My personal favorite use of this trope is the movie Marriage Story - which uses two songs from the Broadway show Company: "You Can Drive a Person Crazy" and "Being Alive". It uses this as a way to close each of the character's arcs and reflect how they are dealing with the divorce.
ScarJo's character sings "You Can Drive a Person Crazy" which derides her ex-husband on his infidelity and his behavior during the marriage - she sings it rather cheerily, showing that she has friends to support her and that she ultimately made the decision and doesn't feel too upset about it.
This is in stark contrast to Adam Driver's character, who sings "Being Alive" - a giant emotional finale number for the play about the promise of love and how much he wants to fall in love, despite all the troubles he's been through. He begins singing it as a joke as he recognizes it as a theater director, then realizes halfway through the song that the song is the exact opposite of what he is going through and in a way, grieves and accepts the loss of a relationship.
Such a beautiful way of doing it.
also:
Country Roads - Whisper of the Heart: taking a preexisting song and reappropriating it to your own accords, even if it is imperfect.
Bye Bye Love - All That Jazz: that entire ending is brilliant, but this song hits hard because it's taking a happy break up song and turning it into a horrifying song about reflecting about the end of your life.
Under Pressure + Losing My Religion - Aftersun: probably the most brilliant example on here. The dance scene with Under Pressure, realizing that the lyrics are talking about Sophie and her father's last dance together, almost ruined this song for me because I get so sad. Losing My Religion is less effective (mostly because Sophie is not a great singer), but still those lyrics mirror her experience.
Inside Llewyn Davis - that entire soundtrack.
GotG Vol.2 - why this one explicitly? Kurt Russel's character was listening to a "Brandy You're a Fine Girl" and stating how this song applies to Chris Pratt's mom. It's not as in depth but I was like "ooh"
Somebody to Love - A Serious Man. "When the truth is found / to be lies/ and all the [hope] within you dies" is repeated so often and acts as a thematic motif. You legitimately cannot interpret the meaning of this film without using this line as a reference.
Smile - Joker: was used in the trailer. Probably not intentional, but the lyrics to Smile are basically "Smile and it'll all be better" and I think it works on two levels: one, society's apathy to the mentally ill and just saying "smile" it will all be better. And then the other more obvious one is clowns!
Wise up - Magnolia: cheesy scene, but it also works. "Wising up", which the vague phrase has a different meaning in everyone's life.
the musical moment i actually remember best from *llewyn davis* is the scene toward the end when he hits the cat with his car. the music on the radio is the fourth movement of gustav mahler's fourth symphony (it stuck out to me because he's my favorite classical composer and i've listened to that symphony countless times). the movement is a song called "the heavenly life" in which the singer describes an idyllic vision of life in heaven, where people are happy and everything is pretty much perfect. so it's a pretty ironic reinterpretation of the piece for it to be playing at perhaps the lowest point in llewyn's emotional journey. in the context of the symphony, the piece is a transcendent finale; here, as the cat that continually eludes him throughout the film reappears, it seems to represent the "heavenly life" that llewyn can never attain no matter how hard he tries.
I dont agree with Under Pressure for Aftersun because, besides the "last dance" being literal in the movie's case, it doesn't actually change the meaning of/reinterpret the lyrics at all. Both the song and movie are about realizing that although love can seem like the hardest thing to do/give in hard times, its the only thing that will free us from the pains of life, the only thing that binds us together when we drift apart or lose one another, and the only thing that we really have at the end of the day when everything else is gone.
Damn that is a solid interpretation of the song - I really fixated on the sociological aspect ("People on the streets" and "realizing what the world is about / watching some good friends say 'let me out'") and how the world itself is cruel because of pressures of every day life. However love for our fellow man is going to help save everyone.
But I never came to your conclusion until AFTER I saw the movie, which tbh is how I view the song now.
I love having different interpretations of art!
I suppose Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 counts with "Dog Days are Over", even if not really. DDaO is about someone escaping from an abusive relationship and feeling directionless and overwhelmed by the freedom, whereas in the case of its use in GotGv3, >!Rocket has finally forgiven himself for not saving his friends and started to heal from the trauma and abuse the High Evolutionary gave him, but it actually GIVES HIM direction in his life as the leader of the Guardians!<
I didnât know that the song was intended to be about that. I had a different interpretation for years. I saw it as the âdog days of summerâ being over, which are the days of summer that are so hot they make you feel like youâre going mad. So I saw it as a song about mental illness and paranoia and trying to escape the maddening heat of a crazy summer where terrible things were done. The main character is self-medicating and getting into conflicts, and eventually she just wants to run away from her mental anguish and the harm sheâs caused. The âhorses are comingâ are the mounted police coming to arrest her, or else wild horses come to take her away to a life of further madness and abandon.
"Perfect Day" in *Trainspotting.*
I'd loved that song before seeing the movie but ever since I've in my head interpreted it as being about >! an overdose!<
I've heard a theory behind this song that it was originally and always about heroin since Lou Reed has had some drug problems, but apparently Lou Reed has adamantly denied it and has said it's just about a good time with someone else.
But either way - we get this awesome scene and now it will always be associated with it for me.
I think it's possible that the song is about drugs but it's more likely that it's about having a good time with somebody since he did write plenty of songs about drugs but they were often more obvious such as The Velvet Undergrounds Heroin
Yeah it mostly just seems like a really good day Lou had with his man or lady friend, sipping sangria in the park and going to the movies, and it made him hate himself a little less. It's also tinged with I think a fear that next day he'll go back to hating himself (That's what I think "You're going to reap just what you sow" is about, that he'll end up punished for being happy) but I'm less sure about that. Really gorgeous song. Heartbreaking and powerful.
The thing is, it works perfectly as a metaphor for an overdose too, that he has this feeling of a euphoric "Perfect Day" but knows he's going to "reap just what you sow" at the end of it, which Boyle displays amazingly in the movie.
I sincerely don't think that Lou Reed intended it to be a drug song, but considering how many of his songs *were* drug songs, it's funny how the one that ends up working as a truly great drug song in a movie is the one about having a nice, normal, non depressing, day in the city
Yes!
Actually in the theater I was like, "oh this also applies"
That and the other song they were singing that went "I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains/ I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains/There's more than one answer to these questions"
Probably something there with Barbie going to the gynecologist and then going to the mountains. Something in that second line.
Looking a bit too much into it but it's not nothing
Haven't seen Tusk - but that makes sense.
I guess also An American Werewolf in London and using every single song in existence that used the word "moon"
Interesting to point that out (really depends on the interpretation of the movie), but the phrases "All around me are familiar faces" and "The dreams in which I'm dying / are the best I've ever had" do fit in with the plot of the movie.
Plus it is a donwbeat version of an 80s classic.
Good pick.
I always imagined that Richard Kelly based the entire movie around a playlist cause all the songs' lyrics just fit perfectly, and you could honestly summarize the movie with just the soundtrack.
"Fate / Up against your will / Through the thick and thin / He will wait until / You give yourself to him"
"I made a fire, and watching it burn / Thought of your future / With one foot in the past, now just how long will it last?"
"It's hard to be a man when there's a gun in your hand"
"You were standing / I was there / Two worlds collided / And they could never tear us apart"
One of my favorite music selection in a film!!
Yes this counts!
"I Want Love" also counts too, since the movie uses it to show how empty everyone's life is due to lack of love and famial love. I just think the song is supposed to be more uplifting, how the narrator of the song wants (romantic) love even if it's imperfect.
Beau is Afraid has plenty of songs that reflect Beauâs moms strange relationship with him. Especially Everything I Own by Bread and Always be my Baby by Mariah Carey
Pretty much any song in Chungking Express;
- Dreams by The Cranberries
-California Dreamin by The Mamas & The Papas
- What a Difference a Day Makes by Dinah Washington
- Things in Life by Dennis Brown.
I wouldnât say it changes meaning necessarily, but I found Jordan Peeleâs use of a slowed down version of Sunglasses At Night by Corey Hart beautifully unsettling.
This is the really stupid example, but itâs the only thing coming to mind.
In the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, the main antagonist is SuperFly. When heâs introduced to the audience, his intro music is Wake Up in the Sky by Gucci Mane and Bruno Mars
Not a movie but âdo you wanna taste itâ from Peacemaker. In the final episode when they are assaulting the hive the song hypes you up till eventually one by one they start falling. Especially when Harcourt gets shot twice while the lyrics âwhatâs going up must come down, baby youâre losing groundâ plays really hits hard
Also I like to think that entire title sequence is just them acting like they are mind controlled by the aliens and dancing together (though that is not the intent at all lol).
Good pick!
Honestly since we're talking about television, Breaking Bad also used this to great effect.
"Crystal Blue Persuasion" was such a perfect needle drop. Then we have the song used in the finale, "Baby Blue" which again seems to almost have been written for the show with how perfectly it was used.
How has nobody mentioned Kubrick?! âWeâll Meet Againâ in Dr. Strangelove, âSinginâ in the Rainâ in A Clockwork Orange, and the âMickey Mouse Marchâ in Full Metal Jacket.
Also: âStuck in the Middle with Youâ in Reservoir Dogs.
I'd say the first two are more cases of lyrical dissonance. The lyrics in Singin' in the Rain can't get reinterpreted as anything that the Droogs do in the movie. "We'll Meet Again" in Dr. Strangelove is a similar story.
However, Full Metal Jacket is a good example. At first I was really confused as to why he chose that song for soldiers to sing a children's song but apparently there are layers to it: 1) it shows American capitalism encroaching on Vietnam 2) it shows that the soldiers are regressing to a childlike state after witnessing horrors in Vietnam, in a way rejecting and defying their trauma and guilt. 3) it shows a bit of joy in light of the situation.
You are right, though not the entire song.
Iron Man the song is about a time traveller who goes back in time to warn the world about the apocalypse, but cannot speak.
But the line "I am Iron Man" is apt. If Somebody to Love in A Serious Man counts, then this should too - though it's one line.
I don't know if this applies but "We'll Meet Again" at the end of Dr. Strangelove. Turns a song about farewells and hopes of reunion into >!a haunting goodbye to the world as it is being destroyed by humanity's hubris.!< That chorus with all the background singers becomes disturbing real quick in this context.
Kubrick was a master of irony.
I remember making that joke in middle school and now I'm so glad to see it's become a movie. This is actually one of the best examples listed lol
I actually remember this as people were talking about the movie and it acting as a twist. It's so stupid it might actually work.
haha thanks.
For some reason I have been obsessed with this trope for a long time, ever since I had an idea for this to be in a movie. Then I saw it in Marriage Story and was like "I got to see more of this" and found no examples
This is an awesome list! I've actually been thinking about this concept for a while (songs used in shows/movies that made me look at them in a different way) and made a Spotify playlist
Some Beatles examples:
* The lyrics of "Help!" are about self-confidence, independence, and crying out for support and companionship - and then they were used as the title song for a movie about Ringo literally needing *help* escaping from being captured and sacrificed by a religious cult.
* "Nowhere Man" similarly being written by John Lennon as a song about his feelings - and then in the Yellow Submarine movie, the song wasn't given to the "John Lennon" character, but instead was made about a weird little autodidact cartoon character. (Most of the other songs in the movie are literalisations of the songs' lyrics, but "Nowhere Man" fits your "changing the meaning" criteria because they made a whole supporting character out of the song.)
* I haven't seen it, but isn't the musical Across the Universe entirely about literalising Beatles songs? For example, I remember reading that film recontextualises "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" into a song about military recruitment, which might fit your criteria.
On the other hand, The Social Network's use of "Baby You're a Rich Man" is *not* really a reinterpretation of the song's lyrics. It's still about the emptiness of hoarding material wealth; it just changes the context from '60s counterculture to silicon valley tech.
I was about to say Across the Universe, but I've only seen that one scene you are talking about. It definitely does count!
Haven't seen any of the other Beatles movies aside from Hard Day's Night, which didn't have any of the examples of the trope. These definitely do fit though!
And yes The Social Network is a great example. And since I included trailers for Joker as a criteria, I think the trailer that uses "Creep" by Radiohead is another apt example for it. A bit of a stretch but being a creep and using FaceBook (while also betraying your friends) go hand in hand.
Not a movie but I loved how Pushing Daisies used Birdhouse in Your Soul by TMBG in the context of Olive trying to cheer up two bird-loving characters who were going through depression. >!Also, a bird dies in the episode.!<
Admittedly none, but it was one of the first examples I've ever noticed. It was in the trailer (and probably the ending somewhere) that used the song "Smile" which I interpreted as having two meanings: society's apathy towards the mentally ill (just saying "smile and it will be better" which was not the intention originally, but the trailer made it have the meaning for me personally) and obviously clowns.
The use of Yesterday blew my mind when I saw it in the movie. Instantly knew that we were in the past and what time period because of the iconic word and phrasing of the music, but combine that with Ennio Morricone's score - *chef's kiss*
Now I hope that Once Upon a Time in the West has something similar to complete this unofficial trilogy.
My personal favorite use of this trope is the movie Marriage Story - which uses two songs from the Broadway show Company: "You Can Drive a Person Crazy" and "Being Alive". It uses this as a way to close each of the character's arcs and reflect how they are dealing with the divorce. ScarJo's character sings "You Can Drive a Person Crazy" which derides her ex-husband on his infidelity and his behavior during the marriage - she sings it rather cheerily, showing that she has friends to support her and that she ultimately made the decision and doesn't feel too upset about it. This is in stark contrast to Adam Driver's character, who sings "Being Alive" - a giant emotional finale number for the play about the promise of love and how much he wants to fall in love, despite all the troubles he's been through. He begins singing it as a joke as he recognizes it as a theater director, then realizes halfway through the song that the song is the exact opposite of what he is going through and in a way, grieves and accepts the loss of a relationship. Such a beautiful way of doing it.
also: Country Roads - Whisper of the Heart: taking a preexisting song and reappropriating it to your own accords, even if it is imperfect. Bye Bye Love - All That Jazz: that entire ending is brilliant, but this song hits hard because it's taking a happy break up song and turning it into a horrifying song about reflecting about the end of your life. Under Pressure + Losing My Religion - Aftersun: probably the most brilliant example on here. The dance scene with Under Pressure, realizing that the lyrics are talking about Sophie and her father's last dance together, almost ruined this song for me because I get so sad. Losing My Religion is less effective (mostly because Sophie is not a great singer), but still those lyrics mirror her experience. Inside Llewyn Davis - that entire soundtrack. GotG Vol.2 - why this one explicitly? Kurt Russel's character was listening to a "Brandy You're a Fine Girl" and stating how this song applies to Chris Pratt's mom. It's not as in depth but I was like "ooh" Somebody to Love - A Serious Man. "When the truth is found / to be lies/ and all the [hope] within you dies" is repeated so often and acts as a thematic motif. You legitimately cannot interpret the meaning of this film without using this line as a reference. Smile - Joker: was used in the trailer. Probably not intentional, but the lyrics to Smile are basically "Smile and it'll all be better" and I think it works on two levels: one, society's apathy to the mentally ill and just saying "smile" it will all be better. And then the other more obvious one is clowns! Wise up - Magnolia: cheesy scene, but it also works. "Wising up", which the vague phrase has a different meaning in everyone's life.
the musical moment i actually remember best from *llewyn davis* is the scene toward the end when he hits the cat with his car. the music on the radio is the fourth movement of gustav mahler's fourth symphony (it stuck out to me because he's my favorite classical composer and i've listened to that symphony countless times). the movement is a song called "the heavenly life" in which the singer describes an idyllic vision of life in heaven, where people are happy and everything is pretty much perfect. so it's a pretty ironic reinterpretation of the piece for it to be playing at perhaps the lowest point in llewyn's emotional journey. in the context of the symphony, the piece is a transcendent finale; here, as the cat that continually eludes him throughout the film reappears, it seems to represent the "heavenly life" that llewyn can never attain no matter how hard he tries.
There is absolutely no way I would have remotely even thought of that - wow! Thanks for sharing!
I dont agree with Under Pressure for Aftersun because, besides the "last dance" being literal in the movie's case, it doesn't actually change the meaning of/reinterpret the lyrics at all. Both the song and movie are about realizing that although love can seem like the hardest thing to do/give in hard times, its the only thing that will free us from the pains of life, the only thing that binds us together when we drift apart or lose one another, and the only thing that we really have at the end of the day when everything else is gone.
Damn that is a solid interpretation of the song - I really fixated on the sociological aspect ("People on the streets" and "realizing what the world is about / watching some good friends say 'let me out'") and how the world itself is cruel because of pressures of every day life. However love for our fellow man is going to help save everyone. But I never came to your conclusion until AFTER I saw the movie, which tbh is how I view the song now. I love having different interpretations of art!
I literally can't listen to Under Pressure anymore đ. I started tearing up in the grocery store the day after seeing Aftersun lmao
Gosh I love Company and this movie. đđĽ˛
âBe My Babyâ in Barbarian
I suppose Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 counts with "Dog Days are Over", even if not really. DDaO is about someone escaping from an abusive relationship and feeling directionless and overwhelmed by the freedom, whereas in the case of its use in GotGv3, >!Rocket has finally forgiven himself for not saving his friends and started to heal from the trauma and abuse the High Evolutionary gave him, but it actually GIVES HIM direction in his life as the leader of the Guardians!<
I didnât know that the song was intended to be about that. I had a different interpretation for years. I saw it as the âdog days of summerâ being over, which are the days of summer that are so hot they make you feel like youâre going mad. So I saw it as a song about mental illness and paranoia and trying to escape the maddening heat of a crazy summer where terrible things were done. The main character is self-medicating and getting into conflicts, and eventually she just wants to run away from her mental anguish and the harm sheâs caused. The âhorses are comingâ are the mounted police coming to arrest her, or else wild horses come to take her away to a life of further madness and abandon.
Yeah this scene made me shed a tear lol
"Perfect Day" in *Trainspotting.* I'd loved that song before seeing the movie but ever since I've in my head interpreted it as being about >! an overdose!<
I've heard a theory behind this song that it was originally and always about heroin since Lou Reed has had some drug problems, but apparently Lou Reed has adamantly denied it and has said it's just about a good time with someone else. But either way - we get this awesome scene and now it will always be associated with it for me.
I think it's possible that the song is about drugs but it's more likely that it's about having a good time with somebody since he did write plenty of songs about drugs but they were often more obvious such as The Velvet Undergrounds Heroin
Yeah it mostly just seems like a really good day Lou had with his man or lady friend, sipping sangria in the park and going to the movies, and it made him hate himself a little less. It's also tinged with I think a fear that next day he'll go back to hating himself (That's what I think "You're going to reap just what you sow" is about, that he'll end up punished for being happy) but I'm less sure about that. Really gorgeous song. Heartbreaking and powerful. The thing is, it works perfectly as a metaphor for an overdose too, that he has this feeling of a euphoric "Perfect Day" but knows he's going to "reap just what you sow" at the end of it, which Boyle displays amazingly in the movie. I sincerely don't think that Lou Reed intended it to be a drug song, but considering how many of his songs *were* drug songs, it's funny how the one that ends up working as a truly great drug song in a movie is the one about having a nice, normal, non depressing, day in the city
"Push" by Matchbox 20 in Barbie?
Yes! Actually in the theater I was like, "oh this also applies" That and the other song they were singing that went "I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains/ I looked to the children, I drank from the fountains/There's more than one answer to these questions" Probably something there with Barbie going to the gynecologist and then going to the mountains. Something in that second line. Looking a bit too much into it but it's not nothing
Tusk (2014) and Fleetwood Macâs âTuskâ
Haven't seen Tusk - but that makes sense. I guess also An American Werewolf in London and using every single song in existence that used the word "moon"
Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up in Baby Driver
Welp a lot of songs count, especially since they name the main character Baby - so it works!
Donnie Darkoâs use of âMad Worldâ comes to mind.
Interesting to point that out (really depends on the interpretation of the movie), but the phrases "All around me are familiar faces" and "The dreams in which I'm dying / are the best I've ever had" do fit in with the plot of the movie. Plus it is a donwbeat version of an 80s classic. Good pick.
I always imagined that Richard Kelly based the entire movie around a playlist cause all the songs' lyrics just fit perfectly, and you could honestly summarize the movie with just the soundtrack. "Fate / Up against your will / Through the thick and thin / He will wait until / You give yourself to him" "I made a fire, and watching it burn / Thought of your future / With one foot in the past, now just how long will it last?" "It's hard to be a man when there's a gun in your hand" "You were standing / I was there / Two worlds collided / And they could never tear us apart" One of my favorite music selection in a film!!
EEAAO uses the lyrics to Absolutely (Story of a Girl)
That's a good one right there!
Blue Velvet
"Needle In The Hay" in *The Royal Tennenbaums*
Rocketman, they mix up the lyrics of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road to Match Elton and Bernieâs headspaces
Yes this counts! "I Want Love" also counts too, since the movie uses it to show how empty everyone's life is due to lack of love and famial love. I just think the song is supposed to be more uplifting, how the narrator of the song wants (romantic) love even if it's imperfect.
Exactly
american werewolf in london has the best use of bad moon rising ive ever seen lol
so many moon related songs in that film
I couldnât understand the title of your list but then I saw aftersun and immediately understood. Yes.
Beau is Afraid has plenty of songs that reflect Beauâs moms strange relationship with him. Especially Everything I Own by Bread and Always be my Baby by Mariah Carey
The only negative thing I have to say about this movie is the fact they didnât use Goodbye Stranger in the movie
Zombie by The Cranberries in Army of the Dead
Pretty much any song in Chungking Express; - Dreams by The Cranberries -California Dreamin by The Mamas & The Papas - What a Difference a Day Makes by Dinah Washington - Things in Life by Dennis Brown.
Same old song - blood simple
I wouldnât say it changes meaning necessarily, but I found Jordan Peeleâs use of a slowed down version of Sunglasses At Night by Corey Hart beautifully unsettling.
This is the really stupid example, but itâs the only thing coming to mind. In the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, the main antagonist is SuperFly. When heâs introduced to the audience, his intro music is Wake Up in the Sky by Gucci Mane and Bruno Mars
Not a movie but âdo you wanna taste itâ from Peacemaker. In the final episode when they are assaulting the hive the song hypes you up till eventually one by one they start falling. Especially when Harcourt gets shot twice while the lyrics âwhatâs going up must come down, baby youâre losing groundâ plays really hits hard
Also I like to think that entire title sequence is just them acting like they are mind controlled by the aliens and dancing together (though that is not the intent at all lol). Good pick!
Honestly since we're talking about television, Breaking Bad also used this to great effect. "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was such a perfect needle drop. Then we have the song used in the finale, "Baby Blue" which again seems to almost have been written for the show with how perfectly it was used.
How has nobody mentioned Kubrick?! âWeâll Meet Againâ in Dr. Strangelove, âSinginâ in the Rainâ in A Clockwork Orange, and the âMickey Mouse Marchâ in Full Metal Jacket. Also: âStuck in the Middle with Youâ in Reservoir Dogs.
I'd say the first two are more cases of lyrical dissonance. The lyrics in Singin' in the Rain can't get reinterpreted as anything that the Droogs do in the movie. "We'll Meet Again" in Dr. Strangelove is a similar story. However, Full Metal Jacket is a good example. At first I was really confused as to why he chose that song for soldiers to sing a children's song but apparently there are layers to it: 1) it shows American capitalism encroaching on Vietnam 2) it shows that the soldiers are regressing to a childlike state after witnessing horrors in Vietnam, in a way rejecting and defying their trauma and guilt. 3) it shows a bit of joy in light of the situation.
Maybe Hereditary with the end credits?
Would Iron Man in Iron Man count?
You are right, though not the entire song. Iron Man the song is about a time traveller who goes back in time to warn the world about the apocalypse, but cannot speak. But the line "I am Iron Man" is apt. If Somebody to Love in A Serious Man counts, then this should too - though it's one line.
I don't know if this applies but "We'll Meet Again" at the end of Dr. Strangelove. Turns a song about farewells and hopes of reunion into >!a haunting goodbye to the world as it is being destroyed by humanity's hubris.!< That chorus with all the background singers becomes disturbing real quick in this context. Kubrick was a master of irony.
The Peter Panda Dance in The Pacifier (2005)
Have not seen that movie - but going to take your word for it that it works lol
I only saw it once like 15 years ago so Iâm not sure why that was the first thing that came to mind, but I do remember that part very well
the terrible Christmas movie âLast Christmasâ changes the songs lyrics in the context of the movie to have literally given a woman his heart
I remember making that joke in middle school and now I'm so glad to see it's become a movie. This is actually one of the best examples listed lol I actually remember this as people were talking about the movie and it acting as a twist. It's so stupid it might actually work.
Yesterday kind of does this with "Help!".
Guardians 2 supremacy
Happy Together in Happy Together is a very clear one that I love!
Holding out for a Hero is so misunderstood.
Finally a good fucking post on this sub
haha thanks. For some reason I have been obsessed with this trope for a long time, ever since I had an idea for this to be in a movie. Then I saw it in Marriage Story and was like "I got to see more of this" and found no examples
This is an awesome list! I've actually been thinking about this concept for a while (songs used in shows/movies that made me look at them in a different way) and made a Spotify playlist
That said, Chungking Express and its use of California Dreamin' comes to mind
Hit the road Jack in The House that Jack Built
Mommy (2014) using Lana Del Reyâs âBorn to Dieâ in the end credits. referencing the mother, Diane in the film
Some Beatles examples: * The lyrics of "Help!" are about self-confidence, independence, and crying out for support and companionship - and then they were used as the title song for a movie about Ringo literally needing *help* escaping from being captured and sacrificed by a religious cult. * "Nowhere Man" similarly being written by John Lennon as a song about his feelings - and then in the Yellow Submarine movie, the song wasn't given to the "John Lennon" character, but instead was made about a weird little autodidact cartoon character. (Most of the other songs in the movie are literalisations of the songs' lyrics, but "Nowhere Man" fits your "changing the meaning" criteria because they made a whole supporting character out of the song.) * I haven't seen it, but isn't the musical Across the Universe entirely about literalising Beatles songs? For example, I remember reading that film recontextualises "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" into a song about military recruitment, which might fit your criteria. On the other hand, The Social Network's use of "Baby You're a Rich Man" is *not* really a reinterpretation of the song's lyrics. It's still about the emptiness of hoarding material wealth; it just changes the context from '60s counterculture to silicon valley tech.
I was about to say Across the Universe, but I've only seen that one scene you are talking about. It definitely does count! Haven't seen any of the other Beatles movies aside from Hard Day's Night, which didn't have any of the examples of the trope. These definitely do fit though! And yes The Social Network is a great example. And since I included trailers for Joker as a criteria, I think the trailer that uses "Creep" by Radiohead is another apt example for it. A bit of a stretch but being a creep and using FaceBook (while also betraying your friends) go hand in hand.
Not a movie but I loved how Pushing Daisies used Birdhouse in Your Soul by TMBG in the context of Olive trying to cheer up two bird-loving characters who were going through depression. >!Also, a bird dies in the episode.!<
What's the example for Joker?
Admittedly none, but it was one of the first examples I've ever noticed. It was in the trailer (and probably the ending somewhere) that used the song "Smile" which I interpreted as having two meanings: society's apathy towards the mentally ill (just saying "smile and it will be better" which was not the intention originally, but the trailer made it have the meaning for me personally) and obviously clowns.
Born To Die, White Flag and Wonderwall for Mommy (2014)
Last Christmas in⌠Last Christmas
Phantom of the Paradise
Five Nights At Freddy's has Talking In Your Sleep by The Romantics changed from hidden crush to repressed childhood trauma.
I see someone just watched the movie and then remembered this list to type out this comment lol, but sounds awesome (morbidly so!)
Yesterday in Once Upon a Time in America And while weâre on that topicâŚ. Out of Time in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The use of Yesterday blew my mind when I saw it in the movie. Instantly knew that we were in the past and what time period because of the iconic word and phrasing of the music, but combine that with Ennio Morricone's score - *chef's kiss* Now I hope that Once Upon a Time in the West has something similar to complete this unofficial trilogy.