I caught snippets of last night’s Olympic Closing Ceremonies in London, but one part I did see was Eric Idle performing “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” This gave me an idea (or at least brought an idea I already had to the forefront of my mind) to post my favorite original songs from movies. So, this list is my top three favorite original songs from movies. As always, these lists are fluid, both in terms of what is omitted and in terms of order. It’s definitely possible that I left out a song that I like better than these songs, and it’s possible that I would change the order of how I have them ranked. I judged these songs based on how much the songs emotionally resonated with me, how well it fits with the movie (whether that fit is functional, comical, or emotional), and just my overall enjoyment of the songs. And my liking of the songs individually does not necessarily mean the movies themselves are amongst my favorites. Additionally, there are certain “movie” songs I like that I don’t truly associate with the films for which they were written or performed, the foremost example being a Steely Dan song called FM, which is the title track to a movie I’ve never seen. It’s a song I enjoy tremendously, but I don’t really think of it as a movie song. Songs like that didn’t make the list. Also not making the list are songs not originally written for the movies in which they may prominently appear. For example, “Layla” a great song, definitely one of my favorites and a very memorable part of one my all time favorite movies, Goodfellas, did not qualify for this list. Lastly, despite the fairly long introduction, I expect this to be a thankfully relatively shorter post. We’ll see how that turns out.
3. “High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling)” from High Noon, 1952, performed by Tex Ritter, Music by Dimitri Tiomkin, Lyrics by Ned Washington
High Noon is considered one of the greatest westerns of all time and for good reason. It’s one of my all time favorites and definitely one of the best movies that many people from my generation probably haven’t seen. Don’t let the fact that it’s a western fool you; it’s a movie about making choices and the conflicts are largely internal rather than external, i.e. not a lot of action or gunfight scenes. The cinematography was done by Floyd Crosby, father of famous singer/songwriter/musician David Crosby, and the theme song, which I’ll discuss in a minute, was performed by Tex Ritter, father of actor/comedian John Ritter. Somehow the Cold War keeps popping up as a recurring theme in the early posts of this blog, and the screenwriter of High Noon, Carl Foreman, was an infamously blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter. People have called the film an allegory for Communism, and John Wayne called the film “Un-American.” Ironically, it was also criticized in the U.S.S.R. as “a glorification of the individual.” I think I’m more inclined to agree with the Soviets on this one, as would U.S. presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton, who were big fans of the film.
Anyway, the movie takes place in real time (the movie’s about an hour and a half and the story is about an hour and a half) and tells the story of a small town sheriff (named Will Kane, played by Gary Cooper), who just got married. He is about to leave with his wife, when he is informed that a man who he had incarcerated several years previously has escaped from prison and is set on exacting revenge against the Sheriff Kane. The rest of the film involves Kane making a decision on whether to stay in the town and finish his last sentimental duty as sheriff (he had already resigned) or to go with his wife and how the decision affects the people around him and how the townspeople react. The song, in my opinion, is really catchy, but it also is very functional. The song kind of tells the story of the film and is used as a refrain throughout the film. But not just the melody is used as a refrain, as a typical movie theme would be, but the lyrics are as well. That’s what makes the song so unique and special, and it was sufficiently parodied in Blazing Saddles.
2. “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from Monty Python’s Life of Brian, 1979, written and performed by Eric Idle
Yes, the song that gave me the idea for this blog post has made this list. Not as lengthy of an explanation for this song is required as the one from High Noon, as its comedy is pretty self-explanatory. Life of Brian is not my favorite Monty Python film, nor is it the funniest in my opinion (Holy Grail takes both of those titles for me). But it probably has the best plot, is the cleverest, and comes together the best at the end largely thanks to its famous song, “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”
For those that don’t know, Life of Brian is kind of about a random Jewish guy who lives in the era of Jesus and his life mimics that of Jesus in a comical manner. So the movie ends (SPOILER ALERT) with Brian hanging on a cross, but without any legacy whatsoever, and one of the people sentenced to death begins singing this ironically joyful song. Like I said, it’s pretty self-explanatory from there. It’s also worth posting two more Monty Python related videos: the moment right before “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” which is a really funny moment and the famous “Knights of the Round Table” song from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which I think is even funnier than “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” but doesn’t really suit the purposes of this list.
1. “Springtime for Hitler” from The Producers, 1968, written by Mel Brooks, performed by ensemble
The Producers is probably more famous now for its reputation on Broadway and the 2005 film remake, but before any of this, it was Mel Brooks’ directorial debut. For those that don’t know, the story is about this down-on-his-luck theatre producer, who comes into contact with an accountant, and they somehow come to the conclusion that they can make more money producing a flop than a hit. They set out to make the worst play ever and settle on a a sincere “love letter to Hitler,” written by a former Nazi. (This was 1968, so there were a lot more former Nazis around then). They hire the worst director available and seemingly terrible actors and prepare to receive terrible reviews but a ton of income. Semi-predictably, the plan backfires, the audience interprets the play as a brilliant comedy and the producers wind up in jail. (And this concept was cleverly recreated in the 4th season of Larry David’s brilliant Curb Your Enthusiasm).
The song, “Springtime for Hitler” is the title track of the fictional play in the film. In my opinion, it is the definition of satire and features brilliant lines like: “We’re marching towards a faster pace/Look out here comes the master race,” and “Springtime for Hitler and Germany/Winter for Poland and France.” I find it just so well-written, and in a weird way, kind of a triumphant moment for post-WWII Jews. And it’s really catchy too, although it might be a difficult song to perform in a cover band or at karaoke given that the audience might not understand its satirical elements.
There you go. As always, feel free to comment, make suggestions, corrections etc. Thanks for reading!
Ashes of Laughter 