Ten Great Musical Moments in Film and Television

Unlike most of those who came of age in the Eighties, I was never a big fan of music videos. While I can appreciate a well-crafted or interesting video concept, be it Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” or The Beastie Boys’ Spike Jonze-directed “Sabotage”, I don’t like to have a song’s accompanying imagery dictated to me by its video; for example, every time I hear “Once in a Lifetime”, David Byrne slapping his forehead and arching backwards (“Same as it ever was…”) pops into my head, rather than imagery (or lack thereof) that would have occurred of its own accord. That being said, I am fond of well-placed songs in film and television series (I fully realize that this contradicts my aversion to MTV, but as Tony Soprano would say, what are you gonna do?).

Here are ten striking uses of song in film and TV, with video if available. Please feel free to add your favorites to the comments section.

SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t watched The West Wing series and plan to do so, please don’t read the commentary for entry # 8. Likewise, you may want to skip # 3 if you haven’t yet experienced HBO’s Six Feet Under.

1. “Late at Night” – Buffalo Tom, in My So-Called Life, Episode 12 (“Self-Esteem”)

Jordan Catalano has been keeping his relationship with Angela Chace a secret, limiting their meetings to make-out sessions in the school boiler room. When Angela hears that Buffalo Tom will be playing at a local club, and that Jordan will be there, she can’t resist going. Jordan, shooting pool with his mates, blows her off. As Angela runs off, devastated, Buffalo Tom plays the aching “Late at Night”, a perfect accompaniment to teenage emotions running high. Later on in English class, when Mr. Katimsky reads Shakespeare’s Sonnet # 130 (“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun…”), Jordan realizes the error of his ways, in failing to appreciate Angela.



Determined to make things right, he strolls up to Angela at her locker and takes her hand as they walk down the hallway, while all the characters look on. Cue “Late at Night” redux, bringing closure to a powerful episode, and roll credits.



2. “S.O.S." – ABBA, in Tillsammans (Together)

The setting is an angst-ridden Swedish hippy commune in the mid-1970s. One snowy afternoon, all of the film's various isolated and lonely characters join in a pick-up soccer game, one by one. The first piano notes of “S.O.S.” kick in, and the game builds into a crescendo of joyous collisions, tackles, hugging, and frolicking in the snow. It is one of the most genuine and human scenes ever filmed. Each time I see it, I temporarily have hope for the human race. Who would’ve thought that an ABBA song could be so poignant and unironic?

3. “Come and Find Me” – Josh Ritter, in Six Feet Under, Season 3, Episode 6 (“Making Love Work”)

Nate and Lisa’s shotgun marriage is becoming strained and precarious. As they and their daughter Maya are returning to Los Angeles from a camping weekend, and Nate returns Lisa’s “I love you” with an uncertain “I love you, too”, the moody Nick Drake-esque guitar pluckings of Josh Ritter’s “Come and Find Me” reflect the brooding couple’s uncertain future.

4. “Sleeping Angel” – Stevie Nicks, in Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Mike Damone is scrounging to call in debts from his ticket-scalping customers in a desperate effort to pay for one half of Stacey’s abortion, to no avail. Most of Fast Times' soundtrack consists of studio-mandated soft rock, unfortunately, and while Stevie Nicks certainly fits into this category, the forlorn “Sleeping Angel” somehow works with this scene. As Damone wrestles with his conscience, he glances at two iconic rock images: Annie Liebowitz’ portrait of Pete Townshend, head in bloody hand, and the cover of Elvis Costello’s Trust . Though Nicks is no Townshend or Costello, somehow they all mesh for this moment of onscreen pathos.

5. “La Marseillaise” - Patrons at Rick's Café Americain, in Casablanca

As Nazi officers start singing a Third Reich song in Rick’s Café Americain, fugitive Resistance leader Victor Laszlo instructs the band to play the French national anthem. Rick (Bogie, elegant in a white dinner jacket) nods OK, and Laszlo leads the band in a stirring rendition, the whole club joining in to drown out the fascists. This scene is a testament to peoples’ longing for freedom and democracy, in stark contrast to Bush’s hollow pronouncements, and it brings a tear to my eye every time. They don’t make movies like this anymore.



6. “Purple Rain” – Prince and the Revolution, in Purple Rain

The hilarious conceit in this film is that "The Kid"'s live show was ever considered sub-par by the club owner at all, considering that Prince Rogers Nelson was, and remains, the top live act in the world. "Purple Rain" is simply the greatest ballad in rock history, and here we get it performed live, at the height of Prince’s powers; “Stairway to Heaven”, “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”, “Hey Jude”, and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” pale in comparison. Prince wins over his nemesis Morris Day and the club owner, and wins back Apollonia, while getting the rest of the motley '80s Minneapolis audience to raise their hands. He also finally gives Wendy and Lisa their props for coming up with the opening guitar chords, and he pays tribute to his troubled and talented father, a composer who’d recently committed suicide.

Prince never wanted to be our weekend lover; after he topped the film, album and singles charts, we loved him every day of the week.



7. “God Only Knows” – The Beach Boys, in Boogie Nights

One of pop music’s great love songs comes at a time in the film when Don Cheadle’s Buck and his fellow porn-industry workers are moving on with their lives, starting businesses and families, and pursuing their non-porn-industry dreams. The Beach Boys lend an air of sweetness and light to the otherwise seedy world of San Fernando Valley adult entertainment.



8. “Hallelujah” – Jeff Buckley, in The West Wing, Season 3, Episode 21 (“Posse Comitatus”)

C.J. Craig and Mark Harmon’s Secret Service agent have started a love affair, but he’s gunned down during an off-duty attempt to thwart a convenience-store armed robbery. Jeff Buckley’s sublime Leonard Cohen cover provides the proper air of sadness and solemnity to C.J.’s shock and grief at hearing the news of his death.



9. “It Was a Very Good Year” – Frank Sinatra, in The Sopranos, Season 2, Episode 1 (“Guy Walks Into a Psychiatrist’s Office”)

This elegiac, classy Sinatra tune (my favorite in Frank’s catalog) is perfect for a great recap of Season 1. We see what the New Jersey and New York families have been up to, in their business and personal affairs, and The Voice lends Old World elegance to the proceedings.



10. “Duettino: [‘Sull’aria…’] – ‘Che soave zeffiretto’” – Deutschen Oper Berlin, in The Shawshank Redemption

Shawshank falls into a category I call “Quality Feel-Good Movies” (see also Good Will Hunting and High Fidelity). Tim Robbins’ character, having ingratiated himself to the prison warden and gained access to his office, decides to commandeer the prison stereo and crank this angelic aria from Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) so that all the savage beasts can be soothed, even if only for a few moments. It’s a simple scene, with close-ups of inmates being taken to some better place as they fall under the duet’s spell; but once again, as with all of the scenes in this list, the sum of the music and the visuals is greater than the individual parts.



HONORABLE MENTIONS:
"When I Fall In Love With You (It Will Be Forever)" - Stevie Wonder (High Fidelity)
"I Melt With You" - Modern English and "A Million Miles Away" - The Plimsouls (Valley Girl)
"Fight the Power" - Public Enemy (Do the Right Thing)
"Head Over Heels" - Tears For Fears (Donnie Darko)
"Just Like Honey" - The Jesus and Mary Chain (Lost in Translation)
"Try a Little Tenderness" - Otis Redding (Pretty in Pink)
"A Perfect Day" - Lou Reed and "Born Slippy" - Underworld (Trainspotting)
"I'm Going Home" - Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
"In Spite of Me" - Morphine (Spanking the Monkey)
"Living For the City" - Stevie Wonder (Jungle Fever)