Even before films had recorded sound in them, music was a major part of the cinematic experience, even with piano or other instrumental accompaniment. Once sound could be recorded, the possibilities of what can be conveyed audibly were endless. It wasn’t long before songs as a narrative tool were being implemented. Today, I’m highlighting a few possible reasons why a song could be used in a scene. I’m splitting up popular and original songs, but the cases used in either category can definitely cross over if applicable (there isn’t any reason to rehash previous points in the exact same article).

Note: I will not be covering musicals here, outside of one example. This article is meant for the reasons why songs could be used to aesthetically heighten scenes outside of the musical genre.

Popular Songs

It may seem strange if you’re only familiar with newer films, but the use of popular songs in a feature wasn’t always common. Excluding songs written by other musicians covered by performers in a particular film, finding a radio song in a feature for any means isn’t nearly as frequent as it is today; you can thank underground filmmakers like Kenneth Anger, and mainstream filmmakers like the many featured in this article. So, why would a film contain a popular song (outside of a director liking it well enough to include it in a film)? Sometimes, the words an artist wishes to use have been better captured by someone else. Plus, if a filmmaker is looking to add melody to a scene, this can be seen as the achievement of both tasks in one. Connecting with an audience is another major reason: nothing engages a viewer like hearing a familiar song that they may adore. Creating a time period — especially for nostalgic films — is also a go-to purpose for including songs. Now, let’s get into some more specific examples.

Set a Tone

Again, if a filmmaker is trying to capture a time period, a scene’s objective, or a specific vibe, a song can be used. This is likely the most frequent purpose of including songs created by recording artists.

Someone like Quentin Tarantino is synonymous with using well known songs to paint his films. In this segment from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, we see Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski drive during the night to Deep Purple’s “Hush”. The song is clearly a ‘60s staple, which keeps us in the time period (amongst the costumes, sets and cars). Using this particular song contributes to how a husband feels about his wife (outside of the heart break, of course). The guitar solos and distortion add to the thrilling experience of being in a fast car swirling around a bendy road.

Describe a Character

A song can be used with characters in a few ways. They can introduce a character, lyrically or melodically (first impressions count). They can stay with a character throughout a film, as if the song is a part of them (or someone’s thought about them; think of someone in love associating a song with their crush). They can also detail what a character is currently doing, or is going to do.

The use of “California Dreamin'“ by The Mamas & The Papas in Wong Kar-wai’s Chungking Express covers all three of these goals. We are introduced to the character Fay by the opening guitar lick, as if we have stumbled upon a serendipitous moment. We then quickly see how “Cop 663” first sees her, working at the express counter. Secondly, Faye is shown to be clearly attached to the song (she listens to this exact same song throughout the film), and even in this scene she refuses to turn it off (or even lower the volume). Once we get to know Faye, we realize her obsession: she aspires to leave Hong Kong to go to California, and live a better life. So much of Faye’s character depends on literally just this song. Luckily, it’s a good song.

Convey Inner Conflicts

Trying to dig into the mind of a character can be futile. A writer and/or filmmaker will either under explain (and not reach their audience), or over explain (and spoon feed us like we’re unintelligent). Of course, filmmakers want to avoid both possibilities. So, hearing the inner thoughts of a character can be challenging. Luckily, a popular song can defuse both possibilities. As long as a film’s song selection isn’t too on-the-nose (using obvious lyrics to detail what we see a little too literally), using a popular melody can attract viewers to pick apart a character’s mind; they hear a familiar song, which grabs their attention, and then try to dissect why the song is being paired with these images. The grey area of a complicated mind is successfully achieved.

Songwriting duo Simon & Garfunkel created new songs for The Graduate, but some of their older work was included as well, including their rendition of “Scarborough Fair”: a love song about a suitor trying to achieve impossible requests for true love. The use of the scene here is to mimic Benjamin’s seemingly nonsensical wishes to dig himself out of his existential, mistake-ridden hole and chase his dreams of being with the girl he loves. Set to these lyrics, Benjamin’s efforts seem pointless.

Convey Inexplicable Feelings

Similar to the above example, this case is the enjoyment of the grey area found in films. What’s different here is the promotion of indescribable emotions: the heightening of an aesthetic a filmmaker is trying to achieve on a more abstract level. Songs have taken us all to mental and emotional places we sometimes cannot pinpoint specifically, and some filmmakers chase these sensations.

Sofia Coppola famously created Lost in Translation after she got lost in Tokyo while listening to the album Loveless by My Bloody Valentine on her iPod (amongst other personal goings-on in her life). Aside from recruiting Kevin Shields (of the same band) to create a score, she used similar shoegaze and dream pop songs to recreate these sensations. This includes the use of My Bloody Valentine’s song “Sometimes” (off of the same album) to represent the dreariness of a late night out on the town with someone you adore. The faint lyrics, the screeching guitars, and the swirling mix help make this ride home a pure, surreal bliss.

Convey Literal Dialogue

Then there’s the complete opposite side of the spectrum: using a song’s lyrics to literally describe a scene. To avoid this being a spoon feeding session — as detailed earlier — a filmmaker can savour these moments to let characters have music do the talking. If not, a filmmaker may use a song ironically (see our lesson on soundtrack dissonance for more information), to create a contrastive feeling or a cynically sarcastic tone (the use of “Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon” by Urge Overkill in Pulp Fiction is a fantastically sinister example).

For a straight forward example, there’s the iconic boombox sequence in Say Anything…, where the use of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” replaces lines of dialogue or a monologue that Lloyd would otherwise be yelling outside on the lawn. We get a much more romantic, moving result this way, and a reinterpretation of a song that may have meant something differently to us viewers before. We see ourselves as Lloyd.

Original Songs

Popular songs being included are because of the above reasons, but primarily it’s a filmmaker putting a bit of their own tastes into their work. So, what about songs written specifically for a film? Outside of musicals, original songs can be made to spice up a scene that just wasn’t working, create chemistry and/or tension, or to detail a moment in the film’s own voice (without the external sounds of a popular song, if the original song isn’t by or performed by a popular recording artist). Even though the above examples can come into play here (and vice versa), here are some reasons why original songs would be crafted for a film.

Character Revelation

In a non-musical, an original song can humanize a character. If the lyrics pertain to a specific character or a situation, we get more context in an intriguing way. Without the use of another’s words, an original song can pinpoint exactly what a filmmaker wants a song to say (rather than create a pairing of familiarity and the unknown); here, an original song is more about the intrigue of what you’re hearing for the first time, paired up with these images.If a character is performing the song, we get a sense of vulnerability about this person, and listen to the words they are singing (and wonder why).

I’m not the biggest fan of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but I have always adored the “Moon River” scene where Holly Golightly is caught singing outside. As something is being typed while the music begins, you see the typewriter stop as soon as Holly begins singing, as if we have frozen in our steps, wondering who is singing so beautifully. We exit outside to see Holly performing to herself, as if she is releasing her inner thoughts via song. It’s a moment that humanizes her, perhaps for the first time in the film.

Accompany a Montage

Of course, a previously recorded song or a score can achieve this, but imagine having a lyrical number tailor made for a montage, putting the sequence of events before you into a melodic context. Almost like a music video for the song, the scenes attached to original songs in these instances are almost like a visual dance. Lyrics during a montage can set a specific idea to be paired with the images (of which likely fit a specific context), and the instrumentation is to fit the visual images perfectly, creating a perfect harmony.

In this tender montage from Her, an operating system and a user improvise a song together. This creates an additional human side to artificial intelligence, and a faulty side to the human (who trails behind the operating system’s improvised lyrics as he tries to duet with her). The song is played on a personal ukulele, proving it’s an instrument that could be fine in the comfort of one’s own home, and could realistically be played by this character in such a scenario. The lyrics are imaginative and dreamy, which encapsulates the chemistry between a person and his computer, as they both bond even further.

Set the Tone of a Film

A score or previously recorded song can open a film, but a filmmaker can use a song written for the film to kick the story off. Either in the form of opening credits or within a scene, an original song being used at the start of a film can add literal context or a specific mindset. The lyrics can tell the story or backdrop of what we are going to see. They can also create an atmosphere that may not relate to a film on a literal level, but maybe on a more distant one.

Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” — before it appeared slightly altered on Fear of a Black Planet — was commissioned by Spike Lee to open his socially aware drama Do the Right Thing. Having a radically political song open the film off places audiences in an aggressive, aware mindset. We know we’re in for a film that will not hold any punches, after hearing a rap song that isn’t afraid to say whatever it wants. Paired up with Tina performing an interpretive dance (that’s similarly vicious and magnetic), and you have an opening credits sequence with a lot to say.

Provide an Epilogue

What about the closing credits of a film? Well, instead of painting an audible picture for audiences, original songs (or scores, or popular songs) at the end of a film are used to wrap up the experience you have just had. This can be lyrically, with a song that provides a summary of what you’ve seen or an after thought of what is implied will come next. This can also be aesthetically: a fast paced song after an action film, or a somber song after a depressing conclusion.

Sufjan Stevens’ “Visions of Gideon” is used at the end of Call Me By Your Name to give us Elio’s thoughts, and the future of the character after the final scene. It is an epilogue that we won’t see in this film, but we can hear it and let it linger with us once we leave our seats. Sometimes, a song is effective with this, because a melody can stick in your head along with the film, so you are having multiple mental reactions at once, especially at the end of the film (the freshest part in your mind).

Warning: Contains spoilers for Call Me By Your Name. Reader discretion is advised.

Be a Monologue

An original song can be used as the means of a character expressing themselves and their inner thoughts via creative interpretation. This is especially effective in a film where a character is a musician, or music is prevalent in any form of way. This can prove to be an emotional experience for audiences, seeing these thoughts and feelings being presented in such a creative, unguarded way. See our lesson on writing monologues for additional information.

I said I wasn’t featuring musicals, but I needed to make one exception, because Prince’s “Purple Rain” is one of the finest “musical monologues” ever. Featured in the film of the same name, we get a mostly single-shot look at his character’s inner thoughts, of which he doesn’t want to hold back on saying anymore. In context, “Purple Rain” is a confession of regret and a pleading of forgiveness; he sings this to an audience, in hopes that it will reach his subject even vicariously (or that others may understand his woes).

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.

Distance Learning Film: Original and Popular Songs in Film