I know I have a lot of commentary to catch up on. There were new episodes of Veronica Mars and Lost last week, and I have several comic books that I wanted to talk about. I just didn’t feel like catching up on that today. That sort of thing has kind of hijacked the blog, and that’s not really what I intended when I started, so I figure that I would do something a little different tonight. Also, I am going to start making each entry specific to one topic, so that they are shorter. This means that I may post more than one entry at a time, but I think overall it will be better.
Earlier today I was thinking about how sometimes a movie or television show chooses a song so well, that any time you hear that song you immediately think of the scene from whatever movie or television show used the song. With that in mind, here’s a list, in no particular order, of soundtrack moments that hijacked my brain:
“At This Moment” by Billy Vera and the Beaters from Family Ties: You remember the scene. Tracy Pollan’s character Ellen Reed is leaving to go back home to her boyfriend. Alex P. Keaton goes to the bus station to try and stop her. He asks her not to go, but she kisses him goodbye and leaves anyway. And this song plays. It’s a heartbreaking scene, and even though Tracy Pollan was not on the show very long, Ellen Reed was always the girl that it seemed like Alex should be with. Courtney Cox’s character was on the show for at least a full season, but for some reason, she just wasn’t as good. I blame this scene, and this song. (Not to mention the very real chemistry between Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan. They are married in real life after all.) It was a very powerful moment. I was very young when I saw it, but I remember it made me cry. And it did the same thing when I saw this episode in reruns. I could be mistaken, but I am pretty certain that this scene made the song a hit. I can understand why. Every once in a while, I hear this song on the radio and cannot help but think of poor Alex P. Keaton, left at the bus station by the woman he loves.
“Don’t Know Much About History” by Sam Cooke from Witness: I know I am not alone on this one. The scene, of course, is when Harrison Ford is trying to fix his car in the barn. He finally gets it to work when Kelly McGillis comes into the barn. He puts on the radio, this song plays, and they dance. Then they are interrupted by the old Amish guy. The whole scene is very sweet. It’s a really good thing that the movie and the scene are so great because the song is great. It’s Sam Cooke, how could it not be? I mostly hear this song in supermarkets, so I am actually grateful for the pleasant images it brings to mind. I’m also thankful I have something to associate this song, which I really love, with beyond supermarkets.
“Wild Horses” by The Sundays from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I don’t like it when singers and/or bands cover songs that I really love. And I think it is an especially bad idea to go and cover a song by a band like The Rolling Stones. Given that information, you will find it as no surprise that I disliked this version of “Wild Horses” for years. Then the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3 episode, “The Prom,” aired. Now I love it. Buffy had just received her well deserved Class Protector Award from the Sunnydale students. She’s so happy, but then she’s left alone with her award and her punch while everyone else goes off to dance with their dates. Then this song begins to play and Angel walks through the gym doors, looking amazing in a tux, after having broken up with her earlier in the episode. I just can’t help but think of Buffy finally getting her perfect high school moment whenever I hear it. It makes me happy, but it makes me sad too. The moment can’t last. Angel has only come because he knows how important the prom was to Buffy. They are still broken up and he is still leaving Sunnydale. That’s why the song is so perfect. It’s about the importance of the moment and being there in that moment for the person that you love. But I think the female voice and the even more maudlin tone of The Sundays’ cover make it uniquely suited for this scene. The fact that the female voice is so perfect, given that the song is clearly representative of Angel’s point of view, is just one of those uniquely Buffy things. Even though the voice of the show is that of Joss Whedon’s, the voice of the show was still always female. Whedon just has a talent for that. Also, in the previous season, the episode “I Only Have Eyes for You,” Angel was also given a female voice when he was possessed by the female teacher who had an affair with the male student that possessed Buffy.
“Hurt” by Johnny Cash from Smallville: Normally, songs from Smallville have nothing but bad connotations for me. After all the Clark/Lana barn scenes, and one unfortunate pre-sex scene, it is truly amazing that I still love Coldplay and the new Depeche Mode songs. And then there are all the overly praising songs of Lana and her beauty. I have not been able to listen to my Maroon 5 CD since “She Will Be Loved” appeared in a season 4 episode, and while I used to tolerate that Lifehouse song and James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful,” I simply can’t anymore. Somehow it doesn’t have the same effect when the scene is a great moment between Lionel and Lex Luthor. (Also, I know I said I have problems with cover songs, and I love Nine Inch Nails as much as I love The Rolling Stones, but that just doesn’t apply to Johnny Cash.) The scene, from the season 3 episode “Shattered,” is great. Lionel has drugged Lex and elaborately set up attempts on his life, then covered them up so that everyone will think that Lex was having paranoid delusions. Clark tried to help, but Lex was carted off to the asylum anyway. The final scene is of Lex in a padded cell wearing a straight jacket, completely out of his mind. Lionel stands there, looking in on his son through the two way mirror. Clearly, in his warped way, he loves his son and regrets the fact that he had to do this to him. Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” plays over it all, a perfect song for such an oddly touching moment.
There are other songs and other scenes, but I think this is a good enough list for now. Maybe at some point I will compile a sequel to this list. For now, if anyone is actually reading this, I would love to hear if other people have and similar song and scene pairings that they just can’t separate.
Earlier today I was thinking about how sometimes a movie or television show chooses a song so well, that any time you hear that song you immediately think of the scene from whatever movie or television show used the song. With that in mind, here’s a list, in no particular order, of soundtrack moments that hijacked my brain:
“At This Moment” by Billy Vera and the Beaters from Family Ties: You remember the scene. Tracy Pollan’s character Ellen Reed is leaving to go back home to her boyfriend. Alex P. Keaton goes to the bus station to try and stop her. He asks her not to go, but she kisses him goodbye and leaves anyway. And this song plays. It’s a heartbreaking scene, and even though Tracy Pollan was not on the show very long, Ellen Reed was always the girl that it seemed like Alex should be with. Courtney Cox’s character was on the show for at least a full season, but for some reason, she just wasn’t as good. I blame this scene, and this song. (Not to mention the very real chemistry between Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan. They are married in real life after all.) It was a very powerful moment. I was very young when I saw it, but I remember it made me cry. And it did the same thing when I saw this episode in reruns. I could be mistaken, but I am pretty certain that this scene made the song a hit. I can understand why. Every once in a while, I hear this song on the radio and cannot help but think of poor Alex P. Keaton, left at the bus station by the woman he loves.
“Don’t Know Much About History” by Sam Cooke from Witness: I know I am not alone on this one. The scene, of course, is when Harrison Ford is trying to fix his car in the barn. He finally gets it to work when Kelly McGillis comes into the barn. He puts on the radio, this song plays, and they dance. Then they are interrupted by the old Amish guy. The whole scene is very sweet. It’s a really good thing that the movie and the scene are so great because the song is great. It’s Sam Cooke, how could it not be? I mostly hear this song in supermarkets, so I am actually grateful for the pleasant images it brings to mind. I’m also thankful I have something to associate this song, which I really love, with beyond supermarkets.
“Wild Horses” by The Sundays from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I don’t like it when singers and/or bands cover songs that I really love. And I think it is an especially bad idea to go and cover a song by a band like The Rolling Stones. Given that information, you will find it as no surprise that I disliked this version of “Wild Horses” for years. Then the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3 episode, “The Prom,” aired. Now I love it. Buffy had just received her well deserved Class Protector Award from the Sunnydale students. She’s so happy, but then she’s left alone with her award and her punch while everyone else goes off to dance with their dates. Then this song begins to play and Angel walks through the gym doors, looking amazing in a tux, after having broken up with her earlier in the episode. I just can’t help but think of Buffy finally getting her perfect high school moment whenever I hear it. It makes me happy, but it makes me sad too. The moment can’t last. Angel has only come because he knows how important the prom was to Buffy. They are still broken up and he is still leaving Sunnydale. That’s why the song is so perfect. It’s about the importance of the moment and being there in that moment for the person that you love. But I think the female voice and the even more maudlin tone of The Sundays’ cover make it uniquely suited for this scene. The fact that the female voice is so perfect, given that the song is clearly representative of Angel’s point of view, is just one of those uniquely Buffy things. Even though the voice of the show is that of Joss Whedon’s, the voice of the show was still always female. Whedon just has a talent for that. Also, in the previous season, the episode “I Only Have Eyes for You,” Angel was also given a female voice when he was possessed by the female teacher who had an affair with the male student that possessed Buffy.
“Hurt” by Johnny Cash from Smallville: Normally, songs from Smallville have nothing but bad connotations for me. After all the Clark/Lana barn scenes, and one unfortunate pre-sex scene, it is truly amazing that I still love Coldplay and the new Depeche Mode songs. And then there are all the overly praising songs of Lana and her beauty. I have not been able to listen to my Maroon 5 CD since “She Will Be Loved” appeared in a season 4 episode, and while I used to tolerate that Lifehouse song and James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful,” I simply can’t anymore. Somehow it doesn’t have the same effect when the scene is a great moment between Lionel and Lex Luthor. (Also, I know I said I have problems with cover songs, and I love Nine Inch Nails as much as I love The Rolling Stones, but that just doesn’t apply to Johnny Cash.) The scene, from the season 3 episode “Shattered,” is great. Lionel has drugged Lex and elaborately set up attempts on his life, then covered them up so that everyone will think that Lex was having paranoid delusions. Clark tried to help, but Lex was carted off to the asylum anyway. The final scene is of Lex in a padded cell wearing a straight jacket, completely out of his mind. Lionel stands there, looking in on his son through the two way mirror. Clearly, in his warped way, he loves his son and regrets the fact that he had to do this to him. Johnny Cash’s “Hurt” plays over it all, a perfect song for such an oddly touching moment.
There are other songs and other scenes, but I think this is a good enough list for now. Maybe at some point I will compile a sequel to this list. For now, if anyone is actually reading this, I would love to hear if other people have and similar song and scene pairings that they just can’t separate.
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