Music has a very important role in every great movie. The sounds really incorporate the scenes, creating a specific atmosphere and even representing the character’s emotions. Sometimes just instrumentals, sometimes famous songs and some other times even theme tracks made only for that film. Either way, these musical experiences can become our first associations when we think of certain things we’ve watched. For example, it’s impossible to disconnect Pretty Woman (1990) with the 1965 song that inspired the movie title – Oh, Pretty Woman, by Roy Orbison. The same thing happens with Don’t You (Forget About Me), by Simple Minds, in The Breakfast Club (1985).
This being said, we selected 6 other movies that have memorable songs in their soundtracks – most of then even reaching the top of the musical charts when the movies came out!
- Pretty in Pink (1986)
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To begin this list, I decided to pick a movie that has the same vibe of The Breakfast Club: an 80s coming-of-age that also stars Molly Ringwald. Pretty in Pink follows the story of Andie Walsh (Ringwald), a lower middle class girl that lives with her underemployed father and works in a record store. She is always in the company of her best friend Duckie (Jon Cryer), who has been in love with her for his entire life. However, when one of the rich and popular guys at school, Blane (Andrew McCarthy), asks Andie out, things get hard due to the resistance of their social groups.
The movie originally had a different ending (no spoilers here!), for which the British band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark had selected their song Goddess of Love to be played. During the test exhibition, that ending was disapproved by the public, so it was decided to create an alternative one. For the new finale, O.M.D. wrote If You Leave in less than 24 hours, only two days before going on tour. This track became a huge success and peaked to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1986.
But in addition to If You Leave, Pretty in Pink also has in its soundtrack songs by bands like New Order, Echo and The Bunnymen and The Smiths, following the new wave movement that was on its boom at that time. In 2013, Rolling Stone classified it as the 11th greatest soundtrack of all time.
- (500) Days of Summer (2009)
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Moving on, we have this sort of tragic-romantic-comedy watched by the perspective of its male lead. (500) Days of Summer tells the story of Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a frustrated architect who works as a greeting-card writer and who seems to feel like he is never going to be truly happy and fulfilled. It all changed when he met Summer (Zooey Deschanel), his boss’s new assistant, and she appeared to him as his idealized soulmate. Even though she insists she is not looking for a serious relationship, Tom is determined to prove to her (and to himself) that they are perfect for each other.
Music has an extremely important role in this movie. In fact, Tom and Summer initially bond over their love for The Smiths, as he was listening to There Is a Light That Never Goes Out on the elevator, where they interact for their first time. The British band is also referenced other times in the film. But it’s not just about them: for example, Tom teases Summer more than once because she said her favorite Beatle was Ringo.
However, the song that has an iconic scene in (500) Days of Summer is You Make My Dreams by the American duo Hall & Oates. Tom is head over heels for Summer and is blindly believing that he changed her mind and that she is in love with him back. This track plays as Tom makes a very musical-like dance number, with the people on the street joining him as he walks to work.
- 10 Thing I Hate About You (1999)
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If Pretty in Pink represents what it was like to be an alternative kid in the 80s, 10 Things I Hate About You does the same on the passage to the 21th century. This teenage rom-com inspired by Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew tells the story of Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt – yes, him again), a new boy at school who falls in love with the popular Bianca Stratford (Larisa Oleynik). But there is one problem: she is not allowed to date until her older sister, the rebellious Kat (Julia Stiles), gets a boyfriend first. To solve this situation, Cameron decides to make a deal with the mysterious Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger), and asks him to try to go out with Kat.
One of the most memorable moments of 10 Things I Hate About You has to be Patrick’s performance of Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. He was paid to convince Kat to go to prom with him, but as she was completely mad at him, Patrick mobilized the school’s marching band to play while he serenades this 1967 song recorded as a single by Frank Valli – which reached number 2 on Billboard Hot 100 by that time.
The film’s soundtrack is also filled with many modern rock songs: things that an obstinate music lover like Kat would listen to. Her room is filled with band posters and Patrick once tried to interact with her by going to the concert of one of her favorite groups.
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
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We are back in the 80s for another coming-of-age. Directed by John Hughes (who also directed The Breakfast Club and wrote Pretty in Pink), this movie follows a day in the life of Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), a high school senior and a talented liar, as he wants to skip his classes to have some fun. He is joined by his best friend, Cameron (Alan Ruck), and his girlfriend, Sloane (Mia Sara), on a series of adventures through Chicago.
One of the many situations in which Ferris gets himself into is singing on the top of a float during a German parade. There, he performs an iconic presentation of The Beatles’ Twist and Shout, getting everyone on the streets to join him. This scene took multiple days of filming, one of them even during an actual parade. The local radio stations announced that there would be a movie shot in the town, and, as the word spread very quickly, over 10000 people showed up to participate!
The complete soundtrack of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was not originally released, as it contained a lot of diverse songs that, according to the director, wouldn’t go well together. However, a limited edition album with the tracks contained in the movie was released in 2016, with just 5000 copies.
- My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
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I’ve got to say that there’s something about romantic-comedies from the end of the 20th century that just hits differently. In My Best Friend’s Wedding, Julia Roberts is Julianne Potter, a food critic who, years before, made a deal with her ex-boyfriend and best friend Michael (Dermot Mulroney): if neither of them is engaged by 28, they should marry each other. However, just a little time before he turns that age, Michael calls Jules and tells her that, in four days, he would be marrying a young, rich and beautiful girl named Kimberly (Cameron Diaz). After realizing he is the love of her life, she decides to ruin the wedding.
To make Michael jealous, Julianne asked her other friend and editor, George (Rupert Everett), to pretend to be her fiancé. He agreed to play along but, during a lunch with Kim’s family and some guests, George tells a story that ends up with him singing Dione Warwick’s I Say a Little Prayer, gathering the whole restaurant to sing along. This has to be the most memorable scene from this movie!
In addition, My Best Friend’s Wedding’s soundtrack is filled with love songs, such as The Way You Look Tonight, that used to be Julianne and Michael’s song, but she lended it to him and Kimberly as they didn’t have a memorable track that summed up their relationship.
- Back To The Future (1985)
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Back To The Future is undeniably one of the most iconic movies from the 80s. It is centered on Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), a teenage boy who got accidentally sent back to thirty years before due to a time-traveling car designed by his eccentric friend and scientist “Doc” Brown (Christopher Lloyd). The problem is: he ended up messing up the timeline and his parents didn’t meet the way they should, which would cause Marty to never be born. He, then, has to find a way to get them together and to go back to 1985.
This movie has two highlights on its soundtrack. The first one that should be mentioned is its theme song: The Power of Love, by Huey Lewis and the News. The band was asked to write something to be used on Back To The Future, but since they didn’t know how to write music for movies nor wanted to write one called “Back To The Future”, they initially refused. However, an agreement was made that any next song they wrote could be used on the film, and that’s how The Power of Love became part of the soundtrack.
The other song is featured in one of the best scenes in the movie. As he tries to get his parents together during the school ball, Marty goes on the stage and plays a very epic version of Johnny B. Goode, by Chuck Berry. For this moment, Michael J. Fox was taught how to properly use a guitar and spent four weeks learning all of the rock moves.
So this was our list of legendary soundtracks. We hope you music and movie lovers enjoyed it!
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The article above was written by Juliana Sanches and edited by Amanda Moraes.
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