# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/21 "2012-10-01T19:04:50Z")
**The Big Chill** directed by Lawrence Kasdan. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Big\_Chill\_(soundtrack)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Chill_(soundtrack)) ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/22 "2012-10-01T19:09:30Z")
Jackson Browne’s _Somebody’s Baby_ in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/23 "2012-10-01T19:40:15Z")
[Paul](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1092026/)has some great soundtrack tunes, especially ELO’s _All Over The World_ used for the character wrap-up collage at the end. ---
**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, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/24 "2012-10-01T20:08:13Z")
“Don’t Fear the Reaper” from The Stand Miniseries. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/25 "2012-10-01T22:18:06Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > Scorsese, Malick, Lynch. Tarantino, Anderson (Wes), Anderson (PT), Crowe… ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/26 "2012-10-02T00:00:00Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > Scorsese, Malick, Lynch. I’m trying to think of where Malick’s used pop songs. Do you have any examples? ---
**Author:** ![jehan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f6c823/32.png) [@jehan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jehan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/27 "2012-10-02T00:04:59Z")
“The Times they are a Changing” over the intro to Watchmen. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/28 "2012-10-02T00:14:11Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Jackson Browne’s _Somebody’s Baby_ in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. They used that song one too many times, each time Stacy was getting laid. The one that everybody remembers from that movie was _Moving In Stereo_ by The Cars. Phoebe Cates was (and still is) a goddess, and that scene made her career. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/29 "2012-10-02T00:21:04Z")
“Blue Velvet” in **Blue Velvet** “Singin’ in the Rain” in **Singin’ in the Rain.** ---
**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 2, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/30 "2012-10-02T00:23:33Z")
The “We Will Rock You” intro in _A Knight’s Tale_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/31 "2012-10-02T00:29:32Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > The one that everybody remembers from that movie was _Moving In Stereo_ by The Cars. Phoebe Cates was (and still is) a goddess, and that scene made her career. Yeah, I read somewhere that rented video cassettes of this movie used to get worn out from dudes who were rewinding that scene over and over. Some of my favorites: OMD’s “If You Leave” at the prom in **Pretty in Pink**. Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me” from **The Breakfast Club**. The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” during the parade in **Ferris Bueller’s Day Off**. Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey” at the end of **Lost In Translation**. Huey Lewis “Hip to be Square” in **American Psycho**. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/32 "2012-10-02T00:35:22Z")
“Spybreak!” by Propellerheads in _The Matrix._ “The Killing Moon” by Echo and The Bunnymen in _Donnie Darko_. “The Carny” by Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds in _Wings of Desire_. “In Dreams” by Roy Orbison in _Blue Velvet_. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/33 "2012-10-02T00:37:30Z")
> [@SaharaTea](#): > > Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey” at the end of **Lost In Translation**. Any of Sofia Coppola’s soundtracks, really (before _Somewhere_, I suppose). Her reputation seems a bit controversial but would anyone dispute that she’s got a perfect ear for how pop songs will work with her images? My favorite is the Cure’s “Plainsong” during the coronation scene in _Marie Antoinette_. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/34 "2012-10-02T01:00:06Z")
Watching _The Big Chill_ as we speak. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/35 "2012-10-02T01:12:51Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > 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. Unchained Melody? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/36 "2012-10-02T01:16:10Z")
_As Time Goes By_, Casablanca _All Along The Watchtower_, Forest Gump _Yakety Yak (Don’t Talk Back)_, Stand By Me _Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas_, The Execution of Private Slovik (as Slovik is being led to the firing squad) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/37 "2012-10-02T01:19:43Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > 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. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Unchained Melody? Depends on what you mean by “written for a [movie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unchained_(film))”. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/38 "2012-10-02T01:28:09Z")
Okay, here’s the third (and in my opinion, the best) use of a ‘pop song’ in the SAME flick: [Then He Kissed Me (The Crystals in Scorcese’s Goodfellas)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sr-vxVaY_M). I mean, is there any doubt? ---
**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 2, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/39 "2012-10-02T01:36:20Z")
^That’s a great scene. And the song reminds me: Who didn’t fall a little bit in love with Elisabeth Shue in [the opening to \*Adventures in Babysitting](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrecN_dsPc)\*? ---
**Author:** ![JXJohns](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jxjohns/32/469_2.png) [@JXJohns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JXJohns)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359/40 "2012-10-02T01:40:59Z")
Clearly it is “Die Motherfucker, Die” by the Geto Boys in the movie Office Space [Printer Scene](http://youtu.be/PywI0BOxJpI) Anyone who has had to deal with a pain in the ass printer can appreciate this scene. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-use-of-pop-songs-in-film/636359.md?page=3)