A well-placed song and soundtrack cue can take a film to the next level, subtly (or not-so-subtly) speaking to the themes at play. Needle drops don’t just set the mood for a particular scene, they can make it feel real — blurring the line between the characters’ emotions and our own. Oftentimes, these moments are heard or produced by the film’s own characters, but in order for a song to hit right and speak to the characters, no such involvement is needed. A memorable soundtrack moment can further the director’s vision and the emotional weight the themes may carry. Of course, it can also be overdone. Excessive needle drops, or a choice that is too on-the-nose, can be distracting and take us out of the film’s world.
House of Gucci, for example, was criticized for its painfully frequent nods to 80s music that sometimes scrambled its timeline and disoriented viewers. Suicide Squad (2016) fell into the same trap, overstuffed with songs that aimed to inject fun into a dark and confused plot. The best needle drops will inextricably tie the chosen song to a film, making it near-impossible to listen to without that scene in mind.
Sometimes, the fewer pointed song choices the better, though a movie that owns its relationship to a soundtrack and uses it to advance its own plot can be particularly satisfying to watch. Needle drop scenes that speak to the thematic core of a film are the most memorable, providing moments of insight and catharsis to the characters and the audience both. Here are some of the best in film:
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9 The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: Life on Mars
Viewers can always count on Wes Anderson for innovative storytelling. In The Life Aquatic, oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) embarks on a hunt for the “jaguar shark” that killed his friend. He’s accompanied by his quirky crew, which includes Pelé dos Santos, played by Brazilian musician Seu Jorge, who sings and strums acoustic David Bowie covers in Portuguese throughout. These asides set the mood for a whimsical story of adventure and revenge.
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MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Jorge’s most powerful is a version of Life on Mars. It’s played earlier in the film in snippets, first in the film’s soundtrack in English, when Steve meets his estranged son Ned (Owen Wilson). When Jorge sings the song again, it’s after a confrontation between the two, and takes on a fuller meaning. The song is about escape, something that Steve is bent on even as his son comes asking for home. Many viewers didn’t understand the lyrics, but they immediately recognized the melody and its gnawing bittersweet feeling.
8 Fight Club: Where is My Mind
In David Fincher’s Fight Club, an existentially plagued Narrator (Ed Norton) attends support groups by night to cure his insomnia. After he gets involved with a woman named Marla (Helena Bonham Carter) he joins a new, secretive group called Fight Club which triggers the deterioration of his sanity. You’re still wrapping your mind around the film’s final jaw-dropping twist when the explosive finale comes, set to Where is My Mind by Pixies. The meaning is on the nose, but it really hammers the film’s final revelation home, as the Narrator and Marla look out at the city crumbling before them and hold hands. “You met me at a very strange time in my life,” the Narrator says, a line that takes on new significance against the backdrop of the Pixies song, combining to create the epitome of 90s-era jaded angst. Plus, if you watch closely, you’ll notice a final flash on the screen that will make you ask yourself where exactly your mind is too.
7 Easy A: Sexy Silk
The breakout moment within Emma Stone’s breakthrough movie, nothing else in this film can measure up to the way timid Olive (Stone) completes her transformation into the faux “class skank” in a single scene. As Jessie J’s Sexy Silk plays, Olive parades down the hallway as heads turn. Yeah, it’s a common trope, but this is the best it’s ever been done, and cements Easy A as one of cinema’s best needle droppers. Olive struts in her homemade Hester Prynne-inspired outfit, throwing effortless barbs left and right. The pitch-perfect music cues don’t stop here. Olive’s weekend spent listening to Pocketful of Sunshine, which she claims she hates, sets the tone for the film’s hilarious take on coming-of-age. Let’s also not forget her climactic, self-indulgent rendition of Knock on Wood by Amii Stewart at a pep rally, where she sticks one to the school prudes, bullies, and administration one last time.
6 Shrek 2: Holding Out for a Hero
The first Shrek film is definitely full of surprising musical cues that appeal to kids and adult audience members alike. The Smash Mouth songs from Shrek come preloaded in the brains of many Gen Zers, as does Rufus Wainwright’s rendition of Hallelujah, which genuinely makes us feel for the love-starved CGI ogre without sparing any laughs. Somehow, none of these are quite as memorable as the climactic action sequence in Shrek 2. Set to a cover of Bonnie Tyler’s Holding Out for a Hero belted by none other than Fairy Godmother, this one is an instant meme and also genuinely exciting filmmaking. We tap our feet as we watch Shrek’s ragtag army break into the castle to save Fiona from the scheming Prince Charming. Even Meryl Streep paid unintentional tribute to the moment on the Oscars red carpet.
5 American Psycho: Hip to Be Square
One of cinema’s most memorable murder scenes of all time wouldn’t be the same without its iconic song choice: Huey Lewis’ Hip to Be Square. Director Mary Harron carried over this detail from the classic novel. American Psycho’s serial killer protagonist, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), slaughters his coworker as it plays, right after giving a lengthy analysis of the song’s glorification of conformity. The song’s lyrics juxtaposed with the brutality of murdering Jared Leto speaks to the central thesis of the film. Patrick, hiding behind his trendy mask of Yuppiedom, values conformity more than anything else. The dissonance of his simultaneous hatred for mainstream society and his obsession with its norms creates a tension more thrilling than the onscreen violence itself.
4 Guardians of the Galaxy: Come and Get Your Love
A movie (and a franchise) chock-full of classic bangers and retro needle drops, it’s hard to pick a favorite moment from Guardians of the Galaxy. Chris Pratt stars as Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord), an intergalactic superhero with a love for his cassette player and the 70s and 80s mixtapes (Awesome Mix, Volumes 1 & 2) his mother left him. The film allows us into Peter’s head and gives us insight into his emotions with every song choice. One of the best is Redbone’s Come and Get Your Love as Peter dances along to the opening credits, stealing an orb from a strange, dark planet. It perfectly shows Peter’s lighthearted, irreverent personality while advancing crucial plot development and providing backstory. Of course, there’s also Blue Swede’s Hooked on a Feeling, playing when the Guardians are imprisoned, a song with personal importance for Peter that also just rocks.
3 Love Actually: Both Sides Now
It’s not just the classic boombox scene in Say Anything; rom-coms are full of satisfying needle drops that accompany bold romantic gestures. Oftentimes, they are the romantic gesture itself — à la10 Things I Hate About You’s soccer field serenade. Love Actually is one of the best examples, as many of its most memorable moments are hit home with music. There’s the bittersweet doorstep scene as Silent Night plays and the joyous conclusion that brings its large cast of characters together. Neither of these are as strong as the scene where Karen (Emma Thompson) finds out about her husband’s affair on Christmas Eve. As she struggles to pull it together to the tune of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now, we see shots of family photos that to sum up all that is lost. Yeah, it’s a bit over the top and hinges on a major plot hole, but try not crying.
2 The Graduate: The Sound of Silence
No song has ever pulled as much weight in a film as The Sound of SIlence in The Graduate. Of course, there are other iconic Simon and Garfunkel moments throughout Mike Nichols’ masterpiece (no one forgets Mrs. Robinson), but it’s the song that opens and closes the film that makes the biggest statement. Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) is searching for purpose after graduating from college. We first hear the song as he arrives home, staring straight ahead as he makes his way through LAX. He blankly follows the instructions over the loudspeakers, sleepwalking through life.
In an effort to reclaim agency, Benjamin stumbles into an affair with a married woman, who sabotages a would-be romance with her daughter Elaine. Elaine’s about to marry another man when Benjamin crashes her wedding and the two run off. The camera holds on their faces after they board a bus. The Sound of Silence breaks through the rush of breathless excitement, their giddiness turning to fear and doubt as they each ponder what’s next. Benjamin, the music hints, is right back where he started.
1 The Worst Person in The World: The Waters of March
Joachim Trier’s wonderful coming-of-age movie, The Worst Person in the World, uses music to seamlessly underscore its themes. It follows Julie, a young woman living in Oslo, as she searches for fulfillment in her relationships. Harry Nilsson’s I Said Goodbye To Me, which made for a legendary trailer, plays after Julie breaks up with her boyfriend, hinting that she’s releasing a part of herself. The true musical gut punch comes in the final scene after she runs into an old lover. The opening chords of Art Garfunkel’s The Waters of March creep in as Julie reflects on a cruel irony. This translated cover of Brazilian Tom Jobim’s bossa nova hit was magic in Garfunkel hands, and now Trier’s.
Julie’s smiles vaguely as Garfunkel begins to list the seemingly insignificant images and feelings that compose a life: “it’s the rest of a stump / it’s a little alone.” No matter how much we agonize and think through our choices like Julie, life is happening as we do. We are accumulating memories until the “waters of March” wash it all away. Julie realizes she was but a character in someone else’s life, a memory collected as she collected her own. The song makes us feel this more deeply: we are waiting for something that is already gathering around us like raindrops.
