# Why did the Highlander movie use so many Queen songs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 1, 2019, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024 "2019-01-01T06:05:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/1 "2019-01-01T06:05:33Z")
Just finished rewatching Highlander and almost every song was by Queen. They even included the title of a Queen song as Rachael and the Highlander’s touch phrase. I know Queen was huge back then, but isn’t it unusual to focus so heavily on a single band for a movie’s soundtrack? Queen did some great stuff, but it gave the entire movie a very melancholy air. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/2 "2019-01-01T07:20:05Z")
These weren’t just any random Queen songs they found. They were written specifically for the movie, and include lines from it. If they are melancholy - it’s because that’s the mood they were going for. It’s like asking why Inception is full of Hans Zimmer music. That’s just the creative decision they took. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/3 "2019-01-01T07:32:37Z")
Might as well ask why flash Gordon only used queen songs. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/4 "2019-01-01T08:28:02Z")
> [@blue\_infinity](#): > > These weren’t just any random Queen songs they found. They were written specifically for the movie, and include lines from it. If they are melancholy - it’s because that’s the mood they were going for. This. A Kind of Magic is the Highlander soundtrack in all but name. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/5 "2019-01-01T09:48:41Z")
I think one of them was actually an unused song from _Flash Gordon_. I will check on that before I post… Oh, I remember. “Who Wants To Live Forever” was a line of dialogue from _Flash Gordon_ spoken by [Brian Blessed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-ozvmM3rB4). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/6 "2019-01-01T09:55:59Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > Queen did some great stuff, but it gave the entire movie a very melancholy air. If we follow the [adjacent thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=867964) carefully, it may turn out that the Queen can be removed by the government. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/7 "2019-01-01T10:08:25Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > If we follow the [adjacent thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=867964) carefully, it may turn out that the Queen can be removed by the government. If we’re talking the Adam Lambert Queen, I’m all for a preemptive strike. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/8 "2019-01-01T17:55:39Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > This. A Kind of Magic is the Highlander soundtrack in all but name. Which makes it the real question, “Why did Queen write a soundtrack, and give it their own title, instead of the movie title?” David Lynch’s _Dune_ has, in big bold letters, **Soundtrack by Toto**. Why didn’t Toto put out the whole soundtrack with an offbeat name? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/9 "2019-01-01T18:54:41Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > Which makes it the real question, “Why did Queen write a soundtrack, and give it their own title, instead of the movie title?” My guess is naming rights (which Queen may not have had). There _was_ also a traditional orchestral score for the film (by noted soundtrack composer Michael Kamen), though [it looks like the actual soundtrack was never released as an album](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlander_(film)#Soundtrack). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/10 "2019-01-01T23:34:22Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > This. A Kind of Magic is the Highlander soundtrack in all but name. That is true. Funny to think of it because I always thought of that album as the Highlander soundtrack in name, too. I mean, it _is_ that movie to me. I’ll ask what I thought the OP was asking. How did it come to be that Highlander ended up with Queen songs throughout? At what point was this considered by the movie-makers and studio? How did they get them? Why them? ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/11 "2019-01-02T00:38:29Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > How did it come to be that Highlander ended up with Queen songs throughout? At what point was this considered by the movie-makers and studio? How did they get them? Why them? Because **Marillion** [backed out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlander_(film)#Soundtrack). It’s a movie about immortals decapitating each other one by one in a kind of compulsive cultural mass suicide, eliminating the only people that can ever truly relate to their lonely lives until only one remains. Sure that guy can now cast lightning bolts or what not - but to what end? Why shouldn’t that downer of a premise be melancholy ;)? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/12 "2019-01-02T03:16:59Z")
There”s probably a lot of other movies that had soundtracks done a single artist. Cat Steven’s songs were used in Harold & Maude. The Graduate had mainly Simon & Garfunkel songs. Tim Burton’s Batman had an original score by Danny Elfman but also had a soundtrack done by Prince. ---
**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:** [January 2, 2019, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/13 "2019-01-02T03:19:59Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Because **Marillion** [backed out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlander_(film)#Soundtrack). I would have loved to have heard that. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/14 "2019-01-02T03:30:23Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I think one of them was actually an unused song from _Flash Gordon_. I will check on that before I post… > > Oh, I remember. “Who Wants To Live Forever” was a line of dialogue from _Flash Gordon_ spoken by [Brian Blessed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-ozvmM3rB4). Well, that last is true. Vultan did say that in Flash. But it had nothing to do with the song for Highlander. The movie needed a love song and the concept makes sense given the context of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/15 "2019-01-02T08:41:30Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Because **Marillion** [backed out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlander_(film)#Soundtrack). > > It’s a movie about immortals decapitating each other one by one in a kind of compulsive cultural mass suicide, eliminating the only people that can ever truly relate to their lonely lives until only one remains. Sure that guy can now cast lightning bolts or what not - but to what end? Why shouldn’t that downer of a premise be melancholy ;)? You should write a screenplay. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/16 "2019-01-02T16:38:29Z")
Freddie singing ‘This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us’ chokes me up every time. > [@Tamerlane](#): > > It’s a movie about immortals decapitating each other one by one in a kind of compulsive cultural mass suicide, eliminating the only people that can ever truly relate to their lonely lives until only one remains. Sure that guy can now cast lightning bolts or what not - but to what end? Why shouldn’t that downer of a premise be melancholy ;)? Why does the sun come up? ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/17 "2019-01-03T20:08:51Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I’ll ask what I thought the OP was asking. > > How did it come to be that Highlander ended up with Queen songs throughout? At what point was this considered by the movie-makers and studio? How did they get them? Why them? Thank you. Yes, that’s very much what I was going for. The music and movie fit together so well, it seems like at some point the movie was adapted to fit the music. For example the line “it’s a kind of magic” when Connor and Rachael meet during WWII. And the the lyrics of ‘one year of love’ capture the mood of the movie perfectly. I’ve not encountered any other movies where one band did most of the songs. Usually, a movie will have one, maybe two songs that end up as sort of theme songs for the movie (e.g. Titanic, The Bodyguard), but Highlander ended up with an entire album. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/18 "2019-01-03T20:29:21Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > I’ve not encountered any other movies where one band did most of the songs. Hampshire actually listed several in post #12, though you may not have seen those films, or remember the heavy use of songs by one artist: \* Harold and Maude\* lists nine songs by Cat Stevens on its soundtrack. _The Graduate_ lists fourteen songs by Simon and Garfunkel on its soundtrack. _Batman_ lists six songs by Prince on its soundtrack. And, as snfaulkner notes, Queen had already done the _Flash Gordon_ soundtrack, too. A few others that come to my mind: _Xanadu_ has five songs by Electric Light Orchestra, including a duet with Olivia Newton-John (who also performed on six songs, though she was the movie’s star; ELO never actually appears in the film). _The Magic Christian_ has three songs by Badfinger. _Tron: Legacy_’s soundtrack was done by Daft Punk. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/19 "2019-01-03T22:20:42Z")
> [@dstarfire](#): > > The music and movie fit together so well, it seems like at some point the movie was adapted to fit the music. Well, that sort of is the point of writing music for a movie - that it fits. It’s possible that the movie was modified a bit if someone thought a particular song was apropos, but I’d bet that the movie was mostly written before the music was composed. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024/20 "2019-01-03T22:22:46Z")
At least partially filmed, too, as I understand it. Who Wants to Live Forever was apparently written after watching the scene it ended up playing behind. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-highlander-movie-use-so-many-queen-songs/827024.md?page=2)