting you to root for Rod and hoping he can jump the 10 buses, until the riot starts! Genius!!
9 - Rick James – Super Freak from Little Miss Sunshine
A song about sadomasochism isn’t the first song that should be used in a film about a child’s beauty pageant but it has been used to full effect. As it is basically used as a striptease in the Little Miss Sunshine Beauty Pageant (by Abigail Breslin, which earned her an Oscar nomination despite only being 10 years old), it completely changes the whole course of the film and what the audience think will happen. The reaction of the audience member in the biker jacket is also hilarious (I’m assuming he has no kids!!) Unfortunately the video can't be found on youtube so here is a link to it if you did want to see it.
http://emoloser1979.buzznet.com/user/video/186225/little-miss-sunshine-dance-sequence/
8 - Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now from Shaun of the Dead
‘Who the Hell put this on?’ – ‘It’s on random.’ – ‘For fucks sake!’ Brilliant 3 character exchange for the start of this hilarious scene from the Rom-Zom-Com classic Shaun of the Dead. This is my last comedy entry on this list but again is only here for the simple reason that it is really, really funny.
7 - Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich – Hold Tight from Death Proof
Originally, I wanted to only pick one Tarantino scene and to be controversial, this would have been it. But as you’ll see I had to pick a couple of others because of how iconic they are. This scene though is not just one of the best uses of a song in a film; it’s also one of my favourite scenes from a film ever in the underrated second half of Grindhouse, Death Proof. I think it’s mainly because whenever I hear this song in a car, I want to drive really fast and crash into a car full of hot women!
6 - Louis Armstrong – What A Wonderful World from Bowling for Columbine
OK so it is a documentary but what follows is an insight into some of America’s foreign policy decisions. Say what you want about the very opinionated Michael Moore, as later in this film he uses statistics about showing gun crime rates from the USA compared with the UK and Germany (which is nonsensical really as guns are legal in the USA) but the Wonderful World Montage is Moore at his best. Showing the viewer footage of how the Americans trained Osama Bin Laden and provided Saddam Hussein with billions of dollars for WMD’s amongst others, only for the segment to be finished with handheld camera footage of the second World Trade Centre plane crash with Louis Armstrong singing the last line of the song to be drowned out by people screaming hysterically as Bin Laden had used his expert CIA training to murder 3000 people.
5 - Bob Dylan – The Times They Are a-Changing from Watchmen
Greatest opening credit sequence ever? I think so. If you have read the comi…sorry, Graphic Novel, then you will know that some of the closing quotations in a couple of the chapters are from Bob Dylan songs but for Zack Snyder to pick this song for the opening credits was a masterstroke. The six-minute sequence shows viewers everything from the original source material that couldn’t fit in to a film that is already nearly 3 hours long. This is here to keep fan boys happy, as nothing seems to be missing and gives people who are experiencing Watchmen for the first time (the Citizen Kane of superhero movies) a brief background to what had gone on before. Couldn't find the video on youtube so this isn't the greatest video but it was either this or in double quick time!
4 - Urge Overkill – Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon from Pulp Fiction
The second of 3 Tarantino films, I couldn’t resist not putting this in. I first watched Pulp Fiction when I was 13 or 14 and remember whilst I was watching it that it wasn’t really making any sense, obviously when it finished it all came together but as a young teenager watching this scene, I was transfixed. Just watching Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) dance around crazily to a song I had never heard of whilst Vincent Vega (John Travolta) had left the room. Then the white powder is found and the rest is history. An iconic moment by an iconic character from an iconic film!
3 - The Doors – The End from Apocalypse Now
Another song I wasn’t too familiar with but on seeing the opening sequence to Coppola’s Vietnam War epic, Apocalypse Now, is a song I will never forget. We just see a shot of a Vietnamese rainforest with the blades of a helicopter off screen then as Jim Morrison comes in with the opening line, ‘This is the end’, the rainforest explodes into flames. Then as the song gets going with a mish-mash of organ, tambourine and drums, we are taken into a small glimpse of the mind of Captain Ben Willard (Martin Sheen), which certainly feels like the end, but is only the beginning.
2 - Lou Reed – Perfect Day from Trainspotting
Trainspotting. One of the best British films ever made from one of the best British directors and also one of the best soundtracks from a film ever. This scene is so spine chillingly effective that from the moment I watched it, I swore I would never touch heroin or live in Scotland!!! As soon as Renton (Ewan McGregor) overdoses and sinks into the ground, the whole scene being seen through his eyes as he’s dumped into a taxi and left outside a hospital makes you realise how brilliant the song itself is as some view it as Lou Reed’s own ode to heroin addiction. Absolute genius.
1 - Stealers Wheel – Stuck in the Middle from Reservoir Dogs
I can remember the first time I watched Reservoir Dogs. I was 11 years old and my mum had gone out for the evening so I was left with my dad and younger sister who treated us to a Chinese and a trip to Blockbuster (or even Ritz as it may have been then) to rent a film to watch for the evening. One of my dad’s work mates had popped round and asked me what film I had rented, expecting me to say something like The Jungle Book I piped up with Reservoir Dogs! Being that young made no difference whatsoever on how I reacted to this scene. Michael Madsen will still creep me out in whatever role he plays, even Free Willy!! Mr Blonde dancing and singing, mocking the policeman whilst mouthing the lyrics to what is, in essence, a feel good song but will forever be remembered for this scene. Even a forgettable cover of the song by Louise Redknapp in 2001 made reference to this scene in the video just shows how the song is always thought of from this scene alone. And I’ve not even mentioned the ear yet!!!!
