# Greatest Use of Pop Songs in Film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359 "2012-10-01T04:18:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/1 "2012-10-01T04:18:47Z")
Let’s get Stuck In The Middle With You by Stealers Wheel in Reservoir Dogs and Fight the Power by Public Enemy in Do the Right Thing out of the way. Oh No - Commodores in The Last American Virgin Tonight You Belong to Me in The Jerk Hard Out Here for a Pimp - Three 6 Mafia in Hustle & Flow ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/2 "2012-10-01T04:28:43Z")
“In Your Eyes” - _Say Anything_ “Mad World” - _Donnie Darko_ ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/3 "2012-10-01T09:02:13Z")
Gotta go with the piano exit of “Layla” in Goodfellas. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/4 "2012-10-01T09:24:40Z")
“The Entertainer” in “The Sting” ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/5 "2012-10-01T09:37:19Z")
Scorsese, Malick, Lynch. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/6 "2012-10-01T11:43:31Z")
Journey’s ‘Anyway You Want It’ in _ **Caddyshack** _! \* “So what?! So let’s dance!!”\* ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/7 "2012-10-01T12:23:21Z")
Anything by Tarantino. He’s a master at it. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/8 "2012-10-01T12:34:07Z")
Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” in _Shaun of the Dead_ (zombie bar fight with the jukebox blaring out the tune in the background) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/9 "2012-10-01T13:00:53Z")
‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’ in **Fandango**. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/10 "2012-10-01T13:03:27Z")
“For Whom the Bell Tolls” at the start of “Zombieland” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/11 "2012-10-01T13:19:25Z")
The naked Gun - “Something Tells Me I’m Into Something Good.” I like the way they’re laughing their heads off coming out of the movie theatre, and then the camera pans back to reveal they were watching “Platoon.” I miss Leslie Nielsen. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/12 "2012-10-01T13:21:10Z")
If we stretch the definition of Pop Song to its thinnest, “Welcome to the Jungle.” in Lean on Me (the Joe Clark Movie). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/13 "2012-10-01T13:24:16Z")
And IIIIIIIIIII will always love YYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUU. I don’t think any song that wasn’t written for a movie is so closely identified with a movie. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/14 "2012-10-01T13:24:31Z")
Every song in “Until the End of the World” but if I have to choose that would be opening scene with Talking Heads “Sax and Violins”… ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/15 "2012-10-01T13:31:07Z")
Cameron Crowe Say Anything - In Your Eyes Singles - Would? Jerry Maguire -Free falling And many more others would be An American Girl from The Silence of the Lambs and of course Singin in the Rain from A Clockwork Orange. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/16 "2012-10-01T16:24:42Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Cameron Crowe > > Say Anything - In Your Eyes > Singles - Would? > Jerry Maguire -Free falling > > And many more > > others would be > > An American Girl from The Silence of the Lambs > > and of course > > Singin in the Rain from A Clockwork Orange. Yeah, Crowe is really the master of this: **[Tiny Dancer](http://youtu.be/247yUL_0e-Y)** - Almost Famous And Wes Anderson deserves a nod for his masterful use of pop music (mostly lesser-known album cuts) in Rushmore: [**A Quick One While He’s Away**](http://youtu.be/sL-kvgOGmzc) (The Who) - Rushmore [Ooh La La](http://youtu.be/ELQOnEgzt-I) (The Faces) - Rushmore ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/17 "2012-10-01T16:39:36Z")
Johnny Cash’s [“When the Man Comes Around”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l44EbAbLid0) in the opening credits of the **Dawn of the Dead** remake. “The End” in **Apocalypse Now** ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/18 "2012-10-01T16:48:14Z")
Van Morrison - [Everyone](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX7eRACdr5s) at the end of the Royal Tennenbaums. Just gives the ending of the story added majesty and grace. Wes Anderson is very, very good with songs. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/19 "2012-10-01T17:10:30Z")
> [@Greekfreak](#): > > Gotta go with the piano exit of “Layla” in Goodfellas. Same movie, “Jump in the Fire” by Harry Nilsson, when Ray Liotta is freaking out. > [@yellowval](#): > > “For Whom the Bell Tolls” at the start of “Zombieland” Absolutely! Joe ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/20 "2012-10-01T17:37:31Z")
_Sister Christian_ in Boogie Nights. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359.md?page=2)