Mount Rushmore of inexorably intertwined songs/movie scenes
 

Here, I am looking for song/movie scene pairings such that when you hear the song, you cannot help but think of the scene. And when you think of the scene, you can't help but hear the song in your head.

One exception is for musicals or songs that were otherwise designed to be in the movie-that seems like a bit of a cheat. I can't hear Singing in the Rain without thinking of the movie characters singing in the rain, but that's not what I mean. That's a bit of a fuzzy line, I know, but you can decide how to apply it as you wish.

My Four:

Jessie's Girl--Dirk's epiphany in Boogie Nights. This scene was incredibly well done. The timing of the music and the action is perfect. And I like that the music was actually part of the scene, not just background.

Stuck in the Middle with You--The ear scene in Reservoir Dogs. Hearing this song come on the radio last week made me thing of this Mount Rushmore.

Don't You Forget About Me--Ending of The Breakfast Club. Maybe a bit of a cheat because I think that this song was made in part for the movie. But it has gotten enough independent play that I've decided it counts. Certainly, whenever I hear the song, I think of the scene, and whenever I think of the scene, I hear the song.

Also Sprach Zarathustra--Opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey. A bit of a curveball since it is not a pop song. But if someone asks me "what's Also Sprach Zarathustra?" then I will answer them "That's the song from 2001." And they will know what I mean. So it fits.

Moving in Stereo - Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Stuck in the Middle With You - Reservoir Dogs

I'm really struggling for two more that instantly pop out at me.

Jessie's Girl / Sister Christian from Boogie Nights, but I can't decide which one sticks out more to me.

Stuck in the Middle With You - first one I thought of as well

Bohemian Rhapsody - the Pacer scene in Wayne's World always comes to mind

In Your Eyes - Lloyd holding the jukebox in Say Anything instantly pops in my head

Moving In Stereo - Will forever make me think of Phoebe Cates in a bikini in Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Would, Alice in Chains - Singles
Twist and Shout, Beatles - Ferris Buellers Day Off
Louie Louie, Kingsmen - Animal House
The Time of my Life, Bill medley, Jennifer Warnes - Dirty Dancing

I think these fit the mold... I am sure there are more but these are the 1st 4 that came to mind.

The 1st one doesn't quite fit the scene connection... I'll ad din..

Adagio For Strings by Samuel Barber - Platoon

First one that came to mind was Bohemian Rhapsody/Wayne's World.

Old Time Rock and Roll/Risky Business

Tequila/Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure.

I'll pick a different Tarentino movie, and I'll go with Miserlou/Pulp Fiction.

Honorable Mentions:
I'll pick Fast Times, but go with Somebody's Baby, the song played every time someone was about to get laid.

Unchained Melody/Ghost.

Stuck In the Middle With You/Reservoir Dogs

Born To Be Wild/Easy Rider

Flight of the Valkyries/Apocalypse Now

Tiny Dancer/Almost Famous

I Got You Babe/Groundhog Day

My problem is that I have a tendency to associate things very closely with music, so I have a ton of songs that make me think about specific things.

I don't know if it actually makes the mountain, but You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling by the Righteous Brothers will forever be linked to Top Gun for me.

For some reason I'd always remembered it as the scene with Moving in Stereo was the scene where Brad's sister is about to get busy with Damone. Actually, Moving in Stereo was the Phoebe Cates pool scene right? Either way... two great memorable scenes from my youth. I think I just had them backwards.

As usual I'll break the rules of this and throw out a couple without actually committing to four:

Running on Empty - Forrest Gump
Ride of the Valkyries - Apocalypse Now
Unchained Melody - Ghost

edit: hah, scooped by Umbrella with my delay to try to come up with more :)

Oh -

Keep a Knocking - Christine
Johnny B Goode - Back To The Future

Any way you want it/Caddy Shack
Singing in the rain/ A Clockwork Orange
Flight of the Valkyries/Apocalypse Now
Sprach Zarathustra/2001: A Space Odyssey

Where is my Mind - Fight Club is another.

Layla - Goodfellas montage - The obvious and easiest choice in my mind. A great song, great movie absolutely linked together forever for me

Bohemian Rhapsody - Wayne's World

Eye of the Tiger - Rocky III (though in my head I imagine all Rocky training montages to be set to this song)

Misirlou - Pulp Fiction Opening - So this isn't exactly a song you hear very often anymore, but I'll never hear it again w/o thinking of the diner scene leading into the opening credits of pulp fiction.

Shout -- Animal House
Take my Breath Away -- Top Gun
Old Time Rock & Roll -- Risky Business
Johnny B. Goode -- Back to the Future

I think this is probably my #1 but I left it out because I wasn't sure if it violated the written for the movie rule.

Mess Around - Planes Trains and Automobiles.

The other 3 could probably be found in The Blues Brothers

Layla from Good Fellas and Twist and Shout from Ferris Bueller's Day Off immediately leap to mind but they have already been mentioned. Some others...

You're the Best Around, Joe Esposito with Karate Kid
Space Oddity, David Bowie with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Come and Get Your Love, Redbone with Guardians of the Galaxy
Extreme Ways, Moby with the Bourne movies

Too bad this doesn't include songs and TV shows.



EDIT -

Here let me give you one:

The weird scene at the end of the final episode of the Prisoner and the Beatles, All You Need is Love. Our main character has won the penultimate episode, and demanded to be introduced the person who runs the place. If you've never seen the Prisoner, well, here you go:




It's also at the end of the fight scene too, overriding everything else




It was one of the first time a popular song was licensed for TV paving the way for a lot of others.

Layla:Goodfellas
Stuck in the Middle with You: Reservior Dogs

Those seem like the obvious. These other two are more likely from my repeated viewings than anything iconic...

Funk #49: Rounders
You're nobody till somebody loves you: Swingers

:D

Also, any song by Kenny Loggins. I don't know if that counts, since most of them were written specifically for the movie.

If TV was included, we'd have to...
(puts on sunglasses)
do a small screen of the answers.

YEAAAHHH!!!! (Won't Get Fooled Again)

That brings up "Danger Zone" and "I'm Alright", which are both pretty good examples.

Despite "Layla" being the obvious choice once I see it written down, for me the song/scene that I always associate with Goodfellas is the coke/helicopter scene with Nillson's "Jump Into The Fire".

Ones that haven't been brought up yet:

Cat People (Putting Out the Fire) - Inglorious Basterds
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - The Royal Tenenbaums

As for ones named already:
Somebody's Baby - Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Louie, Louie - Animal House

There was a movie titled "Eye of the Tiger" in the '80s made by the Scotti Brothers who also happened to be Survivor's recording label. It starred Garey Busey vs. a bunch of coked up bikers, heavily featured the title song, and has a scene where Yaphet Kotto is flying a bi-plane in an olde-timey pilot's outfit, throwing grenades at coked up bikers on the ground, while listening to shitty '80s James Brown (Scotti Brothers scored his contract in the '80s) on a ghetto blaster. It's a great movie.

Yeah, I thought about that, went with it b/c of the commercial success since.

The other one I thought of instantly was You're the Best Around and Karate Kid, but I'm not sure I ever heard that song a single time outside the movie, so that seemed to be a limiting factor for me.

This sounds amazing in a totally terrible 80s way. I love Kotto.

Ride Of The Valkyries - Apocalypse Now
On The Dark Side - Eddie and the Cruisers
Singing In The Rain - A Clockwork Orange

A fourth? At the moment I'm stumped really.


On The Dark Side was very likely written for the movie but the song so outstripped the film that I think it's fair to use here.

I identified with a lot of the ones already mentioned but here are a few more that really stand out for me:

White Christmas by The Drifters - Home Alone
Extreme Ways by Moby - Jason Bourne movies
Hallelujah by John Cale - Shrek
Oh Yeah by Yello - Ferris Bueller's Day Off

That's not a bad one, but for me personally, I have/had much too strong a connection with the song before the movie for it to really fit the criteria.

If we do include TV, too, can't ignore the Who songs and the various CSIs.

Cartman wins thus far I think

But I'll cobble together my own

Stuck in the Middle With You / Reservoir Dogs
Don'T You / Breakfast Club
My baby shot me down (Bang Bang) /Kill Bill Vol. 1
Stayin Alive - Saturday Night Fever

Any Way You Want It / Caddyshack
Movin in Stereo / Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Shout / Animal House
Misirlou + Son of a Preacher Man + Girl you'll be a woman soon / Pulp Fiction

Eye of the Tiger is Ingrained in my head as Rocky III

Well yeah, as it should be. It was nominated for an Oscar in Rocky III, whereas "Eye of the Tiger" came out a full 4 years later. The song probably wasn't even relevant anymore, and they likely made the movie specifically to move backstock of Survivor and shitty '80s James Brown. Highly Recommended.

oh man that happened to me just the other day. I turned on the end of layla on the radio and immediately I see fuzzy eyebrows guy hanging in a meat locker in my head.


definitely. awesome song. And then after pulp fiction, domino's made a jerky move by playing it for all their commercials and making me sick of it. :(

Since this is about scenes, I tried to stay away from theme songs or ending credit songs (whether they were written for the movie or tv show or not). I also only used songs that I actually listen to or hear often enough.

Movies

Stuck In The Middle With You, Stealers Wheel - Reservoir Dogs. (Fun fact, I never knew the band's name until just now when I looked it up,) Stuck In The Middle With You - Reservoir Dogs (1992) - YouTube

Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen - Wayne's World. Drive through their neighborhood. Bohemian Rhapsody Wayne's World HD - YouTube

Layla, Derek and the Dominoes - Goodfellas. Everyone got whacked! Goodfellas - Layla Scene - HD - YouTube

Mr. Sandman, The Four Aces - Back to the Future - Marty McFly walks into Hill Valley 1955. BTTF 1955 Hill Valley Mr. Sandman - YouTube

TV shows

At this Moment, Billy Vera - Family Ties. Poor Alex. Family Ties At This Moment - YouTube

Make Your Own Kind of Music, Mama Cass Elliot - Lost. Opening scene of season 2. Lost Best Scenes - Desmond (Season 2 Episode 1 Man of Science, Man of Faith) - YouTube

Working For the Weekend, Loverboy - SNL. Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley battle for the next Chippendale's dancer. Chippendale Dancers Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley - YouTube

It's Not Unusual, Tom Jones - Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The Carlton dance that is the stuff and dreams and nightmares now for actor Alfonso Ribeiro. Tom Jones & Carlton Banks - It's Not Unusual (Fresh Prince) - YouTube

Actually, I thought of another one for TV. I can't hear Come Sail Away without thinking of South Park.

ETA: Or can anyone hear Don't Fear The Reaper without thinking of SNL?

Does "Darkside of the Moon" and "Wizard of Oz count"?

1000 Miles - White Chicks
You Make My Dreams Come True - 500 Days of Summer
You Sexy Thing - every single movie and movie trailer where the awkwardness of sex is played for laughs
Relax - Zoolander

Rock Around the Clock (setting the scene in American Graffiti).

Can't forget Risky Business or Fast Times (I'd go with Somebody's Baby).

These Boots... Full Metal Jacket.

There were a couple in Saturday Night Fever.

There was something in The Outsiders, something relatively obscure related to a scene where Pony was running. But it fits.

The Full Monty definitely for this one! That movie brought this song back bigtime.

Biggest TV Show song:

Dead or Alive - Deadliest Catch

I have one that might've been forgotten by a lot of people.

Scotty doesn't know - Eurotrip

Every song in every Wes Anderson movie.

since ppl are mentioning some TV ones, I'll throw in mine

Paint It Black - Tour Of Duty

Mrs. Robinson

You can leave your hat on, Joe Cocker - 9 1/2 weeks (end of clip nrsfw)
Aquarius / Let the Sunshine in, Fifth Dimension - Hair
Don't you forget about me, Simple Minds - Breakfast Club
Jack Rabbit Slims Twist Contest/You Never Can Tell , "Chuck Berry" - Pulp Fiction
Everybody needs somebody to love, Blues Brothers - The Blues brothers

Although, 2001 Space Odissey and Apocalypse now have instant music distinctive, I wouldn't qualify those as songs, so I had to leave them out.

Wasn't sure if these ha been mentioned yet.

Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Yakety Yak - Twins
Dude Looks Like a Lady - Mrs. Doubtfire

Wake Me Up Before You Go Go - Zoolander

How can anyone hear that song now and not picture Brint, Meekus, et al having such great fun spraying gasoline at each other?

Between Jackson Browne and Family Ties, this thread has cost me half a work day.

Into the Mystic, Van Morrison - American Wedding. Yeah... don't ask.