{"id":20162,"date":"2024-04-08T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=20162"},"modified":"2024-04-07T17:07:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-07T16:07:21","slug":"can-a-song-enhance-a-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2024\/04\/08\/can-a-song-enhance-a-film\/","title":{"rendered":"CAN A SONG ENHANCE A FILM?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CAN A SONG ENHANCE A FILM?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certainly the journalists at Paste On Line Think So<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

and they convinced Norman Warwick<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediately prior to the the recent Academy Awards presentation event, the Academy awarded\u00a0some brass to the top achievements in film over the last year, The\u00a0Paste<\/em>\u00a0music editors assembled and published a list of what they believe are the greatest songs ever penned for film. However, the \u00a0ranking was not limited to just Best Original Song winners and nominees. Instead, they took a more panoramic view of the best musical moments that Hollywood has had to offer over the last century\u2014including standouts from\u00a0Spider-Man 2<\/em>,\u00a0Blue Velvet<\/em>,\u00a0Superfly<\/em>\u00a0and, yes,\u00a0Shrek 2<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing more enjoyable for me than to listen to, or read, experts speaking enthusiastically about their subject. So I strapped myself in, to read of their 50 best original songs written for films. I was particularly impressed by the arguments of Paste editors\u00a0 Olivia Abercrombie and Matt Mitchell on at least ten of their choices. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So come join us, and then check out Paste On Line for their far more comprehensive submissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sufjan Stevens: \u201cMystery of Love\u201d (Call Me by Your Name<\/em>, 2017)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take me back to the summer of 2018, a time filled with dreams of a blissful European summer and a breezy summer romance. Never mind that I was 17\u2014or still in high school and stuck in the blistering Texas heat rather than sequestered in a cozy Italian cottage\u2014but Sufjan Stevens transported me to that place with \u201cMystery of Love.\u201d The delicately plucked strings paired with his airy vocal capture the weightlessness of young love with the lyrics \u201cAnd what difference does it make \/ When this love is over\u201d painting a picture of passion splashed with sorrow\u2014something that Stevens has mastered so effortlessly. He wrote \u201cMystery of Love\u201d and \u201cVisions of Gideon\u201d for the Call Me By Your Name<\/em> soundtrack, expressing the serene yet miserable intimacy of an earnest, short-lived relationship between Elio (Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet) and Oliver (Armie Hammer). Though certain revelations about Hammer make it difficult to watch the film nowadays, I can still count on Sufjan\u2019s music to transport me to a fantasy land of idealistic romance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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John Parr: \u201cSt. Elmo\u2019s Fire (Man in Motion)\u201d (St. Elmo\u2019s Fire<\/em>, 1985) (left)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few films are as quintessentially 1980s as St. Elmo\u2019s Fire<\/em>, and few songs are as quintessentially 1980s as John Parr\u2019s theme song for it. \u201cSt. Elmo\u2019s Fire (Man in Motion)\u201d has the great power of being miles greater than its source material, as Parr crafted a real bonafide pop-rock masterpiece that held the #1 spot on the Billboard<\/em> Hot 100 for two weeks in 1985. Not only are the \u201cI can see a new horizon underneath the blazin\u2019 sky \/ I\u2019ll be where the eagle\u2019s flying higher and higher\u201d lines ear candy, but members of Toto, REO Speedwagon and Mr. Mister perform on the track. Talk about an all-star affair from top to bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B.J. Thomas: \u201cRaindrops Keep Fallin\u2019 on My Head\u201d (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid<\/em>)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though it\u2019s B.J. Thomas\u2019 voice at the center of \u201cRaindrops Keep Fallin\u2019 on My Head,\u201d the song was written by pop dynamo Burt Bacharach and his collaborator Hal David. Though I prefer the song\u2019s appearance in Spider-Man 2<\/em>, \u201cRaindrops Keep Fallin\u2019 on My Head\u201d was penned by Bacharach and David for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid<\/em> in 1969. It\u2019s a simple story, as the song\u2019s narrator forgoes all worries by embracing the hope that happiness will soon come, and Thomas really sells it with his sincere singing performance. \u201cRaindrops Keep Fallin\u2019 on My Head\u201d became a #1 hit in the US, Canada and Norway and won a Best Original Song Oscar, and its jubilant stroke of soft-rock ecstasy is still full of energy more than 50 years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Elliot Smith: \u201cMiss Misery\u201d (Good Will Hunting<\/em>, 1997)<\/strong> (right)<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has there ever been a more fitting title for an Elliot Smith song? \u201cMiss Misery\u201d is tragically gorgeous, just like all of the indie folk artist\u2019s work. This is one of the times that the Academy got a nomination right, even if \u201cMiss Misery\u201d didn\u2019t win for Best Original Song\u2014though, if you are going to lose to anyone, it might as well be Celine Dion. Smith wrote the track for Good Will Hunting<\/em>, but he also recorded an alternate version with different lyrics that was later released posthumously. The lyrics changed a fair amount from the original, showcasing a more vulnerable version of the final song that is more in line with Smith\u2019s earlier work and themes. The film version has a more complex production, transitioning from Smith\u2019s raw recorded tracks to a more ornate arrangement. One of the most glaring changes in the final verse, though, is the switch from \u201cTo vanish into oblivion \/ Is easy to do \/ And I try to be, but you know me \/ I come back when you want me to\u201d to \u201cHe vanished into oblivion \/ It\u2019s easy to do \/ And I cried a sea when you talked to me \/ The day you said we were through,\u201d shifting the perspective of blame. Both versions are the perfect gut-punch to pair with the credits of Good Will Hunting<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob Dylan: \u201cKnockin\u2019 on Heaven\u2019s Door\u201d (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid<\/em>, 1973)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not every song written for a film is guaranteed to be considered one of an artist\u2019s best works\u2014and certainly not one written by someone as prolific as Bob Dylan\u2014but the folk titan\u2019s turn on \u201cKnockin\u2019 on Heaven\u2019s Door\u201d somehow wedges its way into his own pantheon. Written for the forgettable Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid<\/em>, \u201cKnockin\u2019 on Heaven\u2019s Door\u201d is one of the greatest folk-rock songs ever, let alone one of the greatest movie songs ever. It\u2019s sublime and minimal\u2014at least by Dylan\u2019s standards in the 1970s\u2014and relies on gospel harmonies and a dainty acoustic guitar arrangement. Though this period in Dylan\u2019s career wasn\u2019t rife with commercial and critical adoration, \u201cKnockin\u2019 on Heaven\u2019s Door\u201d feels was an apt precursor to his upcoming renaissance\u2014and it\u2019s the best thing about Sam Peckinpah\u2019s movie, which was good for Bob but not so good for Sam. Such is how it goes, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simon & Garfunkel: \u201cMrs. Robinson\u201d (The Graduate<\/em>, 1967)<\/strong> (left)<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The version of Simon & Garfunkel\u2019s \u201cMrs. Robinson\u201d we first heard in The Graduate<\/em> in 1967 is slightly different from the one that appeared on Bookends<\/em> a year later. In the former, the song is fragmented and dispersed across a crucial scene in the final act of the film\u2014as Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) drives across California to stop Elaine Robinson\u2019s (Katharine Ross) wedding. Initially, \u201cMrs. Robinson\u201d was titled \u201cMrs. Roosevelt,\u201d a nod to former First Lady Eleanor, and was presented to director Mike Nichols after he was not floored by Paul Simon\u2019s previous offerings\u2014\u201cPunky\u2019s Dilemma\u201d and \u201cOvers.\u201d Simon later returned with only the \u201cdee de dee dee de dee dee dee\u201d melody, but Nichols was over-the-moon about its potential\u2014and the rest was history. \u201cMrs. Robinson\u201d quickly became one of the first soundtrack songs of its kind, arriving without orchestral backing and leaning into the folk-rock popularity sweeping across the musical zeitgeist at the time. God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson, indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bruce Springsteen: \u201cStreets of Philadelphia\u201d (Philadelphia<\/em>, 1993)<\/strong> (right)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before I was a massive Bruce Springsteen fan, I was a massive Philadelphia<\/em> fan. Really, \u201cStreets of Philadelphia\u201d was my first non-radio introduction to The Boss, when I was entering my high school cinephile phase. Now, years later and an embarrassing level of Springsteen fandom later, I can safely say that \u201cStreets of Philadelphia\u201d is not only his most underrated track, but one of his very best. Written for Jonathan Demme\u2019s 1993 HIV\/AIDS drama, Springsteen strips his entire rock \u2018n\u2019 roll bravado away for a harrowing electronic ballad that potently expresses a fear of succumbing to a fatal disease and<\/em> the tragedy of it in the first place. What the New Jersey native came up with\u2014including the lines \u201cAnd my clothes don\u2019t fit me no more, a thousand miles just to slip this skin\u201d\u2014remains the very greatest (in my opinion) Best Original Song winner of all time, one that was coupled with Neil Young\u2019s equally great \u201cPhiladelphia\u201d and remains a crucial, distinguishable song penned for and during the AIDS crisis in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huey Lewis and the News: \u201cThe Power Of Love\u201d (Back To The Future<\/em>, 1985)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think it\u2019s safe to say that Back To The Future<\/em> was one of the first movies to ignite my love of filmmaking. The post-Star Wars<\/em> \u201980s sci-fi aesthetic combined with some killer music\u2014what else could you possibly want? Huey Lewis and the News gave us two immensely catchy hits for the time travel romp, including the more aptly-named \u201cBack in Time,\u201d but \u201cThe Power of Love\u201d has that infectious keyboard sting that emits dangerous levels of joyful nostalgia. \u201cIt\u2019s strong, and it\u2019s sudden, and it\u2019s cruel sometimes \/ But it might just save your life,\u201d Lewis sings in the chorus. I swear no one makes jubilant music like Huey and his News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Judy Garland: \u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d (The Wizard of Oz<\/em>, 1939)<\/strong> (left)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We couldn\u2019t make this list without the<\/em> movie song. Film is our escape from the real world, and Edgar Yipsel Harburg captured that spirit in \u201cOver the Rainbow\u201d\u2014sung through the eyes of a young girl dreaming of leaving the colorless plains of Kanas. \u201cSomeday I\u2019ll wish upon a star \/ Wake up where the clouds are far behind me,\u201d Garland yearns in her crystal clear tone, portraying the youthful enthusiasm of Dorothy Gale. Garland\u2019s heartfelt rendition stole our hearts nearly a century ago and launched her to megastardom. There\u2019s a reason that it is one of the most covered songs in history. It\u2019s timeless and always will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audrey Hepburn: \u201cMoon River\u201d (Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s<\/em>, 1961)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember being 17 and watching Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s<\/em> for the first time and, in a flash, becoming transfixed by Audrey Hepburn\u2019s performance of Henry Mancini\u2019s \u201cMoon River.\u201d While Frank Ocean would later cover the track and re-introduce it to a new generation, Hepburn\u2019s original rendition remains the most powerful. While its inclusion in the film makes no sense plot-wise, when you really think about it, you\u2019re fine with looking the other way\u2014because it\u2019s just simply too beautiful a tune to have any real gripe with, and the image of Hepburn singing it on Holly Golightly\u2019s fire escape is just picture-perfect. And much of that is because of Hepburn, whose delicate and untrained voice emphasized the sincerity of \u201cMoon River.\u201d Paramount Pictures reportedly wanted to remove the song from the film altogether, to which Mancini vehemently refused. I think we\u2019re all lucky that Mancini won that battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a full list of the fifty songs chosen by the Paste Team as the best of the best, visit their on-line site at Paste. There is nothing more enjoyable than hearing real experts enthuse about and explain their passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary sources for this piece was\u00a0 published in Paste on-line magazine. Other sources have been attributed in our text wherever possible<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Images employed have been taken from on line sites only where \u00a0categorised as\u00a0images free to use.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a more comprehensive detail of our attribution policy see our for reference only post on 7th<\/sup> April 2023  entitled Aspirations And Attributions.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is nothing more enjoyable for me than to listen to, or read, experts speaking enthusiastically about their subject. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,71,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cinema","category-culture-and-tradition","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20162"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20384,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20162\/revisions\/20384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}