Most out-of-place songs in movies?

[Derek237]

I was watching Mr. Woodcock recently, and it was an okay movies and everything, but what really baffled me was the last few seconds. It ends pretty abruptly: on a stupid joke, and basically cuts to black and the credits in the middle of the scene. But what really, really disoriented me was the fact that all of a sudden when they cut to the credits, they're playing "Bad Moon Rising" by CCR. Um...WHY? Was this the director's favourite song or something? It was incredibly out of place, and didn't fit with the mood of anything in the movie. I hate it as much as the next person when they use some shitty modern rock/pop song at the end of a movie, but using an older song, even if its good, can be a pretty bad move as well, if it's used for no reason...which it is here.

Anyway, I started to think of other songs that made no sense in movies.


"Hey Yeah" by Outkast is Flight of the Pheonix (remake). This is a movie about a plane crash and a group trying to survive and try to get out of the desert. Why the FUCK is there a comedic montage set to this song?

"Amoreena" by Elton John in Dog Day Afternoon...I love the movie...I love the song. Whenever I hear the song, I think of the movie. But just why is it playing during the opening credits? Seems like a pretty interchangable song. If it weren't this song, it probably would have been another. It's not as if this irks me as much as the other two mentioned, but I always wondered why they'd include this song....ESPECIALLY considering there's no music whatsoever through the entire movie other than this song.



Don't get me wrong...and out-of-place song can be great for movies too, like say, "Somewhere over the Rainbow" in Face/Off, "Don't Stop Me Now" in Shaun of the Dead, or "We'll Meet Again" in Dr. Strangelove, but I'm talking about the songs that just make you think: WTF???

[teenkiller]

One that kind of pissed me off was Love Hurts in Halloween '07. I mean fuck Rob, it was bad enough that you delved into Michael's childhood but did you have to make a joke with it too? Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[APzombie]

I agree with Love Hurts Teen, but since the film was laughably bad to begin with it didn't bother me too much.

Does Lois Lane's rythme/song/monolouge in Superman count? You know, the one she thinks when they fly for the first time? God that scene is like a tumor.

[edonline]

Singing In The Rain in "A Clockwork Orange"

[Tagia_Romero]

'Closer' by NIN in the 'Hitcher' remake. Uhhh wha? I love the song, but perhaps I'm a little dense, but how is the usage of that particular song relevant?

[Raoul Duke]

Singing In The Rain in "A Clockwork Orange"

What? You don't think that fit?

[teenkiller]

'Closer' by NIN in the 'Hitcher' remake. Uhhh wha? I love the song, but perhaps I'm a little dense, but how is the usage of that particular song relevant?

I can't believe I forgot about this one. Yeah, I fucking agree %100. They play Closer while the Hitcher gets closer to them. Then again I have already expressed my thoughts on this film and what an irritating piece of shit I thought it was as a whole. Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[Le_Big_Mac]

Singing In The Rain in "A Clockwork Orange"

It's blasphemy to say Stanley Kubrick has ever made a poor choice of music in his films.

All I can think of is "Oh, Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison in Date Movie, only because the rest of the music in it is last week's crappy top ten singles.

[Dragula]

Singing In The Rain in "A Clockwork Orange"

Oh my god, are you crazy? That was like the most perfect song.

[edonline]

re: "Singing in the Rain". Was it a poor choice of song given the scene in "Clockwork Orange"? Not particularly. Did it work in the scene? Yes, in some very warped way, it did. But was it "out of place"? Absolutely. How many people, upon first viewing "A Clockwork Orange" expects to hear it while such graphic violence is taking place.

[Le_Big_Mac]

re: "Singing in the Rain". Was it a poor choice of song given the scene in "Clockwork Orange"? Not particularly. Did it work in the scene? Yes, in some very warped way, it did. But was it "out of place"? Absolutely. How many people, upon first viewing "A Clockwork Orange" expects to hear it while such graphic violence is taking place.

Uplifting music in the background has kind of always been a staple of torture scenes.

[edonline]

Uplifting music in the background has kind of always been a staple of torture scenes.

Before "Clockwork" though? Offhand, I can't think of any instances before Kubrick did it.

[LordSimen]

While I liked the movie, "Love Hurts" in Halloween '07 was really out of place.

[LordSimen]

Uplifting music in the background has kind of always been a staple of torture scenes.

Pretty much. Hell, even "Stuck In The Middle With You" in Resevoir Dogs was completely out of place. But these are cases where the out-of-place music works to the advantage of the films.

[Frank the Tank]

Pet Sematary by The Ramones (Pet Sematary)

It's a fun tune, but after a bunch of depressing shit you don't want to here a upbeat pop/punk tune.

[Bonham]

Lime in the Coconaut-Reservoir Dogs

[Le_Big_Mac]

Before "Clockwork" though? Offhand, I can't think of any instances before Kubrick did it.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly...maybe A Clockwork Orange did at least popularize it.

[hoojib127]

Another Elton John one: "Bennie and the Jets" in Running with Scissors. Most of the other 'super hits of the 70s' fit complimented the scenes which they accompanied, but this accompanying Alec Baldwin walking out on his family and Annette Bening driving Joseph Cross to the Finch household didn't quite do it for me.

While we're on Elton John, I've always envisioned making a film that began with "Hymn 2000" from his first album, Empty Sky.

[Badbird]

'Closer' by NIN in the 'Hitcher' remake. Uhhh wha? I love the song, but perhaps I'm a little dense, but how is the usage of that particular song relevant?

Yeah, that was pretty much WTF? stuff there. It totally took you out of the moment.

Another one is More Human Than Human in The Marine right after Robert Patrick makes the diamond heist. He shoots up some police cars while the song plays for about 20 seconds and has nothing to do with anything. The director must have been a fan or something.

I would also like to mention when The Taking of Beverly Hills used Janet Jackson's "Black Cat" in the middle of an action sequence, but I doubt anyone remembers either.

[joeyzz]

"Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head" in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." Very unfitting.

[Cronos]

'Closer' by NIN in the 'Hitcher' remake. Uhhh wha? I love the song, but perhaps I'm a little dense, but how is the usage of that particular song relevant?
While I loved that scene (the only good part of the film) the use of that song really made me go WTF?

[bonoferox]

Prince's song in "Batman"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!

[visual_tension]

The Audioslave song in "Collateral" as the coyote crosses the street. An awful moment in an otherwise great film.