Don’t You Forget About Me: The Legacy of Movie Soundtracks
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A playful violin cord plucks in the background as a woman clad in white pours a drink in anticipation of her visitor, the orchestra swells as he enters the room, putting her worries to rest. Although this opening scene is not widely known among movie buffs, L'Assassinat du Duc de Guise, or The Assassination of the Duke of Guise, has a very distinct soundtrack. Produced in 1908, this would be the first time a piece of music was specifically composed for a film. While movie soundtracks sound very different today, there’s still something undeniable about the way music can shape a movie.
Nothing is better than watching a film and being totally surprised, yet in complete agreement about the song choice that has been made for a titular scene. There are, undoubtedly, quintessential movie moments burned into society’s collective memory that would not be there without the strategic use of music. We could not possibly imagine Lloyd Dobler’s boombox playing any other song than Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” or Wayne and Garth headbanging in the blue Pacer to anything other than Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” “Tiny Dancer” is absolutely the only song Stillwater would be singing on their tour bus and “Day-O” is the only appropriate choice for a possessed family to karaoke around the dinner table.
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Soundtracks, as we know them today, were not developed until the 1930s. Although films like Gone With The Wind and The Wizard Of Oz sound very different from current blockbusters, the idea that a movie score could have a life beyond the film it was created for was introduced during this era. In the 1930s through the 1950s it was expected that an actor's singing skills were just as good as their dramatic delivery. Movie stars like Gene Kelly and Judy Garland are still just as well known for the songs they popularized as they are for the movies they sang them in.
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Even though the landscape of cinema began to change in the late ‘60s with films like The Graduate, the popularity of movie soundtracks did not falter; if anything, the introduction of pop and rock songs only heightened the genre. This era also saw the advent of established musicians producing work specifically for film. While Simon and Garfunkel had already written a song titled “Mrs Roosevelt,” it was not until they received a request from Mike Nichols to contribute to the soundtrack of his movie that it would be reworked into “Mrs. Robinson,” a song that is arguably just as, if not more popular than the movie that introduced it. This trend would continue into the ‘70s and reach its pinnacle with the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. Written and performed in its entirety by The Bee Gees, the album would prove to be just as lucrative for the band as it would for the film it was created for.
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The ‘80s would usher in a new era of movie soundtracks. Fresh and exciting genres of music like punk and new wave were being fully utilized by directors such as John Hughes, whose undeniable teen genre was made even more effective by his strategic song choices. Top bands of the day like Psychedelic Furs, Simple Minds, and even David Bowie were more than happy to contribute their songs, and in some instances their acting skills, to movies that were very quickly becoming timeless classics. Indie films like Empire Records and Reality Bites would continue the trend in the ‘90s with soundtracks loaded with songs considered to be essential listening for the time. In 1996, director Baz Luhrmann popularized using the latest pop hits as a backdrop to period films. Luhrmann’s take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is arguably best known for its soundtrack, the same could be said for his 2013 rendition of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
While in today’s cinematic landscape, composers such as Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer have made a name for themselves crafting beautifully captivating film scores, directors like Quentin Tarantino, Richard Linklater, and Wes Anderson have become
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just as well known for the music they choose for their films. No one scores a violent fight scene quite like Tarantino, Linklater’s attention to song detail, especially in his period films is second to none, and Anderson uses music as almost an additional character. The soundtracks for Pulp Fiction, Dazed And Confused, and The Royal Tenenbaums are a big reason why these films are still mentioned in the popular zeitgeist.
With the endless streaming options that are now available, soundtracks have become more significant than ever. Netflix prides itself on making movies that purposefully mimic classic genres. For instance, their smash hit To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, didn’t miss a John Hughes beat in its storytelling, but the wrong song choice for any of its climactic scenes would have tanked their efforts completely. Even popular series like Sex Education, Stranger Things, and The Umbrella Academy have elevated the use of music to an art form. With an immeasurable amount of dedicated Spotify playlists popping up in an attempt to catch them all in one place, it is safe to say that the importance of the perfectly curated movie soundtrack will not be waning anytime soon.
