# Best song in a movie opening **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957 "2010-10-13T03:58:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/61 "2010-10-15T02:09:50Z")
Carly Simon’s song from the title open of “Working Girl”. Brilliant. Earned that Oscar®… ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/62 "2010-10-15T05:08:44Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > Smash Mouth’s “All Star” at the beginning of Shrek. Definitely set a tone which said “this isn’t your typical animated feature.” > > Enjoy, > Steven In a similar vein, Gang of Four’s _Natural’s Not in It_ at the beginning of _Marie Antoinette_ set a tone which suggested “this isn’t your typical costume drama”. Whether that tone was actually tone deaf or not is up for [debate](http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/161840/sofia_coppolas_marie_antoinette_the.html?cat=33). CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/63 "2010-10-15T13:41:53Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > > [@tdn](#): > > > > _Don’t You Forget About Me_ by Simple Minds was a great choice for **The Breakfast Club**. It really set the tone for lost youth trying to find their way on life. > > Another of my favorite movies, and I’d need to pull out my DVD to double-check, but didn’t that song play over the end credits rather than the beginning of the movie? No. It played in a long (but not complete) version at the beginning. At the end a little of it played during the tableau of Bender punching the sky, but when the credits rolled the music changed to, IIRC, _Heart Too Hot to Hold_. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/64 "2010-10-15T19:17:51Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > > [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > > > Another of my favorite movies, and I’d need to pull out my DVD to double-check, but didn’t that song play over the end credits rather than the beginning of the movie? > > No. It played in a long (but not complete) version at the beginning. At the end a little of it played during the tableau of Bender punching the sky, but when the credits rolled the music changed to, IIRC, _Heart Too Hot to Hold_. And my DVD proves you correct. What’s weird is that this was the first movie I ever paid to see twice in the theater, and I bought the soundtrack album, and I heard _Heart Too Hot to Hold_ on the album and had absolutely no recollection of actually hearing that song in the film. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/65 "2010-10-15T19:33:41Z")
The theme to [_Jaws_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXEvIb1YEgM&feature=related). ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/66 "2010-10-15T22:03:37Z")
…I’d never seen the opening to Joe vs the Volcano before: that was awesome! Now gotta see the whole movie… Add another vote for the Stand and Dr No: both fantastic and stick in my brain. My vote: "The Spy Who Loved Me. Mainly because this running narrative by Alan Partridge has ingrained the opening in my mind… [Original skit.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbJDHn7B7gs) [Live dub](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrp0wJsXNEA&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/67 "2010-10-15T23:42:47Z")
The two that popped into my head before I opened the thread were Pulp Fiction and Apocalypse Now. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/68 "2010-10-15T23:59:35Z")
Some good one already. (I’m on board with Donnie Darko) A couple more: Tom Petty’s **“American Girl”** at the beginning of **Fast Times at Ridgemont High** And the musical opening of [Office Space](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm47ds-r6sA) is pretty good, too. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/69 "2010-10-16T00:06:25Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Carly Simon’s song from the title open of “Working Girl”. > > Brilliant. Earned that Oscar®… Actually, it won because everyone had heard of Carly Simon. (And it was over the closing credits.) The song that should have won that year was the astonishing [“Calling You” sung by Jevetta Steele from the movie Baghdad Cafe.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHkW0Cw5w94&feature=related) I love Carly Simon and wish she had an Oscar for songwriting that was earned for an excellent song, but this one is as undeserved as the one Randy Newman got for “If I Didn’t Have You” from _Monsters, Inc._ when he should have won for “When She Loved Me” from _Toy Story 2_. One of my all-time opening credit songs not yet mentioned was [from the movie “Castway”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi5SHh2VS8I) (not the one with Tom Hanks). ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/70 "2010-10-16T00:07:39Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Tom Petty’s **“American Girl”** at the beginning of **Fast Times at Ridgemont High** The best cinematic moment for that song was in _Silence of the Lambs_. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/71 "2010-10-16T01:40:33Z")
Sinatra’s “Summer Wind” set the tone well for The Pope of Greenwich Village. Did Rocky open with “Gonna Fly Now” or did that come in only later during the build-up? “Speak Softly Love” from The Godfather. The Magnificent Seven Theme is probably my favorite: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iteRKvRKFA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iteRKvRKFA) ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/72 "2010-10-16T02:04:13Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Tom Petty’s **“American Girl”** at the beginning of **Fast Times at Ridgemont High** I’ll nitpick here a little. The _very_ first song in Fast Times was “We Got the Beat”, which played over the opening credits to good effect. However, we didn’t hear “American Girl” for a little while. It played during Jennifer Jason Leigh’s first day in high school. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/73 "2010-10-16T02:29:31Z")
There are so many, actually…Caddyshack, Nat’l Lampoon’s Vacation, Sound of Music, Brian’s Song, MASH, Bridge on the River Kwai… ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957/74 "2010-10-16T03:40:10Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …I’d never seen the opening to Joe vs the Volcano before: that was awesome! Now gotta see the whole movie… It’s an incredible movie. It was my all-time favorite movie for many years, until _[Hero](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299977/)_ finally took its place. For the full impact of _Joe vs. The Volcano_, watch it several times. I watched it every day for a week, and found some new insight with each viewing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-song-in-a-movie-opening/556957.md?page=3)