Random Music Mix: The Silver Screen Edition

In honor of the upcoming Academy Awards, a music mix of songs from films.

Disclaimer: to my knowledge, none of these songs (and the vast majority of the movies) were deemed Oscar-worthy. (But given the way the awards go sometimes, that's probably a good thing.) I simply looked at my DVD collection and selected songs that I immediately associate with the films. The list is in alphabetical order by film title.

"Hip to Be Square" - Huey Lewis and the News (American Psycho) - This song was cleared to be on the acutal soundtrack until Huey saw the movie and pulled his approval. Guess he didn't take too kindly to having his song used as background music for a brutal murder.

"Money (That's What I Want)" (Backbeat) - Actually, any song from this soundtrack would have sufficed. An all-star garage band (Greg Dulli, Mike Mills, Dave Grohl, Thurston Moore, Don Fleming, Dave Pirner) produced by Don Was recreating the Beatles in their Berlin days? Hell yeah.

"Ketjak (Ramayana Monkey Chant)" (Baraka) - Wow. Just thinking about this song has set loose 200 men in my head chanting the word "tjak" very fast. I want to go home and watch this movie again.

"Can't Even Tell" - Soul Asylum (Clerks) - "Hey, you're closed!" The perfect song to end the day from hell at the Quick Stop.

"Mustang Sally" - The Commitments (The Commitments) - Just remember, when you're singing Dublin soul, you don't sing with your own accent.

"Down with the Sickness" - Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine (Dawn of the Dead) - When I saw this movie, I had no idea this song was included. Upon reaching this scene, I sent zappagirl a very drunken email. Between the song and the fact that one of the protagonists was a Best Buy associate, I couldn't stop giggling. Well, in between the frightened meeping and chanting "shoot 'em in the head" at my television....

"Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime" - Beck (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) - The combination of this song and the context in which it appears in the film makes me weep profusely. Actually, a lot about this movie makes me weep profusely.

"Guerrillas in the Midst" - N.W.H. (Fear of a Black Hat) - I had no idea that an actual soundtrack existed for this movie until I started to compile this list. This just made my day.

"New Slang" - The Shins (Garden State) - An obvious choice, perhaps. This song didn't change my life as promised, but it did make me go out and buy a copy of Oh, Inverted World.

"Heaven Scent" - Bedrock (Groove) - The shit ain't over 'til the last record spins. Perfect song to convey the absolute joy of the scene.

"Old Joe's Place" - The Folksmen (A Mighty Wind) - I heard this song performed on Letterman a few weeks after seeing the Kingston Trio and couldn't stop giggling. They could very easily have done this song right after "The M.T.A." and no one would have blinked an eye.

"A Little Less Conversation" - Elvis Presley (Ocean's 11) - Dude, it's Elvis. I like this song so much that I find myself watching the opening credits to Las Vegas. (And then I turn the channel.)

"Down for Whatever" - Ice Cube (Office Space) - I used to work in an office that used the exact same printer as the ill-fated one in the movie. There was more than one occasion when I wanted to take that printer into a secluded field and beat it senseless with a baseball bat. ("PC Load Letter? What the fuck does that mean?")

"Needle in the Hay" - Elliott Smith (The Royal Tenenbaums) Another perfect song for the moment, except it's completely harrowing. I had to pause the DVD for a few minutes after this scene.

"Edge of Seventeen" - Stevie Nicks (School of Rock) - Joan Cusack, drunk, singing Stevie Nicks. Hee. (Interesting side note here... this soundtrack also includes the Wylde Rattz version of "T.V. Eye." Wylde Rattz was the fictional band in Velvet Goldmine fronted by Ewan McGregor. It's the song from the "honey and gold glitter" performance.)

"White Lines" - Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel (Shaun of the Dead) - Call and response on classic rap is always funnier with the Zed word.

"Pick Up the Pieces" - Average White Band (Swingers) - While it would have been easy to pick any of the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy songs from this movie, the scene with the guys caravanning throughout the Hollywood hills to this song (and locking their Clubs) never fails to crack me up.

"To Be By Your Side" - Nick Cave (Winged Migration) - Best WTF moment ever. I went to see this movie with a bunch of coworkers, and was very confused to hear Nick's gravelly voice playing over the lovely shots of the migrating flocks. I had to stay through the end credits to make sure I wasn't audibly hallucinating.

"From Her to Eternity" - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (Wings of Desire) - See, now Nick belonged here. One of the eighty billion reasons why this movie is better than that crappy remake with Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan.

"Relax" - Frankie Goes to Hollywood (Zoolander) - So far, I've not wanted to kill the prime minister of Malaysia while listening to this song. Maybe it's because I'm not really really ridiculously good looking enough. Or maybe it's because I'm an ambi-turner.

Heh. After making this list, I'm not even bothered at how weak a category Best Song is this year....