r/movies 12h ago

Discussion What movie forever changed (good or bad) a pre-existing song for you?

I think the most famous would be "Stuck In The Middle With You" from Reservoir Dogs.

It took me years to be able to separate "Goodbye Horses" from Silence of the Lambs (no thanks to Jay & Silent Bob).

I am interested in songs that existed independently before the film. Nothing that was written specifically for the movie.

53 Upvotes

112 comments sorted by

50

u/Own_Conversation3511 12h ago

David Bowie's "Heroes" hits me harder now after seeing JoJo Rabbit. In German or English.

7

u/erak3xfish 9h ago

Same song, but The Perks of Being a Wallflower

3

u/KeyofE 12h ago

Komm gib mir deine Hand as well.

2

u/GUSHandGO 6h ago

Especially since he recorded the entire Heroes album in West Berlin.

51

u/RebelGirl1323 11h ago

Fight Club, Where Is My Mind? by The Pixies

Can’t hear it without thinking of that ending.

5

u/basket_case_case 5h ago

There’s a reason Mr. Robot used a piano cover of it for the season one finale. They knew, how many of us tie it to the ending of Fight Club. 

7

u/PippyHooligan 7h ago

Me too and I hate it. Fight Club is a great film, but I already loved that song so damned much. Now it's difficult to separate the two.

u/iateyourdinner 27m ago edited 21m ago

It’s interesting because that song playing in the ending is what actually drew me into listening to the Pixies in the first place. :-)

0

u/WollyGog 4h ago

This is one of the most iconic ones. Any time a thread is made about a song in a movie in any sort of context, this will be one of the most appropriate answers.

But it is oh so good.

40

u/ClickWaiter 12h ago

Time is On My Side in Fallen. Still creeps me out

19

u/Own_Conversation3511 12h ago

"Oh, you forgot something, didn't you? Back at the start, I said I was going to tell you about the time I almost died. Be seeing you."

5

u/KneeHighMischief 12h ago

I haven't seen it for years but I definitely remember the ending. Pretty solid twist.

4

u/Trike117 11h ago

That movie utilizes not one but two Rolling Stones songs perfectly.

u/Kind_Of_A_Dick 1h ago

John Goodman’s rendition was the biggest deal for me.  He just belted it out with no regard to cadence or anything, just playing with the song.  Made me realize that Azazel thought the whole thing was a joke, a game to be played.

1

u/capeasypants 2h ago

I didn't know that song before the movie. I love that song, probably thanks to that movie

27

u/ChrisMartins001 12h ago

"Stuck in the middle with you" went from "one of the first songs I learned on guitar" to "the Reservoir Dogs song" to me.

"Do you ever listen to K Billy's super sounds of the 70's?"

6

u/TacoCalzone 6h ago

I wonder what Big Daddy Don Bodean and his truck The Bohwemoth are up to.

28

u/PerspectiveWhore3879 12h ago

A Clockwork Orange, Singing in the Rain

46

u/Salarian_American 11h ago

Don't Stop Me Now was already my favorite Queen song, but since 2004 I haven't been able to separate it in my mind from that scene in Shaun of the Dead.

10

u/Blingblaowburrr 7h ago

“Kill the Queen!”

3

u/bangout123 2h ago

"It's on random!” instantly entered my vocabulary as an excuse for a choice someone didn't like lol

5

u/efox02 8h ago

This is on my running play list so I know I’m doing cardio for a reason

19

u/Thoracic_Snark 12h ago

Head Over Heels in Donnie Darko

19

u/efox02 8h ago

That and mad world

22

u/DMurBOOBS-I-Dare-You 10h ago

"Sympathy For The Devil" in the outro for "Interview With The Vampire"

u/tboy160 53m ago

"Please allow me to introduce myself I'm a man of wealth and taste I've been around for a long, long year Stole many a man's soul and faith"

21

u/Themo77 10h ago

Layla- GOODFELLAS. Made me a Clapton fan.

9

u/GUSHandGO 6h ago

He's a garbage human but an amazing musician.

3

u/Themo77 6h ago

I’m aware he’s a racist. Most of these musicians are not right in the head

-11

u/MomusSinclair 5h ago

Why, because the covid vaccine screwed him up physically and he spoke out against it?

5

u/Beorma 4h ago

It's probably because he's a raging racist and has been for decades.

u/marchillo 1h ago

He's an asshole and an antivaxxer, people who are one just might be both

u/ColdCruise 35m ago

It didn't. That's the point. He probably caused a lot of people to not get vaccinations because of lies and that directly resulted in the deaths of others.

21

u/civonakle 9h ago

Groundhog Day - I got you babe

Every time that bloody alarm clock goes off!

8

u/GUSHandGO 6h ago

"So put your little hand in mine......."

7

u/Answerologist 3h ago

Ok campers! Rise and shine! And don’t forget your booties cause’ it’s cold out there!

18

u/This_Fkn_Guy_ 10h ago

Ain't no mountain guardians of the galexy

16

u/dollabilllz 9h ago

Brandy from Guardians 2 for me. Loved how the song was integrated into the plot

6

u/efox02 8h ago

The soundtrack of the first movie is fire.

3

u/WollyGog 4h ago

It was on constant rotation for my wife and I that summer it came out. But the CD fucked up the order of the tracklisting from the movie which was annoying.

2

u/capeasypants 2h ago

Spotify can often be your best friend in these cases, search for the soundtrack in movie order

19

u/civonakle 9h ago

The opening to Die hard 3. Summer in the City.

"Hot town, summer in the city Back of my neck gettin' dirty and gritty Been down, isn't it a pity? Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city All around, people lookin' half dead Walkin' on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head..."

MASSIVE EXPLOSION

17

u/infinitemonkeytyping 9h ago

The Departed did it to two songs - Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones for the opening, and Shipping Up To Boston by The Dropkick Murphys.

9

u/cowboyforce 8h ago

Scorsese’s go-to. He used Gimme Shelter in Goodfellas and Casino.

Every time I hear the piano outro to Layla I always think of dude in the freezer.

30

u/Trike117 11h ago

“Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin is one that I’ve always disliked but Thor: Ragnarok completely changed that for me. It helps that the lyrics are perfect for the character but the needle drop is expertly done twice in that film, with the second one managing to be a counterpoint payoff to the first. “Are you ‘Thor, the god of hammers’?

8

u/JustGoodSense 11h ago

I loved it in School of Rock blasting out of Dewey's shitty van, and the rathergood.com Flash animation of the Viking kittens.

3

u/infinitemonkeytyping 9h ago

There's a really good cover by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Karen O on Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

3

u/CallejaFairey 9h ago

Honestly, Viking Kittens is the first thing that pops into my head whenever I hear this song. Hard to believe that was more than 20 years ago.

1

u/JustGoodSense 9h ago

🤘🐱

13

u/fergudar 8h ago

Misirlou at the start of Pulp Fiction.

7

u/Own_Conversation3511 8h ago

Pulp Fiction made me a Dick Dale fan.

12

u/AliceMae18 8h ago

Mr. Blue Sky due to Guardians of the Galaxy Part 2. Thank you, Groot!!

3

u/Rosebunse 8h ago

Dog Days for Part 3. It was never my favorite Florence and the Machine song but it was too perfect in that movie

10

u/Earlvx129 10h ago

"Hurdy Gurdy Man" - Zodiac. Used unforgettably in that opening attack sequence, and again at the end when Jimi Simpson identifies the killer. Love that movie!

1

u/PippyHooligan 7h ago

Yeah, same here. I never realised how bloody sinister that song was.

10

u/Mametaro 8h ago

3

u/gogojack 5h ago

When I was a DJ at a club in the late 80's, that was always the last song of the night. So whenever I hear it I think it's time to go home.

8

u/Own_Conversation3511 9h ago

I guess I also can't hear "Rapper's Delight" without thinking of Ellen Dow from "The Wedding Singer"

9

u/thefightingmongoose 12h ago

1408 with 'We've only just begun'

Gives me chills now.

1

u/civonakle 9h ago

Good call!

10

u/JustGoodSense 11h ago

I enjoyed "All Star" when it was used in Mystery Men, but Shrek kinda ruined it for me. And us all, I believe.

1

u/efox02 8h ago

Nope. Still love it.

5

u/Finchypoo 11h ago

Not movies, but TV. Common Side Effects and Derry Girls rocketed Caribbean Blue to the top of my favorite Enya tracks. 

6

u/Own_Conversation3511 11h ago

Massive Attack's "Teardrop" from House.

5

u/erak3xfish 9h ago

California Dreamin’ by the Mamas and the Papas. All I think about is the noodle stand in Chungking Express when I hear it now.

3

u/PippyHooligan 7h ago

Yes! That and Dreams by The Cranberries (the intro to that song always puts a smile on my face)

5

u/TransCapybara 8h ago

Singing in the Rain, in Clockwork Orange.

5

u/smashed2gether 8h ago

I will never hear Do You Really Want to Hurt Me without thinking of The Wedding Singer.

3

u/AnguryLittleMan 9h ago

Biggest change for me was from a tv show. Hates the cheesy hair metal until I saw it through the lens of Supernatural. Now, I love it.

3

u/IanRastall 12h ago

It took me a really long time to get into Tubular Bells from Mike Oldfield. It's an amazing album, first off. The caveman grunt solo is fantastic. But I still can't really hear the opening the way it was meant to be heard, as a kind of beautiful counterpoint. I just see Reagen's mom pushing her hands into her pockets and heading up a windy sidewalk.

2

u/Own_Conversation3511 12h ago

I kind of feel a similar way about "Music Box" by Philip Glass. Even though I knw he wrote it for "Candyman"' "Music Box" is so beautiful, separate of the film.

3

u/Jaives 12h ago

Loved the song Absolutely (Story of a Girl). And then it was used for that Rob Schneider Hot Chick movie. Glad it's been somewhat redeemed with Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.

3

u/28DLdiditbetter 10h ago

It is literally impossible for me to listen to "Under Pressure" by Queen+Bowie and not think of Robin Williams and/or that scene in World's Greatest Dad. RIP Robin. Miss you

3

u/WaldoSupremo 9h ago

The Pixies - “Where Is My Mind” played at the end of Fight Club

3

u/Lahk74 9h ago

Wig Wam "Do Ya Wanna Taste It" in 2010: huh, what's this 80's glam rock crap?

Peacemaker opening credits 2022: Omg, I love this song! I'm going to rewatch the opening 8x now!

https://youtu.be/gVN83R-JwRQ?si=h7kFrzw7kRhL2Wx-

3

u/EasilyDelighted 8h ago

Marilyn Manson - Sweet Dreams.

I'd only heard the original version by Eurythmics. Then I watched the trailer to Gamer (2009)

My mind was blown. Fell in love with the much darker take on the song.

2

u/latamakuchi 4h ago

Same but the Sucker Punch version of it!

1

u/latamakuchi 4h ago

Same, but with the Sucker Punch version of it!

u/tboy160 48m ago

I don't know the movie but Manson has a couple covers I love. Check out his take on "cry little sister" originally from The Lost Boys soundtrack.

3

u/Corbz273 5h ago

Shipping up to Boston in The Departed

4

u/to4urdazombie 12h ago

Queen + David bowie "under pressure"

2

u/ODMAN03 11h ago

God damn that film

3

u/DaisBloom 12h ago

The Sound of Silence from The Graduate, and later Watchmen made it even more haunting These songs become part of the film’s soul — no longer just music on their own.

2

u/HighStandards73 11h ago

The Pure Moods commercial invited listeners to “set adrift with the timeless pleasures of Tubular Bells.”

Needless to say, I heard that piece of music quite differently once I watched The Exorcist.

2

u/Palloc 9h ago

In the 1997 release they tossed in a remix of the X-Files theme too! Nothing says soothing like alien abductions!

1

u/HighStandards73 6h ago

Yep, I have it!  In the commercial, that clip immediately follows Tubular Bells.  “Or take a trip into the unknown with the X-Files theme.”

2

u/plannedobsoletion 6h ago

Wayne’s World, Garth lip syncing Foxy Lady with his air quotes… never took the song too seriously before that, but now I can’t at all😆

2

u/Danny_Mc_71 6h ago

It's not from a movie but a TV show. Specifically Only Fools and Horses.

Tony Angelino - Cwying.

2

u/TaroFuzzy5588 5h ago

We Got to Get Out of This Place - Hamburger Hill

2

u/DMurBOOBS-I-Dare-You 10h ago edited 10h ago

"Blue Moon" (Sam Cooke) will forever be associated with David's werewolf transformation. I'm good with this!

1

u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 11h ago

As a 90s R&B fan, I can't listen to Mariah Carey's Always Be My Baby the same way after Beau Is Afraid

1

u/fox_in_scarves 10h ago

Annihilation and Helplessly Hoping.

I want to describe the song as melancholy and haunting -- but I'm not sure it is without the influence of the film, now inseparable in my mind.

1

u/Mushroomburger 8h ago

Feeling Good by Nina Simone in the last scene of Perfect Days (2023).

1

u/kyriebelle 7h ago

Dream On in 31

1

u/nobelphoenix 7h ago

The finale of Sabrina the Teenage Witch introduced me to Running by No Doubt, so now whenever it plays on my playlist I keep remembering the finale.

Also I can't really listen to Who's That Girl by Eve without remembering She-Hulk or Happy Nation by Ace of Base without X-Men'97 now.

Edit: Everything I've listed are tv series and not movies, sorry about that OP. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

1

u/shakana44 7h ago

in Big Daddy Cheryl Crow ruined sweet child of mine

1

u/thenachobro 6h ago

Wasn't a movie but a movie trailer song. "Just Like You Imagined" by NIN for the 300 movie trailer. Honestly, even to this day that music hits hard and when I went to see the movie and the song wasn't in there (understandable) the movie just wasn't the same.

1

u/HWY6SIX6 5h ago

Sister Christian - Night Ranger: Boogie Nights

Don’t Be Shy - Car Stevens. Harold And Maude

You are my sunshine - O Brother where art thou

L’ appuntomento - Ornella Vanoni : Ocean’s 12

Hooked On A Feeling - Reservoir Dogs

1

u/AbstractAtlantean 5h ago

I’ll never listen to Fight the Power by Public Enemy without thinking of Do The Right Thing now

1

u/jasonology09 4h ago

Silence of the Lambs. "Goodbye Horses" went from being just a kinda quirky synth-pop tune, to being a super creepy murder anthem.

1

u/Stanimator 4h ago

Country Roads in Whisper of the Heart.

1

u/Jonaskin83 4h ago

Wake me up Before you Go Go will never not remind me of freak gasoline fight accidents since Zoolander.

1

u/ForsakenHelicopter66 4h ago

Hot Stuff The Full Monty

1

u/HouseAndJBug 3h ago

Under Pressure makes me think of Paul Mescal’s dance moves in Aftersun.

1

u/FauxGw2 3h ago

Funny enough Goodbye Horses I ended up loving because I heard it from Silence of the Lambs. I've listened to it many times and never once associated with the movie.

1

u/Answerologist 2h ago

The Reflex by Duran Duran in the American Wedding Dance Off

🍓Letter 23 by Brothers Johnson in Jackie Brown

Canned Heat by Jamiroquai in Center Stage

King of the Road in Generation Kill

1

u/Reasonable-HB678 2h ago

Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, will forever be associated with an explosion during a gas station fight.

1

u/capeasypants 2h ago

Someone needs to make a Spotify playlist of this whole thread. So many great songs!

1

u/Weasel_Sneeze 2h ago

Not a movie but Don't Stop Believin'... You know what show I mean.

u/Venotron 54m ago

Not a movie, but Kansas, Carry On Wayward Son and Supernatural.

That show and song mean so very much to me.

u/tboy160 54m ago

Free Bird in Forrest Gump. I knew the song, but that scene, with Jenny being suicidal on the roof, truly made me appreciate the guitar solo just SLAYING AWAY.

1

u/fergudar 8h ago

Something in the way in the beginning of the Batman. How it was used in conjunction with the monologue was awesome.