Cameron Crowe, the onetime pop critic whose film semiautobiography Almost Famous recalled his rock initiation while on the road with a Led Zeppelin-like band, compiled an affectionate list of his favorite musical moments in movies for Empire magazine. Two of his top 12 or so overlapped with my favorites: Marvin Gaye's snazzy, jazzy title song "Trouble Man," and Harry Nilsson's "Jump Into the Fire," used in GoodFellas as Ray Liotta tries to multitask and melts down instead.
Inspired by Crowe's list, I compiled my own, limiting myself to movies from the last 25 years. There are two Crowe films on it.
1) Almost Famous: A fractious band and their fractious groupies come together while singing Elton John's "Tiny Dancer."
2) Babe: Camille St. Saens' "Carnival of the Animals," both its orchestral and sung version, is a lovely tribute to the peaceable kingdom of humans, farm animals and pets.
3) Crimes and Misdeameanors: Woody Allen's seriocomedy ends with "I'll Be Seeing You," as an ophthalmologist with cloudy moral vision confesses to a dicumentarian with keen insight.
4) Garden State: Zero 7's "In the Waiting Line" is on the soundtrack during a sequence at an an orgiastic party where everyone is buzzed and manic (and in fast-motion), while Zach Braff is buzzed and detached, unable to synchronize his mood to others.
5) GoodFellas (see above).
6) High Fidelity: The film ends as John Cusack lays down the first track on the mix tape for his beloved: Stevie Wonder's "I Believe When I Fal lin Love it Will Be Forever."
7) Love, Actually: The Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" ties up this omnibus story of types of love, and Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" is used in a devastating sequence as Emma Thompson contemplates her marriage.
8) Malcolm X: Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" signals Malcolm's transfiguration as he's on his way to the Audubon Ballroom.
9) The New World: Richard Wagner's " Das Rheingold "underscores sequences in which explorer John Smith (Colin Farrell) encounters the Native American Rhinemaiden, Pocahontas (Q'orianka Kilcher)
10) Say Anything: . John Cusack hoists his boom box to play Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" for Ione Skye, because the song says what he cannot.
I also love the use of Scott Joplin's piano rags to set the tone, sometimes jaunty, sometimes elegiac, in The Sting; Foreigner's "Urgent" (with Junior Walker's killer sax riff) in Desperately Seeking Susan, as Madonna skulks out of an Atlantic City hotel room and Jack Black's hilarious one-man reconstitution of famous movie soundtracks in the DVD-store scene in The Holiday.
Your favorites?
For me, there is no more iconic movie music than the theme from Rocky. Though not an athlete, even by the broadest definition of the term, I am inclined to jog through the streets or do one handed push ups when I hear that tune. Fortunately, the urge passes by the time the song ends, and before I have even had time to suit up, but still...— socialgrace- In Easy Rider, the use of Born To Be Wild after the cocaine sale to Phil Spector is consummated and Fonda and Hopper are taking off down the road and later in the film, the use of The Byrds' Wasn't Born To Follow. In The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner, when Jerusalem is sung so beautifully in assembly at the borstal and Tom Courtenay seems so alone and apart.— ccjroberts
- "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida" in "Manhunter."— Bob Ross
- Richard Strauss' "Alzo sprach Zarathustra" opening "2001: A Space Odyssey."— californiafan
- I love the use of the Camille St. Saens' "Carnival of the Animals in DAYS OF HEAVEN. The otherworldly music echoes the feeling that the action of the film is taking place in some strange iconic place... and so it is.— Amy Heller
Comment removed.- The Rachmaninoff in "Brief Encounter". It's scattered throughout but very effectively captures and chimes with the mood.— John Brumfield
- Edith Piaf in "Saving Private Ryan", Opera song (the title of which escapes me) from "Philadelphia".— KarenA
- Let me clarify my choices: Edith Piaf's song in "Saving Private Ryan" is used just before the Germans invade by tank as the soldiers are standing outside an abandon building. The opera song is used when Denzel Washington & Tom Hanks are first going over Hanks' case against his law firm. Both are small yet moving moments in each film.— KarenA
- Q. Lazzarus, "Goodbye Horses" in Silence of the Lambs, as we get to know Jame Gumb. You could probably fill this list just with Demme and Scorsese.— Adam B.
- KarenA: In "Philadelphia," it's Tom Hanks singing along with a Maria Callas aria from "La Wally." Adam B: I agree with you, if you'd add Spike Lee, Woody Allen and Cameron Crowe to that list. In Scorsese, I loved the scene in "New York Stories" where Nick Nolte paints a canvas while Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is on the track. And in "Purple Rose of Cairo," Mia Farrow transcends her abusive marriage and difficult life at the movies where Fred Astaire sings "Heaven, I'm in Heaven" from Irving Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek." And the Stevie Wonder soundtrack to Lee's "Jungle Fever" -- especially "Living for the City" -- is sublime.— carrierickey
- .— KarenA
- Carrie: Thanks! Should've imdb.com it beforehand!— KarenA
- I agree totally with you on "Love Actually" and "Malcolm X". The songs used served as fitting climaxes to two really good films. I also liked the use of the Stylistics' "Didn't I blow your mind this time?" and "Across 110th Street" by Bobby Womack in "Jackie Brown". But no list of musical cues is complete without the late Isaac Hayes' iconic "Shaft".— Raiderfan
- There seems to be a certain amount of latitude on the past 25 years rule, and maybe I'm also cheating because my choice is essentially a musical, but every song in A HARD DAY'S NIGHT explodes with such excitement and represents the boys' escaping from the burden of being the Beatles into the sheer joy of playing and living their own music. As they run from the building at one point, we hear "Can't Buy Me Love," and I can't stop smiling now, picturing it and hearing it. Thanks for reminding me!— DanielJ
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