I wrote a much better ending for that movie, but they refused to go back and reshoot it. Bastards.
Series of fast cuts from the squashed Christine-cube as it is picked up and makes its way to a foundry. We watch it melt down. We see the iron poured out in pigs. The pigs go to another foundry and are melted, then poured into sandcast molds which break open to reveal engine blocks. The blocks quickly get finished and we follow one finished engine, all chrome and black gleam, as it swings up, over, and down into the engine bay of a red Corvette. Pull back to see four red Corvettes in a long, long line of white ones. Cue BTTB. Smash to black. Roll credits.
How well does the scene in Terminator 2 (where Arnie walks into the bar, demands “your shoes, your clothes unt your motor-cycle”, proceeds to beat the shit out of a bar full of bikers and then walks out resplendent in leather, before snatching a shotgun and sunglasses of the bar owner and riding off) work if you substitute Bad To The Bone with Walking on Sunshine?
I would argue quite well - but for a totally different film (thinking something like Action Movie 2 - a spin on the Scary Movie franchise).
ETA: I am aware that they did a “humourous” twist on this in T3.
That was my first thought, but revisiting it on YouTube cooled me. The hook ("Now you’re messin’…) is great, but the rest is ordinary. It doesn’t announce its presence the same way as BTTB. Still, I often play the hook in my head when I have to focus my energy on a project.
“Eye of the Tiger” served a similar, but not identical, purpose for Sylvester Stallone. Some blues songs like “Mannish Boy” have the right attitude but less appropriate lyrics.
Maybe there’s a lifetime of hefty royalties awaiting anyone who has a hit with a BTTB replacement.
Either starts strong or can be edited to start strong
Either has boasty, badass lyrics - or can be edited to sound that way
I would assume any number of songs from **AC/DC **would qualify - not just Back in Black, but Livewire, TNT, Sin City, etc. - Bon Scott’s stuff where he boasted his prowess with a wink and a smile.
The song **Keep Away **by the band Godsmack has a badass intro and groove - I am limited to a mobile link, but here’s the song on mobile YouTube: YouTube
I love the groove of Metallica’s Sad but True and Pantera’s Walk…
There are any number of songs with a powerful hook but a weak(er) beginning or a generally softer, weaker structure. BTTB and EOTT both start as hard as a song can AND have a killer hook. They’re both of the “I can set the mood with four notes” genre.
It’s also possible to start too hard - the opening has to be clean and powerful, not an enormous jangle of noise.
Second only to whoever writes a sturdy replacement for “Happy Birthday.”
While we’re discussing eliminating overused songs, can we finally kill off the Romantics’ “What I Like About You?” I’d be happy if I never heard that song again in my life.
In this vein, a song that’s always irritated me is Doobie Brothers’ China Grove. One of the most ass-kicking (but not overpowering) riffs every put to vinyl… and such STUPID lyrics it’s embarrassing to listen to.
If they wanted to write a ballad about a Chinese town, fine. If they wanted to write a kicking road song, fine. BAD combination.