Soundtrack songs

[Natasha (candygirl)]

What songs define a moment in a particular movie or tv show for you? For example, the big MSCL musical moment is "Late at Night" by Buffalo Tom when Jordan and Angela hold hands in the hallway. Two other tv moments that stick out in my mind are "We've Got Tonight" by Bob Seger on The Wonder Years (the episode where Winnie starts hanging out with the older kids and gets into a car accident) and "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes on Moonlighting (the first time David and Maddie have sex).

They don't have to be dramatic moments - examples of funny musical moments: "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham! in Zoolander, "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" by Rupert Holmes in The Sweetest Thing, "I Touch Myself" by The Divinyls in Austin Powers, "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John in Almost Famous, and "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Anyone else have musical moments they want to share with the group?

[andrewgd]

The "Under Pressure" moment in Grosse Pointe Blank.

[Nostradamus]

Good topic!

"I Touch Myself" by The Divinyls in Austin Powers

One of the sexiest movie moments ever!



Now, where to begin...

• "Angel" from the Mezzanine album by Massive Attack on West Wing (Techno/trance that covered several big plot developments ending in Zoe's abduction)
  
  "Carol of the Bells" on West Wing (A Christmas classic takes on a haunting new meaning after Josh learns that certain music triggers his post traumatic flashbacks.)
  
  "Battleflag" by Lo-Fidelity All-Stars on ER (Loud party music covers Carter's screams as he gets stabbed and finds Lucy near death. In an interview, actress Kellie Martin said she told her mother not to watch that scene, as it was a little too shocking.)

[emmie]

well, one of the most obvious for me is Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes" in the film Say Anything.

I'd also have to agree with candygirl for Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" in Almost Famous.

I love the song "Miss Misery" in Good Will Hunting.

and the entire soundtrack for The Graduate by Simon and Garfunkel. each song captures the emotions for the scenes so well.

as far as tv is concerned: whenever I hear "Sugar Water" by Cibo Mato I think of the scene in Buffy the Vampire Slayer when Buffy does a sexy dance for Xander. and even though Sarah McLachlan's songs are used quite often, her song "Full of Grace" in the season two finale of BtVS is perfect.

and then when Roswell used Coldplay's "Trouble" for their season two finale. that was really powerful too, and introduced me to the song.

[Sascha]

Interesting topic! A soundtrack is always a very important piece of the movie in my eyes (err .. ears) - there can't be a good movie without a good soundtrack. That's why I would probably never buy a "Wonder Years" DVD set with replaced music.

and even though Sarah McLachlan's songs are used quite often, her song "Full of Grace" in the season two finale of BtVS is perfect.

I completely agree. After that episode aired I went right the next day in the store and bought the album. Still gives me chills whenever I hear it or see the episode. "Here With Me" by Dido for "Roswell" had the same effect on me. It's probably the main reason why I was such a big fan of the show in it's first season.

Back to movies, "Alone in Kyoto" by Air in "Lost in Translation" is one of my favorites. The entire soundtrack is amazing, but that single scene defined the whole movie for me. It really blew my mind. Just beautiful.

Not exactly soundtrack, but someone made in 1995 a short video with scenes from MSCL and used "Breaking the Girl" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers as background song. A perfect fit. Somehow.

One can say a lot about Quentin Tarantino - he's really a very controversial director -- but the soundtrack he chose for "Kill Bill" is terrific. Nancy Sinatra's "Bang bang" for Uma's theme and later "The Grand Duel" instrumental by Luis Bacalov ... two classics. And I still can't get "Whoo-Whoo" or "i'm Blue" by the 5.6.7.8's out of my head ... I don't like everything Tarantino does, but he has an excellent taste for the perfect soundtrack for a scene - I guess he sometimes writes a scene to fit a certain music piece and not the other way around.

"Pretty in Pink" by the Psychedelic (sp?) Furs for, d'oh, "Pretty in Pink". Defined not only that movie but the whole 80's movie genre for me.

"Mad World" in the final scenes of "Donnie Darko". I don't know how often I've seen just these final scenes -- so brilliant! And the lyrics kill me everytime. I'm a sucker for slow-motion scenes with melodramatic soundtracks.

"Brothers in Arms" by the Dire Straits in a Season 2 episode of West Wing. The entire Buffy score by Chris Beck. And finally "Hell" by the "Squirrel Nut Zippers" from the Pilot episode of "Dead Like Me"... crazy song - but perfect for that show.

Oh, I could go on for hours with this posting ... but now I have to listen to some soundtracks again...

[Nostradamus]

as far as tv is concerned: whenever I hear "Sugar Water" by Cibo Mato I think of the scene in Buffy the Vampire Slayer when Buffy does a sexy dance for Xander.

Me too! SMG was always cute, but in that scene she was downright sexy.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

BtVS had great music - the two songs mentioned now have permanent associations with the corresponding moments on the show.

I agree with Sascha's assessment of Quentin Tarantino's musical choices. Even though From Dusk Till Dawn is not one of my all-time favorite movies, I wanted to buy the soundtrack as soon as I left the movie theater. Unfortunately, I had seen one of the special premiere screenings, so the soundtrack wasn't available yet.

Emmie, "In Your Eyes" from Say Anything is one of my favorite musical moments ever. Have you watched the alternate scenes on the DVD where there is a different song playing? It was surreal to see John Cusack holding up that boombox and hearing another song. It reminded me of an interview I read ages ago where the Butthole Surfers said they liked to watch Club MTV (with Downtown Julie Brown - "Wubba wubba wubba") but they would mute the tv and play punk music so that it looked like all the kids dressed in neon were dancing to more interesting songs.

Some other musical moments:

Maverick, Goose, and the rest of the bar singing "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin'" in Top Gun

"Kissing You" by Des'ree in Romeo + Juliet

"Boom Shak a Lak" by Apache Indian in Threesome

Pee Wee doing the Tequila dance in his big shoes

Jack Black singing "Let's Get It On" in High Fidelity

Julia Roberts singing "Kiss" in the bath tub in Pretty Woman

"Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes - Angela's "I'm totally over Jordan Catalano" dance

"Danke Schoen" by Wayne Newton/"Twist and Shout" by the Beatles in Ferris Bueller's Day Off during the parade scene

"My Sharona" by the Knack (everyone dancing around) and "Add It Up" by the Violent Femmes in Reality Bites

[emmie]

Emmie, "In Your Eyes" from Say Anything is one of my favorite musical moments ever. Have you watched the alternate scenes on the DVD where there is a different song playing? It was surreal to see John Cusack holding up that boombox and hearing another song. It reminded me of an interview I read ages ago where the Butthole Surfers said they liked to watch Club MTV (with Downtown Julie Brown - "Wubba wubba wubba") but they would mute the tv and play punk music so that it looked like all the kids dressed in neon were dancing to more interesting songs.

I don't remember the part with them playing another song. but I remember how he was holding the radio in different positions. the position and shot that was used in the film was by far the most powerful.

all of your other choices were great too. you're right, those songs instantly brought back the memories of the films. ah, the power of music! oh, that reminds me of an Alias episode where Marshall gives Sydney a collection of songs that were popular during her blacked out 2 years, in hopes of jogging her memory.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I don't remember the part with them playing another song. but I remember how he was holding the radio in different positions. the position and shot that was used in the film was by far the most powerful.

In the alternate scenes, it was a Fishbone song playing.

Another bit of trivia - Cameron Crowe asked the Smithereens to write a song for the movie, which resulted in "A Girl Like You," but Cameron Crowe felt the song revealed too much of the plot. He then asked Peter Gabriel if they could use "In Your Eyes," but Peter Gabriel said he wanted to see the scene first. Cameron Crowe had the production company send Peter Gabriel a rough cut of the movie. It worked because Peter Gabriel agreed to let them use his song, but he said he had some concerns about the main character dying of a drug overdose at the end. It was then that Cameron Crowe realized the production company had sent accidentally a copy of the movie Wired (which featured Patti D'Arbanville - aka Amber Vallone) instead of Say Anything. The song "In Your Eyes" was written for/about Rosanna Arquette, who dated Peter Gabriel.

all of your other choices were great too. you're right, those songs instantly brought back the memories of the films. ah, the power of music! oh, that reminds me of an Alias episode where Marshall gives Sydney a collection of songs that were popular during her blacked out 2 years, in hopes of jogging her memory.

The funny thing is that if you go to a Bose store and sit through their little presentation, their sales pitch focuses on how important music is to memory. Of course then they hit you with "and we have these teeny speakers!" Music therapy is often very helpful. When my boyfriend's grandfather had a stroke, we were trying to put together a compilation of music he would like.

[SanDeE*]

People major in Music Therapy in college. A roommate of mine did... of course, in my opinion, she had terrible taste in music.

[Nothingman]

People major in Music Therapy in college. A roommate of mine did... of course, in my opinion, she had terrible taste in music.

No offense to your friend, but that has to be in the top 10 most worthless degrees.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I think that the people at the American Music Therapy Assocation would disagree.



In my opinion, anything that helps people to heal is worthwhile. A girl in my dorm majored in art therapy because she wanted to work with abused kids. It might sound simplistic and silly, but emotionally withdrawn children often are uncomfortable communicating verbally so art therapy is very helpful. Too often we focus on the body instead of the mind - physical therapy is a given if someone is in a horrible accident, but there is still a social stigma attached to healing the psyche.

Granted, music therapy isn't as widely known as other types of therapy, but whatever works. Info from the AMTA website:

A professional music therapist holds a bachelor's degree or higher in music therapy from one of over 70 American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) approved college and university programs. The curriculum for the bachelor's degree is designed to impart entry level competencies in three main areas: musical foundations, clinical foundations, and music therapy foundations and principles as specified in the AMTA Professional Competencies. In addition to the academic coursework, the bachelor's degree requires 1200 hours of clinical training, including a supervised internship. Graduate degrees in Music Therapy focus on advanced clinical practice and research.

Upon completion of the bachelor's degree, music therapists are eligible to sit for the national board certification exam to obtain the credential MT-BC (Music Therapist - Board Certified) which is necessary for professional practice. The credential MT-BC is granted by a separate, accredited organization, the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT), to identify music therapists who have demonstrated the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to practice at the current level of the profession. The purpose of board certification in music therapy is to provide an objective national standard that can be used as a measure of professionalism by interested agencies, groups, and individuals.

In addition, music therapists who currently hold the professional designations of ACMT, CMT or RMT are listed on the National Music Therapy Registry (NMTR) and are qualified to practice music therapy. For information on current holders of the ACMT, CMT or RMT designations, please contact the NMTR at (301) 562-9330.

Music therapists adhere to specific standards for clinical interventions and ethical conduct in professional practice, which are defined in the following AMTA documents:
   
Music Therapists' Standards of Clinical Practice
The AMTA Standards of Clinical Practice for music therapy are defined as rules for measuring the quality of services. These Standards are designed to assist practicing music therapists and their employers in providing quality clinical interventions. The AMTA Standards of Clinical Practice undergo periodic revision to remain current with advances in the field.
     
Music Therapists' Code of Ethics
The AMTA Code of Ethics define tenets of professional conduct for practicing music therapists. Because music therapists believe in the dignity and worth of every person and strive to establish and maintain high standards in public service, we require of ourselves the utmost in ethical behavior. The Code of Ethics is applicable to all those professional members holding the MT-BC credential or a professional designation of the National Music Therapy Registry (ACMT, CMT or RMT), and Professional Members of the American Music Therapy Association.
     
AMTA Professional Competencies
The AMTA Professional Competencies provide a definition of the current entry level skills of a music therapist who has completed either a bachelor's degree or its equivalent in music therapy. All AMTA approved bachelor's degree programs incorporate these competencies in their music therapy curriculum. As the clinical and research activities of music therapy expand, these competencies will be revised to reflect the growth of the professional knowledge base.

[SanDeE*]

No offense to your friend, but that has to be in the top 10 most worthless degrees.

Never said she was my friend. Yeah, it's like that. And Music Therapy can get you a job. Jazz Performance - now THERE'S a music degree that is worthless.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Never said she was my friend. Yeah, it's like that.

Heh, I had more than one roommate like that. So much for the university's attempt to match people up using questions like, "Do you smoke?"

[SanDeE*]

Well, I think the poor match-up here was a lot my fault. I was a little bit friends with N. from the dorms freshman year, and N. had this best friend A. - the music therapy major. They are really close, very similar personalities. N. and A. asked me halfway through sophomore year if I'd like to move in with them junior year. I said, "Will I have my own room?" they said, "No, we want a 2-bedroom with 4 girls: 2 girls per bedroom." So I said no. Later at the end of sophomore year, when they couldn't find two girls who wanted to share a bedroom, they asked me again and said I could have my own room. We talked it over and I said "Here's how I am" and I told them my temperment and lifestyle, and they said "oh we are exactly like that!" Turns out they weren't at all. And since they are really close best friends, I felt a lot of pressure from them to be one of their best friends - when nowhere does it say you have to be friends with your roommates. Anyway, we hardly spoke for most of the year, I ending up spending every night second semester at my boyfriend's apartment - just going back to my apt to shower and change pretty much.

Wow, this post is longer than I thought it would be. If anyone's wondering, now I live in a beautiful little 1-bedroom all to myself. I love it!