# Your top-3 needle drops in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 29, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703 "2020-02-29T14:10:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/1 "2020-02-29T14:10:05Z")
An idea taken from “The Big Picture” podcast… what are the best uses of a _song_ in movies? Rules: 1. No list bots! In your initial post, please limit yourself to three entries. 2. The needle drop has to be to a _song_ (or piece of classical music, for you pendants). It cannot be part of the soundtrack. So, for example, “The Emperor’s theme during this part of SW…” is out, but “The opening measures from Mozart’s 25th symphony at the beginning of Amadeus…” is in. 3. To #2 - I will allow songs written _for_ the movie. Let’s go! 1. “Layla”, Goodfellas 2. “Day yo”, Beetlejuice 3. “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, Kill Bill vol 1. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/2 "2020-02-29T14:21:28Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > 1. The needle drop has to be to a _song_ (or piece of classical music, for you pendants). I wasn’t going to comment on it, since I also use the word “song” to include instrumentals, but your attempt to appease the pedants leaves out all manners of non-classical instrumental music. Anyhow: The obvious: 1. Flight of the Valkyries - Apocolypse Now 2. Stuck in the Middle With You - Resevoir Dogs 3. Oh Yeah ( aka [“Day Bow Bow”](https://youtu.be/1yOrrRhUEyE?t=62) ;)) - Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (or The Secret of My Success) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/3 "2020-02-29T14:39:14Z")
Two from _2001: A Space Opera_ _Also Sprach Zarathustra The Blue Danube_ ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/4 "2020-02-29T14:53:56Z")
For those like me who had to google what precisely the hell the OP is talking about: > [@](#): > > A ‘Needle Drop’ is a film industry slang term for when film makers use a piece of popular music as one of the main focal points of a sequence - moments where audio and visuals become forever interlinked. Except the OP is making it more restrictive by requiring it to be audible to the on-screen characters. The first thing that comes to mind for me is _The Square Song_ from _CE3K_. (Okay, the _first_ thing that comes to mind is _Dancing Queen_ from the _Community_ episode _Epidemiology_, but TV is probably OT.) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/5 "2020-02-29T15:00:44Z")
Number one, I don’t understand the antagonism. # 2, you’re actually incorrect because 2 of the examples I gave do not match what you are proclaiming the topic to be. Where did I say it had to be audible to the characters? Were all the characters in Goodfellas listening to Layla when they were montaging the bodies? Was Salieri truly listening to the 25th Symphony when he slit his wrists? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/6 "2020-02-29T15:01:26Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Except the OP is making it more restrictive by requiring it to be audible to the on-screen characters. :smack: Ah, I somehow missed that part of the OP. So that disqualifies my #3, but the other two should hold. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/7 "2020-02-29T15:07:03Z")
You missed that part of the OP because it wasn’t in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/8 "2020-02-29T15:10:40Z")
Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” from Say Anything. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/9 "2020-02-29T15:14:38Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > You missed that part of the OP because it wasn’t in the OP. You said “not part of the soundtrack.” anything playing in the background not heard by the characters _is_ part of the soundtrack. (And the “antagonism” is because you used some obscure industry term without explaining it.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/10 "2020-02-29T15:18:11Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > You missed that part of the OP because it wasn’t in the OP. OK. I thought in light of the previous post by **DG** , I had misunderstood the “cannot be part of the soundtrack” stipulation. I’m still a little confused by what it means exactly, as “Emperor’s theme” was ruled out, but wasn’t “Emperors theme” written _for_ Star Wars and allowed by #3? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/11 "2020-02-29T15:18:11Z")
Ahhh… should’ve used ‘score’, that’s correct. The explanation was in item 2. And, frankly, should be self-evident from context of the thread and examples given. That’s on you. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/12 "2020-02-29T15:20:18Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Ahhh… should’ve used ‘score’, that’s correct. > > The explanation was in item 2. And, frankly, should be self-evident from context of the thread and examples given. That’s on you. Well, I got it right the first time, it seems, but I’m still not sure what #3 allows that #2 disallows. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/13 "2020-02-29T15:25:58Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Ahhh… should’ve used ‘score’, that’s correct. > > The explanation was in item 2. And, frankly, should be self-evident from context of the thread and examples given. That’s on you. No, when people are confused by what you have written, that is on _you_. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/14 "2020-02-29T15:33:41Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > It cannot be part of the soundtrack. > 3. “Layla”, Goodfellas > 2. “Day yo”, Beetlejuice > > 1. “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, Kill Bill vol 1. [3.) Soundtrack # 12](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodfellas_(soundtrack)) [2.) Soundtrack # 12](https://open.spotify.com/album/1iyLkKp8f8XZjOxDD2PEo9?nd=1) [1.) Soundtrack # 10](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_Bill_Vol._1_Original_Soundtrack) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/15 "2020-02-29T15:39:37Z")
Three good ones that spring to mind: The elevator music version of “Live and Let Die” that’s playing when Martin Blank visits the Ulti-Mart on the location of his former home. (_Grosse Pointe Blank_) Tony Stark blasting AC/DC through the quinjet’s PA system to get Loki’s attention (_The Avengers_) The P.M. dancing to “Jump (For My Love)” (_Love Actually_) ---
**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:** [February 29, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/16 "2020-02-29T15:50:27Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > You missed that part of the OP because it wasn’t in the OP. What did you mean by “It cannot be part of the soundtrack”, then? To be clear, are you asking for only [Diagetic Music](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diegetic_music), and excluding [Incidental music](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidental_music)? And, by the way, \*every \*piece of music in a film is part of the soundtrack, whether diagetic or incidental. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/17 "2020-02-29T15:52:30Z")
Misourlu as Honey Bunny and Pumpkin begin their diner robbery in Pulp Fiction Bohemian Rhapsody in the Gremlin in Wayne’s World. Wipe Out in Dark Star while the crew prepares to blow up a planet. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/18 "2020-02-29T16:00:05Z")
Does something like “[Let’s Get It On](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzl_l5gC5is)” in _High Fidelity_ suit the spirit of the OP? Or “[Misirlou](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXpJAyqmgXk)” in _Pulp Fiction_? Of course, the greatest one \*has \*to be “[Bohemian Rhapsody](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thyJOnasHVE)” from _Wayne’s World_. ---
**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:** [February 29, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/19 "2020-02-29T16:00:14Z")
[Louie Louie - Quadrophenia](https://youtu.be/bl7RLKgTTPY) [Walking On Sunshine - High Fidelity](https://youtu.be/dEonJJHFEGg) [Share The Night Together - El Camino](https://youtu.be/_xYOiIb2GCk) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703/20 "2020-02-29T16:35:43Z")
Just going with one because it’s a _literal_ needle drop. (Ain't Too Proud to Beg-Big Chill) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-top-3-needle-drops-in-movies/848703.md?page=2)