Amplified Observations delves into how has created or incorporated into films have the ability to equally improve each other.
When recalling the final scenes from either David Fincher’s 1999 film Fight Club or Richard Kelly’s 2001 film Donnie Darko, it’s nearly impossible to not include the songs that played in their backgrounds: The Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” and Gary Jules’ cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World,” respectively.
That’s because, akin to many famous movie scores like Star Wars and Jaws, rock, folk and other non-orchestral music is now often linked as a sort of leitmotif to the movies that use it in an effective, memorable manner. A growing number of directors have used songs that might be suggested on your Discover Weekly from Spotify as sonic support for their films.
For example, in Wes Anderson’s absurd 2001 comedy, The Royal Tenenbaums, rather than using melancholy classical strings over a tragic scene that might have come off as a bit melodramatic, he makes the decision to include singer-songwriter Elliott Smith’s “Needle In the Hay,” which acts in a much more subtle and efficient way to supplement the action. The use of this outside resource allowed him more creative freedom in translating the pivotal scene to an audience.
Taking this a step further, some songs are specifically written for films, including Simon and Garfunkel’s famous track “Mrs. Robinson” for The Graduate or Survivor’s anthemic ballad “Eye of the Tiger” for Rocky III. Both of these singles ended up selling enough records to become certified platinum, which shows that artists, along with movies they’re featured in, also have the opportunity to benefit from this symbiotic, cinematic relationship.
In other cases, directors have included commercially written tracks to function as a sort of overarching theme song for their motion pictures, like how Back To The Future used Huey Lewis and the News’ “The Power of Love,” and The Breakfast Club used Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” or how Groundhog Day used Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe” many, many times.
And, of course, sometimes movies strikeout with the songs they incorporate. Did the Will Smith companion songs to his '90s movies or Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing” inclusion in 1998’s apocalyptic thriller Armageddon actually strengthen the films that much? Not really. However, these instances are exception to the wider practice of choosing more thoughtful and longstanding songs over the fad of favoring momentary commercial appeal. Movies that use gimmicky songs are often gimmicks in themselves.
Regardless of the quality of the movie, a good song is a good song and likewise with the bad ones. It’s much more common to notice a song raising the quality of a movie than lowering it. And, in the end, it’s just a matter of how well the two mediums mesh with the emotions or actions they’re conveying.
And, because of this, I’ll always remember Shrek as an All-Star.
Luke Furman is a sophomore studying journalism and a reporter for The Post. What do you think of music in movies? Tweet him @LukeFurmanOU or email him at lf491413@ohio.edu.
