# Movie music fail **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2018, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591 "2018-06-07T03:12:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/21 "2018-06-08T11:03:25Z")
> [@campp](#): > > I have never understood “_Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head_” in the bicycle sequence of Butch Cassidy. To me, it’s jarringly out of place. I don’t know the chronology here - was that song already one of the biggest hits in history when the movie was made? And if so, was it in there just because it was so popular? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/22 "2018-06-08T11:19:29Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > I don’t know the chronology here - was that song already one of the biggest hits in history when the movie was made? And if so, was it in there just because it was so popular? The song was written for the movie, and benefited from the movie publicity and won the Academy Award for Best Song. So it was the movie that publicized and “made” the song. That and incessant airplay on the radio. I was never a big fan of it, and I agree that it feels completely out of place in the movie. > **[Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raindrops_Keep_Fallin%27_on_My_Head)** > > "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The uplifting lyrics describe somebody who overcomes his troubles and worries by realizing that "it won't be long till happiness steps up to greet me." > The single by B. J. Thomas reached No. 1 on charts in the United States, Canada and Norway, and reached No. 38 on the UK Singles Chart. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in January 1970 and was a... ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/23 "2018-06-08T11:49:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The song was written for the movie, and benefited from the movie publicity and won the Academy Award for Best Song. So it was the movie that publicized and “made” the song. That and incessant airplay on the radio. I was never a big fan of it, and I agree that it feels completely out of place in the movie. > [Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raindrops_Keep_Fallin%27_on_My_Head) I feel it works and the song from Judge Roy Bean [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttt3GA9ovY0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttt3GA9ovY0) because the movies arn’t quite rooted in reality. Especially Judge Roy Bean. They’re presented as if someone were spinning a tall tale. Besides I love them. I’d properly link that but my link button is being wonky. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/24 "2018-06-08T12:41:54Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > David Bowie’s _Cat People_ theme song ruined _Inglorious Basterds_ for me. Completely wrong wrong wrong. Turned it off, sold the DVD. Done. Come to think of it, I haven’t watched any Tarantino that came after, either. Done. That’s one of my favorite Bowie songs and it fit perfectly with Cat People but I agree it felt out of place. Absence of Malice: the movie holds up well. Great performances and the Wilford Brimley scene is still a classic. What ruins it is the jarring 80s synthesizer score. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/25 "2018-06-08T16:53:20Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > \ I’d properly link that but my link button is being wonky. I’ve been having the same problem since last night; I started a thread in ATMB. I don’t have the problem in SD3.7.3. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/26 "2018-06-08T19:49:40Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > As for the OP. Jaws soundtrack…the merry romp music when chasing the shark. It works for me, but barely. It really only pays off in the final shot of Quint looking at Hooper. That’s a good example. I love John Williams, but the jubilant shark-hunting music has always seemed a little “off” to me. Another one that’s always bothered me is in _Spartacus_, when Spartacus and his army are leaving camp to confront Glabrus’s forces. Alex North’s music for that scene is so upbeat and jazzy that it sounds like they’re heading off to a party. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/27 "2018-06-08T21:23:51Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > The Inside Man (2006) - A reasonably entertaining - if credibility defying - heist flick with incongruous Bollywood opening and closing theme music. > [@Mijin](#): > > Sounds like a good mix to me. I’ll check it out. [Here’s the original](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v1It89cKxY). I find nothing incongruous about the opening title song. The movie takes place in downtown NYC which is an ethnic, cultural smorgsabord. A kick-ass song is a kick-ass song, and this one’s got a ton of great momentum. Kudos to Spike Lee for his choice. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/28 "2018-06-08T21:37:34Z")
Not a movie, but the TV show _Lost_ had a piece of score music that I always found to be out of place. It was a trombone (or maybe tuba) sting, about a second and a half long, that began very low and slid slightly higher, making it sound rather comical, IMO. Yet they always played it during very tense and dramatic moments, usually right before commercial. “Oh no, the Smoke Monster is coming for us!” **Bwooooomp!** ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/29 "2018-06-08T23:59:49Z")
“Panic in Year Zero,” (1962). Ray Milland and family are in the boonies when L.A. is nuked and must “fight for survival.” I don’t think RM’s hat comes off the entire movie. The music is tinny, brassy and jazzy; you kind of expect to see a jalopy with a gang of high school kids in it come ripping around the corner, heading to a shindig. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/30 "2018-06-09T17:52:02Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > “Panic in Year Zero,” (1962). Ray Milland and family are in the boonies when L.A. is nuked and must “fight for survival.” I don’t think RM’s hat comes off the entire movie. The music is tinny, brassy and jazzy; you kind of expect to see a jalopy with a gang of high school kids in it come ripping around the corner, heading to a shindig. That reminds me of another one—_4D Man_, an sf movie with Robert Lansing as a guy who can walk through walls. It has a loud big-band jazz score by Ralph Carmichael. I can sort of see what the filmmakers were thinking—the Lansing character uses his powers to go on an urban crime spree—but on the whole, it doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/31 "2018-06-09T18:15:24Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > **Silence of The Lambs**. The use of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” to introduce the killer’s victim was blatantly blunt to the point of taking me completely out of the movie. In a film with such wonderful subtlety, this sticks out in a comically bad way. I’m surprised “Psycho Killer” didn’t come up next on the station’s playlist. This was a detail straight from the book. I always appreciated that nod to the author, but I can see your point. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/32 "2018-06-09T18:56:50Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I always appreciated that nod to the author, but I can see your point. Well, after all, it was a great big world with lots of places to run to. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/33 "2018-06-09T20:05:55Z")
_Metamorphoses_ aka _Winds of Change_. Japanese anime, based on Greek mythology, with a disco soundtrack. Actually, it is an enjoyable movie, but the music has not aged well. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/34 "2018-06-09T20:14:31Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Well, after all, it was a great big world with lots of places to run to. Except for in the hole. Lotion? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/35 "2018-06-09T20:32:19Z")
How about the opposite idea? Someone decided it would be cool to update the movie _Pink Floyd_. Complete fail. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/36 "2018-06-09T20:41:15Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > \ …the music has not aged well. I watched Pacino’s “Scarface” the other day (first time in 30+ years), and the Giorgio Moroder soundtrack was AWFUL. The movie might have played better without music. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/37 "2018-06-09T23:00:42Z")
If you ever saw ABCs Eyewitness news before _Cool Hand Luke_, this segment was made bizarre: > [@DavidwithanR](#): > > (BTW, “treacly fluff” is mine, you can’t have it.) 🙂 Of course that made me wonder if “treacly fluff” was a common expression. It only returned 39 hits on Google, but oddly two were from right here: In 2002 > [@Nixon-Kennedy Rematched With Full Knowledge...who wins?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nixon-kennedy-rematched-with-full-knowledge-who-wins/137245/3): > > …Nixon was an oily slimeball back in the 1950s. His “Checkers” speech was one of the worst examples of using **treacly fluff** to get what you want. And in 2012 > [@Did Kenny G respond to Pat Metheny?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-kenny-g-respond-to-pat-metheny/614746/16): > > …It’s not as if Kenny G took a classic piece of jazz and turned it into mellow pap. It was ALREADY mellow pap when Kenny found it!!! “Wonderful World” was ALWAYS **treacly fluff** , and was therefore a perfect choice for a Kenny G cover. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2018, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591/38 "2018-06-11T11:49:51Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > _Metamorphoses_ aka _Winds of Change_. Japanese anime, based on Greek mythology, with a disco soundtrack. > > Actually, it is an enjoyable movie, but the music has not aged well. That movie was a great disappointment to me. It was supposed to be a modern rock version of _Fantasia_, with original music by the Stones and others. They even got some of the original Disney artists to work on it. Eventually, though, the music didn’t get done, and they had to fall back on that awful disco soundtrack. Even worse, in my mind, was the animation – often very fluid, but too often undirected and pointless. (It didn’t help to have the heroes and heroines played by Big-Eyed Kids). The whole thing was supposed to be done without dialogue, a la _Fantasia_, but audiences got so lost that they ultimately hired Peter Ustinov to do a complete voice-over. I followed the film since it was first announced, and was hoping for something great. Speaking of Fantasia and fails, there was one extremely awful edition of Fantasia in the mid-1980s: > [@](#): > > For the 1982 and 1985 releases Disney presented Fantasia with a completely new soundtrack recorded in Dolby Stereo. First released on April 2, 1982,[71] this version of the film marked the first time a film’s soundtrack had been digitally re-recorded in its entirety. To replace Stokowski’s recordings, the noted film conductor Irwin Kostal was engaged. He directed a 121-piece orchestra and 50-voice choir[101] for the recording that took place over eighteen sessions and cost $1 million.[102] To maintain continuity with the animation Kostal based his performance on the tempos and pacing of the Stokowski recordings, including the cuts and revisions to The Rite of Spring. However, for Night on Bald Mountain he used the standard arrangement by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov instead of Leopold Stokowski’s own edition that was part of the original soundtrack. The new recording also corrected a two-frame lag in projection caused by the recording techniques used in the 1930s.[3] Deems Taylor’s scenes were deleted and a much briefer voiceover narration was recorded by Hugh Douglas[71] as the studio felt the modern audience “is more sophisticated and knowledgeable about music.”[3] This version returned to around 400 theaters in 1985,[103] this time with actor Tim Matheson providing the narration.[104] > **[Fantasia (1940 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasia_(1940_film))** > > Fantasia is a 1940 American animated musical anthology film produced by Walt Disney Productions, with story direction by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer and production supervision by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen. It consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Music critic and composer Deems Taylor acts as the film's Master of Ceremonies who introduces each segment in live action. One thing the Wikipedia entry doesn’t tell you is that the new recording was awful – it didn’t match the timing and tempo of the original. It’s hard to see how it could have been. Unlike real-life movies, in the case of animation the soundtrack is recorded _FIRST_. It’s extremely difficult to match your score to existing action onscreen, and it looks as if they didn’t even try. All the cues are “off”, and the music doesn’t match up with the action onscreen. Disappointing. There’s a reason this was never re-released in theaters, or on any home video format. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-music-fail/815591.md?page=1)