Songs In Your Score

[Charlie Brigden 7]

"Song" is often a dirty word with soundtrack collectors. Obviously, the differentiation between the song soundtrack and score soundtrack is an important one in this hobby (especially when you ask someone else to buy a CD for you), and there are many score fans who would rather die than have songs from the movie in question appear anywhere near their precious orchestral masterpieces. But there are some that are essential, iconic. I'm not talking 'Lapti Nek' but rather stuff generally omitted from the score albums, meaning often you have to hunt them down independently. Songs perhaps not created for the film but used in a way where they become as associated with the film as the music written for it, although maybe not Tarantino as he's a bit too obvious, and he doesn't have score anyway.

What brought this on for me was listening to Kamen's Lethal Weapon, which always seems incomplete without the opening salvo of 'Jingle Bell Rock', which is a great song in its own right but also remains forever connected to the film in my head, right from the opening guitar jangle over the WB shield, so much so that I'm on my way to iTunes to purchase it and add it to the album. 80s action movies are probably popular, as both Die Hard and Predator seem firmly associated to me, respectively, with 'Let It Snow' and 'Long Tall Sally'.

What songs are like this for you?

[Datameister 2,586]

I definitely take this on a score-by-score basis. With some films (e.g. BTTF), it's almost unthinkable for me to have the songs missing, even if I only like them because of my emotional connection to the film. But in other cases, they're nothing but an annoyance.

[Thor 9,362]

I have no problem with songs on soundtracks. My only demand is that they gel well with the rest of the score, either due to their placement in the overall narrative or because of their tone. HEAT, for example, is a fantastic example of score & songs & instrumentals blending seamlessly together (much due to tone). It's often difficult to tell where Goldenthal ends and, say, Terje Rypdal begins.

Also, since soundtracks should contain RE-presentations of the score (albeit rearranged), the songs would have to have had some significant purpose in the film too - not just three seconds heard through a car radio or something. And those "inspired by" songs that weren't even IN the movie are often hit and miss.

I actually LOVE Tarantino's soundtracks - excellent mix of the famous and obscure, of previous film music as well as pop and rock side by side. Very eclectic, but it usually WORKS.

[Datameister 2,586]

Oh, by the way, I would cite Apollo 13 as an example of the songs driving me crazy. I mean, a lot of them are pretty decent, for what they are, but I'd rather just hear the score on its own. Same goes for the dialogue and sound effects. It's a good thing there are ways to keep one's feet warm...

[Thor 9,362]

Oh, by the way, I would cite Apollo 13 as an example of the songs driving me crazy. I mean, a lot of them are pretty decent, for what they are, but I'd rather just hear the score on its own. Same goes for the dialogue and sound effects. It's a good thing there are ways to keep one's feet warm...

I assume you're talking about the US version. On the European version, all songs are cobbled together first, and the score second (with dialogue). But yeah, I can definitely see how those songs would grate in this case. The dialogue bits are pretty annoying too.

[Wojo 2,458]

I'm going to play Mister Obvious here and say that the songs are required in the soundtracks to Disney's animated movies.

Some albums intersperse songs with the score, like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. Others separate the songs from the score, like The Lion King, which works just as well. I have to admit that I don't have any Disney scores older than the 80s so I don't know how they are laid out, but their songs are just as necessary.

But I created two different folders for Back to the Future for this very purpose: one contains just the score, and one contains the score with most of the songs in their respective places. Both have value.

Sometimes I'm in the mood for "We Don't Wanna Grow Up" from Hook, and other times I skip it. My presentation of that album has "When You're Alone" stitched the score on either side, so it's pretty much stuck there.

Oh, by the way, I would cite Apollo 13 as an example of the songs driving me crazy. I mean, a lot of them are pretty decent, for what they are, but I'd rather just hear the score on its own. Same goes for the dialogue and sound effects. It's a good thing there are ways to keep one's feet warm...

I actually got so used to that version that when I bought the Oscar promo, I still gear up to hear the dialogue and sounds overlay the score in certain spots.

Chalk that up to the attitude of some 90s scores, which take the idea of "re-living the movie through the soundtrack" to the next level -- turning the soundtrack into a mini-movie complete with SFX and dialogue.

[Ollie 1,375]

I take this approach for iTunes:

Unless the songs are specifically composed for a movie I don't mess with them. And even that has limits, not something like Godzilla where a bunch of crappy songs were recorded and slapped on the end credits.

Most of the songs I have are for the Bond scores, minus the Madonna disaster and Sheryl Crowe's less than spectacular song for TND.

If they are songs that can be found elsewhere then I don't add them to iTunes. My main interest are the songs and score from the composer. When I added JFK and Catch Me If You Can, I deleted all the songs from iTunes.

And yes, the Apollo 13 album is annoying. The songs are all available elsewhere and really have no need to be on the album. And the dialogue was just a dumb idea. Thankfully I have the Oscar promo.

[BloodBoal 8,712]

[Trent B 354]

The only song(s) I have with a score is the Chris Cornell song for Casino Royale. Other than that most vocal music tends to drive me nuts and I leave them out of my scores.

[Thor 9,362]

Well yeah, obviously in the case of musicals (which many of the Disney flicks qualify as), the songs are an integral part of why it was created in the first place. But that's kind of a different (beauty and the) beast altogether.

[Bellosh 4,531]

It really depends, I guess.

"The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" by Cyndi Lauper is one that stands out to me, you have to have that on your playlist for that score.

I also think "Hound Dog" and "Shake, Rattle & Roll" are great for a KOTCS playlist.

Although, on Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, I leave off Bryan Adam's version. Was way too overplayed when I was growing up!

[Thor 9,362]

It really depends, I guess.

"The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" by Cyndi Lauper is one that stands out to me, you have to have that on your playlist for that score.

I also think "Hound Dog" and "Shake, Rattle & Roll" are great for a KOTCS playlist.

Although, on Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, I leave off Bryan Adam's version. Was way too overplayed when I was growing up!

Yeah, same here, although in later years I've come to appreciate how good a love ballad it actually is. Must be Kamen's melody.

[Quintus 6,503]

Der Koniggratzer is an essential (if awkward) part of the Last Crusade score, for me.

I find it as enjoyable as The Cantina Bar.

[Xander Harris 9,680]

It's only awkward when you realize that you and Hitler actually share a liking to something.

[Quintus 6,503]

Catchy music... it can be a sod.

[Jeff 10]

I own a couple of "soundtrack" albums which are mostly a compilation of popular songs with an orchestral suite at the end, and I enjoy these albums as much as my score albums. For example, the Burt Bacharach-heavy My Best Friend's Wedding is one of my favorite compilations. How could you not love "What the World Needs Now is Love" or the cast performance of "I Say a Little Prayer for You?" The 90's version of The Parent Trap is also a lot of fun. If I ever hear a song on the radio from one of these albums, I associate it first and foremost with the respective movie.

On the other hand, I don't care much for Sting on the Sabrina OST.

[Xander Harris 9,680]

The Sting song sucks. The other one, "How Can I Remember", is okay. And it IS a Williams song. Plus, it does play something of a vital a role in the movie as far as music goes. In fact, I'm programming it in my playlist now. Thanks for reminding me.

[Jacob 1]

Anything Goes, anyone?

[Bellosh 4,531]

Anything Goes, anyone?

I don't really count that, but if I did, it'd be number one.

[Wojo 2,458]

I moved that to a folder of alternate and extra Indy material, and use a DVD rip of the rear audio portion only for "Anything Goes" in my main TOD folder.

[Bellosh 4,531]

Oh it still starts out my Temple of Doom playlist, I just don't count it as a "song" like other examples in this thread. It's an essential part of that score. I always loved the nod to the pulling out the heart with the ribbons the dancers pull out of eachother!

[Andy 7,736]

Since getting the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome 2CD, I've been wanting to add Tina Turner's 2 songs to my playlist. After all, she was a major character in the film.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

The songs in Lady In The Water soundtrack are awful. Just plain awful. What a waste of space ! Just listen to the Prologue, and then one of the songs, and you'll certainly be like "What the heck ??". I still don't understand why they didn't offered us more music from Howard instead of these crappy songs.

Why would you listen to "Prologue" and then one of the songs? They're all located at the end of the album. I do like how "End Titles" segues into A Whisper In The Noise's cover of "The Times They Are-A Changin'" though. The others are alright.

Wes Anderson's soundtracks perfectly blend score and song. I never separate them on album.

[BloodBoal 8,712]

[Greg1138 3]

I have my own edits of Karate Kid (both the old and the new), Ghostbusters, BTTF and a couple of others with the songs in their proper places.....not something I insist on, just something that is an alternative listening experience - though it does work surprisingly well with those 80's movies...

[Thor 9,362]

I have my own edits of Karate Kid (both the old and the new), Ghostbusters, BTTF and a couple of others with the songs in their proper places.....not something I insist on, just something that is an alternative listening experience - though it does work surprisingly well with those 80's movies...

The songs are crucial to those soundtracks, but I wouldn't necessarily place them within the score cues proper. Probably cobble them together at the beginning or something (or at the end). If they were to be placed within the representation of the instrumental score, it would have to make real MUSICAL sense (stylistic similarity between score cues and songs, for example).

[Richard P 5,306]

The songs in Lady In The Water soundtrack are awful. Just plain awful. What a waste of space ! Just listen to the Prologue, and then one of the songs, and you'll certainly be like "What the heck ??". I still don't understand why they didn't offered us more music from Howard instead of these crappy songs.

Why would you listen to "Prologue" and then one of the songs? They're all located at the end of the album. I do like how "End Titles" segues into A Whisper In The Noise's cover of "The Times They Are-A Changin'" though. The others are alright.

I hate score tracks transitioning into songs, particularly if the song has no thermatic relationship to the score. Means you have to do awkward edits to get just the score.

My only gripe with Lady in the Water is not the songs, but that the suite JNH wrote (according to scoringsessions.com) wasn't included.

Two films come to mind where I consider songs important: BTTF and Ghostbusters 2, which has two songs that are fairly integral to the plot. Much of my 'songs' collection has come from movies, but they're generally not linked to the film in the same way.

[Naïve Old Fart 13,032]

Anything Goes, anyone?

This a fine example of a song being both incidental music, and source music (along with "Cantina Band"/"Cantina Band 2"). As for songs in films; I tend to take them at face value. I like "Nights Are Forever", "One Of The Living", and "We're Home Again", but I am less enamoured with the likes of "When You're Alone", "We Don't Wanna Grow Up", "Flying Dreams", or that bloody "Titanic" song...

The one song that REALLY gets me going is the main title to "Highlander". All together, now: #HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE'RE WE ARE. BORN TO BE KINGS, WE'RE THE PRINCES OF THE UNIVERSE#. Magnificent.

[OneBuckFilms 517]

I find that for some scores, the songs are very much part of the musical landscape.

For Star Trek (2009), I inserted Sabotage after the Main Titles.

The score to Sleeping With The Enemy works pretty well with Brown Eyed Girl in the right place.

An although I tend to listen to the score on it's own, the use of songs in Back To The Future is virtually unmatched.

Queen's songs in Highlander worked perfectly with Kamen's score, and I love this.

However, Gravity in Cocoon is not on my HD, and I will never extract it from the CD ever again. Yikes!

[Ollie 1,375]

Gravity was one of the casualties for me as well.

[OneBuckFilms 517]

Truth be told, it's a matter of mood as to whether I want to play the songs or not for a score.

Sometimes, the songs are so key to the musical fabric of the film, that are effectively part of the score. Thunderdome is a key example.

[Naïve Old Fart 13,032]

However, Gravity in Cocoon is not on my HD, and I will never extract it from the CD ever again. Yikes!

Gravity was one of the casualties for me as well.

What are you two on about? "Gravity" is a great little song, and it's better than either "Gremlins:Mega-Madness", or "Mainac".

[Ollie 1,375]

No.

Much like the songs in Ghostbusters, they are insignificant when compared to the score.

The only song dominated albums I have in my collection are Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop, Purple Rain and Smokey And The Bandit.

I think I even removed the songs from the first Home Alone album when I added it to iTunes.

[Naïve Old Fart 13,032]

Don't you "no" me, Mark. Anyway, what about the "Yellow Submarine" songtrack? That's rather nice.

[Ollie 1,375]

No.

[Xander Harris 9,680]

I like the songs in Ghostbusters more than the score. Boy is that thing overrated.

[Jill Sandwich 11,172]

So does anyone else here listen to other genres of music besides film scores? Sure I have a collection of 500+ scores, but I still like to branch out and explore different things.

[BloodBoal 8,712]

[Datameister 2,586]

Aside from theme park scores...no, not really. Nothing else really does it for me.

[Wojo 2,458]

So does anyone else here listen to other genres of music besides film scores?

Of course. Classical, "other instrumental" music including contemporary solo performances and some new age, and of course I have a large collection of classic/prog/hard/oldies/contemporary rock.

I can't listen to "just" film music all the time. I'll burn out. I need something more uptempo, something I can sing with instead of just la-la-la-ing. I like to think I'm more eclectic than that.

But if there's people here who listen to nothing except film scores, that's cool, too. I'd say rock on, but it would be a waste.

[Ollie 1,375]

So does anyone else here listen to other genres of music besides film scores? Sure I have a collection of 500+ scores, but I still like to branch out and explore different things.

Of course, heavy metal and 70's R&B/Soul with a mixture of 80's pop/rock.

[Jeff 10]

I listen to a wide array of genres - alternative is my favorite, but I appreciate film scores, pop, rock, showtunes, classical, jazz, folk, and even a couple of country songs. On rare occasions I listen to hip hop, R&B, and soul. Pretty much the only music I avoid is punk rock, heavy metal, and rap, but even then I occassionally run into something I like.

There's a lot of good music out there.