Better than Journey...

[The Chairman]

OK - we can debate forever what the ending of the last episode of The Sopranos meant and how great (or not) Don't Stop Believing by Journey was over the closing credits...

This brings to mind the issue of songs you have been surprised by when watching a TV show that blow you away upon hearing them. The kind that catch you by surprise, because they are not only one of your favorites, but also sort of obscure and "insider", the kind where you say to yourself "that show rules even more because someone knows their music, specifically MY KIND OF MUSIC!!!.

Two examples come to mind for me immediately:

In catching up on some early episodes of The Sopranos I missed, I was blown away to hear the song "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" by Johnny Thunders. I mean Johnny Thunders was so bad-ass and So Alone is such an amazing album and I love that song and it's NOT a song you're gonna hear on Everybody Loves Raymond...

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Example #2: In an episode of Six Feet Under, I was blown away while watching a scene where David finds himself in a strip club and the song Something Hot by one of my all time favorite bands - The Afghan Whigs - comes on.

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What else? I can think of several more on my end.

The Chairman

[Recyclerz]

Raise high the roof beam, carpenter. The Chairman has returned. :wink:

Not a TV show, but a large fraction of the appeal of "Lost in Translation" was the song choices. A world-weary Bill Murray conjouring up the old days with "More Than This", the two chord epiphany of Jesus & Mary Chain, etc, etc.

[TheMojoPin]

Raise high the roof beam, carpenter. The Chairman has returned. :wink:

Not a TV show, but a large fraction of the appeal of "Lost in Translation" was the song choices. A world-weary Bill Murray conjouring up the old days with "More Than This", the two chord epiphany of Jesus & Mary Chain, etc, etc.

Hells YES. Using JaMC's "Just Like Honey" just nails it.

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Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" in Trainspotting during the whole sequence where Renton OD's is perfect.

Nico's "These Days" when Richie meets Margot at the bus station in The Royal Tenenbaums makes that scene and tells you everything you need to know about them.

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Wes Anderson aldo nailed an insanely good musical cue in Rushmore when he used Cat Steven's "The Wind." Combo that with Bill Murray in this scene and I defy you not to have your heart broken.

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I purposely avoiding Taratino's films. While I usually love his music selections, they're almost always randmon mshings of "coolness" as opposed to actually melding what we're seeing and hearing together. He uses music more as an audio cue as opposed to apart of the scene. He wants to be Scorsese wih music, but Scorsese was always better actually meshing the music with the scene, like with the Rolling Stones' "Tell Me" in Mean Streets. (Clip NSFW)

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With TV, the one that immediately jumps to mind is the use of Steve Earle's "I Feel Alright" with the ending montage in the final episode of season 2. The series has never had a sequence that has more driven home the point of all the futility and senseless tragedy of what we've seen already, and what we'll keep seeing. This is music and imagery colliding with amazing intensity and emotional impact.

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[underdog]

Both of my selections are from Six Feet Under, and there probably could be more, but these are the two I remember. Sia's Breathe Me played during the finale, and hit me in a way almost no other song has ever hit me before. And Radiohead's Lucky. I don't remember what was going on at the time, I just remember being so moved while hearing it.

[TheMojoPin]

"Wise Up" by Aimee Mann in Magnolia is a pretty incredible bit of music and film interaction that should totally fail, but inteads up providing a fantastic moment of catharsis.

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Paul Thomas Anderson did another fantastic bit of music/image melding when he shanghaied Shelly Duval singing "He Needs Me" from the horror that is Popeye and turned it into something equally wonderful and awkward in Punch-Drunk Love.

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And come on, PTA managed to use "Sister Christian" and "Jesse's Girl" to create one of the most tense movie scenes I've ever watched. The acting in this scene is beyond fantastic...Wahlberg's range of emotions using just his eyes while "Jesse's Girl" plays is something special.

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[PapaBear]

Oranges are better than Journey.

[cupcakelove]

I don't understand, is this about hte gays?

[IMSlacker]

There was an episode of That 70's Show that used the original version of "Thirteen" by Big Star, which I thought helped make up a little bit for that fucked up Cheap Trick version of "In The Street" they used for the theme song.

I couldn't find the clip from the show, but here's a creepy Mila Kunis tribute that uses the song.

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[TheMojoPin]

There was an episode of That 70's Show that used the original version of "Thirteen" by Big Star, which I thought helped make up a little bit for that fucked up Cheap Trick version of "In The Street" they used for the theme song.

I couldn't find the clip from the show, but here's a creepy Mila Kunis tribute that uses the song.

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HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHAAAAAAH!!! Holy sheeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiit, that is ultra creepy.

[Crippler]

I became obsesed with this song, and the whole ColiHay CD after rediscovering the song in an episode of Scrubs...one of my favorite shows & they fell in love with Hay for a while there & used four or more of his songs.

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[Crippler]

...unfortunately they became so enamored with Hay's music that they fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The first, of course, is never get involved in a land war in Asia...but only slightly less well known is this: never take a really good song & let your cast re-sing it, especially not during a death scene on a sitcom.

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[Dirtybird12]

I was pretty shocked when not just the song, but entire band showed up on Scrubs.
The Polyphonic Spree - Light and Day

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[The Chairman]

Nice that we're adding movies as well as TV shows.

Another one: When Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah was played during the final episode of the third season of the West Wing. One of the most hauntingly gorgeous songs ever, one of my faves, but it's been "discovered" now...

But it really blew my mind when I heard John Cale's version while watching Shrek.

The Chairman

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[IMSlacker]

I don't understand, is this about hte gays?

All rf.net threads are ultimately about the gays.