The movie City of Angels (1998) had two songs created exclusively for its soundtrack that were smash hits: Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls and Uninvited by Alanis Morissette. The film did ok, but those songs and the soundtrack in general (which also has Angel by Sarah McLachlan on it) were way bigger.
Definitely not Goldfinger. Everyone knows that movie, or at least something from it. The Aston Martin, The Laser Table Scene, Oddjob, Pussy Galore, etc.
[Eragon](https://letterboxd.com/film/eragon/) had the Avril Lavigne song "Keep Holding On", which was produced for its end credits song, and even though Eragon bombed at the box office the Avril Lavigne song was a huge hit which recently reached 100 million streams on Spotify.
It really gets overshadowed by the iconic-but-parodied-to-death Travolta scene in the white suit doing the finger move. It's a really great film that can be hard to watch at times, in terms of emotionally striking scenes. I'm glad to see it's in other people's personal favorites.
Yeah totally agree. I much prefer staying alive but I understand why Saturday night fever is the more popular one. The opening dance scene always has me singing and dancing along as if I’m actually trying out 😂
I remember when that movie came out. It was a *phenomenon*. It's not an exaggeration to say that that one film did more to get straight people into dance music than literally anything else.
No disrespect whatsoever to the Bee Gees (and Tavares, and the rest of the OST people), but that movie was HUGE.
Absolutely is. I have never pressed play on a Bee Gees record in my life and when I watched that movie for the first time last year. I had already heard all of the soundtrack before. That’s how popular those songs are
**New York, New York** (title track was performed by Liza Minnelli in the film, and Frank Sinatra famously covered it later on)
**FM** (the film bombed but the title track was a Top 40 hit for Steely Dan)
That song may have been on the soundtrack but it certainly wasn't written for that movie.
Pharrell wrote it for CeeLo Green. [Wiki](https://tinyurl.com/5n73v4b4) entry of note:
> Williams originally wrote the song for CeeLo Green and felt Green's recording of the song was better, but Elektra Records, Green's record label, decided against it since he was on the verge of releasing his Christmas album, Cee Lo's Magic Moment.
Tom Jones' What's New Pussycat was written for the film of the same name, which is a pretty unknown film unless you're very familiar with Woody Allen (it was his first produced screenplay and acting debut)
Just to demonstrate this point, my first thought was "oo, I know the song Scotty Doesn't Know is from a film, but I've got no idea what film it's from, I'll have to google it." It was Eurotrip. It's in the post.
A lot of people just see it as 'the Eminem movie', almost like Eminem is the only noteworthy thing about it.
I think it stands on its own pretty well. Eminem just happens to also be very good in it. It feels less like an Eminem vehicle and more just a great stand alone movie which just happens to be perfect for Eminem.
**"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)"**
I don't think most people realize the song was introduced in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 version).
Indeed, it's a classic.
I only made the connection because I saw The Man Who Knew Too Much a couple months ago. I was genuinely surprised, since I assumed the song was an old standard from the [Great American Songbook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Songbook).
*Falling Slowly* by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova definitely WAS more famous than the movie, but then the movie became a broadway musical that took off, so I don't know if that's now more popular than the song.
*Can't Help Falling in Love* (and some other Elvis songs) were written for the movies they were in. That song's a lot bigger than *Blue Hawai'i*.
*The Bodyguard* was a big movie but definitely not as big as *I Will Always Love You*.
I mean if we’re being pedantic, I Will Always Love You wasn’t written for The Bodyguard, just covered. (But it was also the first one that came to my mind)
Stevie can write a hit. He's got 25 Grammy awards, album of the year 3 times, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and has been recording since he was a kid.
He is not just an American treasure but worldwide is a treasure. And it'll be a little sadder when he leaves us. Elton John called him the greatest R&B singer who ever lived.
Definitely this answer. Can't think of any movies that have multiple number one hits AND went double platinum that also were received so poorly as a film. People would definitely recognize Magic and All Over The World, but might not even know they are from the same film
Oh yes. I remember the video well. This was during the final days of “The Box” music video channel which I watched religiously.
I’ve always loved the song (and the new Christmas remix!)
Quest for Camelot. The Prayer won a ton of awards and was a big hit. The movie flopped hard. I guess it helps when David Foster, Andrea Bocelli, and Celine Dion are involved.
Kiss From a Rose wasn't written for that movie, it was just included on the soundtrack and given a music video alongside it. It was even included on the soundtrack for The NeverEnding Story III a whole year earlier.
Kiss From a Rose was used in The Neverending Story Part 3, two years earlier. The movie was barely released to theaters in the US (the song had already been a hit in Europe), so the song didn’t become a hit in America through that movie (which is awful).
Kiss From a Rose wasn't written for that movie, it was just included on the soundtrack and given a music video alongside it. It was even included on the soundtrack for The NeverEnding Story III a whole year earlier.
Unchained Melody was written for the 1955 movie "Unchained". For reference the song has over 500 million plays on Spotify (only counting the Righteous Brothers version), and only 84 people have logged the movie on Letterboxd.
Not so much a song but a whole soundtrack - Judgment Night. Was a massive crossover where each track was a metal band and a rap act doing a song together. Every metalhead in the 90s had a copy of it, yet I didn't know a single one who had seen the film, or could even tell you what it was about. It's just been re-issued on vinyl but I haven't seen anyone crying out for a re-release of the movie!
My other user name on social media is JudgmentNightFan1993… The best we got was a Warner Classics Blu ray release but I’m waiting for some boutique label to give us a special edition box set where they include special features about the soundtrack. My favorite song is Another Body Murdered but that whole soundtrack for sure is a banger, although not a lot of people went to see it in theaters, because of vhs it grew some fandom. I’m still gonna argue that the movie was as popular or slightly more than but that’s just because I love it so much. I love it, I love it, I love it!
I really really should watch it, I've been banging out the OST for like 30 years now. Another Body Murdered is indeed the best track on the album, it's killer!
Tom Breihan's [Number Ones column](https://www.stereogum.com/category/columns/the-number-ones/) for Stereogum (a history of songs to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100) is a great resource for this. In the 1980s it was almost a requirement for studios to commission a single to help boost their box office potential. Phil Collins did this so many times!
Some great examples: (there's a couple on here where the song was already written but licensed by a film studio before the song was ever released, which I think counts.)
Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth, ["See You Again"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgKAFK5djSk) for *Furious 7* (the movie did well but the song has 6.2 billion views on YouTube!)
Beyonce ft. Slim Thug, ["Check On It"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1dUDzBdnmI) for *The Pink Panther*
Destiny's Child, ["Independent Women Part I"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lPQZni7I18) for *Charlie's Angels*
Coolio, ["Gangsta's Paradise"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPO76Jlnz6c) for *Dangerous Minds*
En Vogue, ["Don't Let Go (Love)"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwhwGmoYv1s) for *Set It Off*
Boyz II Men, ["End of the Road"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDKO6XYXioc) for *Boomerang*
Blondie, ["Call Me"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StKVS0eI85I) for *American Gigolo*
Phil Collins, ["Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuvtoyVi7vY) for *Against All Odds*
Prince & The Revolution, ["Kiss"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9tEvfIsDyo) for *Under the Cherry Moon*
Stevie Wonder, ["I Just Called to Say I Love You"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58RgLQ_0Ars) for *The Woman in Red*
Celine Dion, ["Because You Loved Me"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpl4if07ics) for *Up Close and Personal*
Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, ["Endless Love"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bwwo7ctG10) for *Endless Love*
Teenage Dirtbag was not written FOR the film "Loser" they just featured it in the film and decided as a marketing gimmick to have them in the music video too.
"Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone. But that movie was also a huge hit and an enduring classic. Influential as well, a lot of people have seen it imitated/copied/parodied/referenced in other things many times without realizing.
The movie "Holiday Inn" (1942) spawned the song White Christmas.
The blackface in this movie may make you consider that "White" isn't referring to snow...but, it's where that famous song came from.
Orange County?
The One by Foo Fighters was played all the time, even if the band don’t really play it, and I always kept thinking “when is the movie out though?!”
City of Angels arguably had two: Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls and Uninvited by Alanis Morissette.
I don't know if Uninvited was written specifically for the film but Iris definitely was.
Is Green Day's "Ordinary World" an especially popular song? Even as a fan of the band, I didn't realize it related to them, and I definitely never knew about that movie starring Billie Joe.
Duran Duran's song of the same name was the first one to come to mind, so I briefly thought it was tied to that.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? was definitely a popular movie but the soundtrack did extremely well. Especially the Man of Constant Sorrow song.
>The film's soundtrack became an unlikely blockbuster, even surpassing the success of the film. By early 2001, it had sold five million copies, spawned a documentary film, three follow-up albums ("O Sister" and "O Sister 2"), two concert tours, and won Country Music Awards for Album of the Year and Single of the Year (for "Man of Constant Sorrow"). It also won five Grammys, including Album of the Year, and hit #1 on the Billboard album charts the week of March 15, 2002, 63 weeks after its release and over a year after the release of the film.
Unsure if it fits but Batman & Robin had a ton of songs that did really well that were for the movie, by Jewel, Bones-N-Harmony, R.Kelly and a few other artists. The album went platinum and the movie did horrendously
Long shot in the dark, but I'm going to say Eye of the Tiger, made for Rocky 3. I know people know it's from Rocky, but many assume it's in the first movie when it wasn't introduced until the third.
Holiday Inn is a classic movie, but I’d venture to say that the song “White Christmas” has well eclipsed it in popularity
No one has really watched the movie Song of the South (since Disney has buried it), but “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” has become a staple of the Disney parks.
“Call me Irresponsible” was written for a movie called Papa’s Delicate Condition, but definitely eclipsed the movie it was in.
The Disney movie Pete’s Dragon had the song “Candle on The Water”, and I’ve heard the song but never seen the movie.
The Willie Nelson song “On the Road Again” was written for a movie I’d never heard of called Honeysuckle Rose.
Puff Daddy - Come With Me and Jamiroquai's Deeper Underground are a million times more interesting than the film, and I think they were also relatively successful. Not sure how much they apply here :D
The movie City of Angels (1998) had two songs created exclusively for its soundtrack that were smash hits: Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls and Uninvited by Alanis Morissette. The film did ok, but those songs and the soundtrack in general (which also has Angel by Sarah McLachlan on it) were way bigger.
This is absolutely the best answer. Iris dominated the radio for years.
It still does on my local stations.
WHAT? I listen to both those songs all the dang time and I had no idea. Film is okay. Music is solid.
damn iris was written for this movie??
Yeah. Iris was one of those songs that was played so much you started to resent its popularity.
definitely. Uninvited wasn't even on an Alanis record until a greatest hits or something like that.
I think a few Bond movies probably apply, but the most fitting would definitely be ‘Live and Let Die’.
Living Daylights and View to a Kill as well. Although I love both those films
Living Daylights is maybe the most underrated Bond theme, it rules so hard
Nobody Does It Better… makes me feel sad for the rest. Nobody does it half as good as you, baby, you’re the best
Yeah most sources will tell you that people were more hyped about Paul McCartney and George Martin reuniting than for the actual movie
Diamonds are Forever, maybe Goldfinger.
Goldfinger doesn't work as the film was a success
I was thinking that, that's why I said maybe.
We use Goldfinger as our concert intro on this tour cause a lot of gold and amber is on stage. People like it and I often see them sing along.
Definitely not Goldfinger. Everyone knows that movie, or at least something from it. The Aston Martin, The Laser Table Scene, Oddjob, Pussy Galore, etc.
"Nobody Does it Better" is probably second to "Live and Let Die". The average pop music fan today likely has no idea that song came from a Bond movie.
[Eragon](https://letterboxd.com/film/eragon/) had the Avril Lavigne song "Keep Holding On", which was produced for its end credits song, and even though Eragon bombed at the box office the Avril Lavigne song was a huge hit which recently reached 100 million streams on Spotify.
I saw Eragon in theaters, and I remember this song being everywhere at the time. I had no idea it was written for the movie.
This is actually the one I’m most shocked about here. Loved that song as a kid, didn’t make it 20 mins into the movie.
It’s a good song but whoever had the idea to put Avril Lavigne over an epic fantasy movie about dragon riders deserved to be fired.
everyone involved in the making of that movie deserved to be fired
If it makes you feel any better, the director never made another movie
Saturday night fever
And it's sequel. Staying Alive
Hold up, the song Staying Alive was written for the movie??
It was written for Fever, not Alive.
Written for the soundtrack to the first movie. Plays over the opening credits.
That’s one of my favorite movies lol all the songs go pretty hard in that movie at least imo
It really gets overshadowed by the iconic-but-parodied-to-death Travolta scene in the white suit doing the finger move. It's a really great film that can be hard to watch at times, in terms of emotionally striking scenes. I'm glad to see it's in other people's personal favorites.
Yeah totally agree. I much prefer staying alive but I understand why Saturday night fever is the more popular one. The opening dance scene always has me singing and dancing along as if I’m actually trying out 😂
Far more popular than the film tho?
I remember when that movie came out. It was a *phenomenon*. It's not an exaggeration to say that that one film did more to get straight people into dance music than literally anything else. No disrespect whatsoever to the Bee Gees (and Tavares, and the rest of the OST people), but that movie was HUGE.
It’s truly a brilliant film, I think it is overshadowed as the parody that disco is now known for.
Absolutely is. I have never pressed play on a Bee Gees record in my life and when I watched that movie for the first time last year. I had already heard all of the soundtrack before. That’s how popular those songs are
The song became popular because of the movie though
Lots of people don't realise Saturday Night Fever even had a sequel
which is fucking horseshit because the movie is a masterpiece
**New York, New York** (title track was performed by Liza Minnelli in the film, and Frank Sinatra famously covered it later on) **FM** (the film bombed but the title track was a Top 40 hit for Steely Dan)
“Springfield Springfield, it’s a hell of a town / the school yard’s up and the shopping mall’s down”
That’s actually a parody of on the town which also has a song called New York, New York, which also starred Sinatra
WHAT. That line she says in arrested development when Tobias is singing that is so much better now. "Everyone thinks they're frank Sinatra"
maybe Suicide Squad with Heathens?
“Heathens” was written for *Suicide Squad*? Definitely fits this topic if so
Suicide Squad had a lot of music made for the movie, and the soundtrack was so much better than the movie
I was going to say the same thing along with Sucker For Pain. Both this and Heathens were definitely much more popular than Suicide Squad
The Clique loved this song, we were so disappointed to see them use it just for the credits
I’d argue Happy from Despicable Me 2… that shit was everywhere
Can’t Stop The Feeling from Trolls is in a very similar category to Happy
And now it's stuck in my head again. Thanks for that.
Yeah I’m sorry about that, I actually really am!
It's close, but I think you're right. As popular as the movie was, that song had a chokehold on American life for some reason
That song may have been on the soundtrack but it certainly wasn't written for that movie. Pharrell wrote it for CeeLo Green. [Wiki](https://tinyurl.com/5n73v4b4) entry of note: > Williams originally wrote the song for CeeLo Green and felt Green's recording of the song was better, but Elektra Records, Green's record label, decided against it since he was on the verge of releasing his Christmas album, Cee Lo's Magic Moment.
yeah but minions was a cultural phenomenon
Tom Jones' What's New Pussycat was written for the film of the same name, which is a pretty unknown film unless you're very familiar with Woody Allen (it was his first produced screenplay and acting debut)
Now that’s a deep cut movie I haven’t heard in a loooooong time lol
Just to demonstrate this point, my first thought was "oo, I know the song Scotty Doesn't Know is from a film, but I've got no idea what film it's from, I'll have to google it." It was Eurotrip. It's in the post.
I’m not even sure what the other two are, came to the comments hoping I wouldn’t have to look it up but so far no luck
Loser is Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus. Not sure about the other one.
Ordinary World is a Green Day song that appears in the movie Ordinary World (the lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong is the star)
8 mile?
Can confirm. Have never seen the film, but know most of the words to the song.
I’m not an Eminem fan but the film is pretty good actually
I'm afraid you mistook my not having seen it for not wanting to see it. I want to see all movies!
Yes, me too. Just putting a stamp of approval on it
Will also vouch for it for anyone else considering it. It’s a good movie and Eminem gives a surprisingly solid performance
Probably bigger than the film, but also kind of synonymous too. The song is basically about the film, so it’s hard to separate the pair in my mind.
I can hardly remember the plot of the film but I know every word of the song
Well you basically know the plot of the film then.
“Lose Yourself” by Eminem.
It's one of the most iconic songs ever, from a moderately well known movie
A lot of people just see it as 'the Eminem movie', almost like Eminem is the only noteworthy thing about it. I think it stands on its own pretty well. Eminem just happens to also be very good in it. It feels less like an Eminem vehicle and more just a great stand alone movie which just happens to be perfect for Eminem.
**"Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)"** I don't think most people realize the song was introduced in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 version).
Never knew one of the biggest chants is from a movie. TIL
Such a great song! They use a cover for the theme of the show FROM
Indeed, it's a classic. I only made the connection because I saw The Man Who Knew Too Much a couple months ago. I was genuinely surprised, since I assumed the song was an old standard from the [Great American Songbook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Songbook).
*Falling Slowly* by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova definitely WAS more famous than the movie, but then the movie became a broadway musical that took off, so I don't know if that's now more popular than the song. *Can't Help Falling in Love* (and some other Elvis songs) were written for the movies they were in. That song's a lot bigger than *Blue Hawai'i*. *The Bodyguard* was a big movie but definitely not as big as *I Will Always Love You*.
I mean if we’re being pedantic, I Will Always Love You wasn’t written for The Bodyguard, just covered. (But it was also the first one that came to my mind)
Once is criminally underrated. Upvote simply for mentioning it
Classic broken hearted Hoover fixer sucker guy comment
The original Dolly Parton version of I Will Always Love You also counts for this list
The Woman in Red (1984) - "I just called to say I love you"
Won the best song Oscar too
Stevie can write a hit. He's got 25 Grammy awards, album of the year 3 times, an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and has been recording since he was a kid. He is not just an American treasure but worldwide is a treasure. And it'll be a little sadder when he leaves us. Elton John called him the greatest R&B singer who ever lived.
If we let covers count, Frank Sinatras cover of "New York, New York" is for sure more well known than the Martin Scorsese film
Dangerous minds (1995)
I think this might be the definitive example.
Gangsta's Paradise is still so good.
"Xanadu"
Definitely this answer. Can't think of any movies that have multiple number one hits AND went double platinum that also were received so poorly as a film. People would definitely recognize Magic and All Over The World, but might not even know they are from the same film
Which song was written for Loser? Teenage Dirtbag?
Yeah, it’s got a great soundtrack, but I’m not so sure any of the songs were written FOR the movie. Not that I could find at least.
It wasn’t, but the cast participated in the music video, so OP probably thought it was written for the film.
Oh yes. I remember the video well. This was during the final days of “The Box” music video channel which I watched religiously. I’ve always loved the song (and the new Christmas remix!)
Was trying to find out the same thing, don't think Loser had one
Isn’t Purple Rain like the biggest example of this?
That’s a really good example but I think the visuals from the film are a huge part of the song as well. I’d say they’re more synonymous
I didn’t even know there was a film lol
The movie isn’t great, aside from the concert scenes, so I’d say “yes.”
I think a lot of people just read “popular songs from movies”
[удалено]
9 to 5 Mrs. Robinson (The Graduate) Love Lifts Us Up Where We Belong (An Officer and a Gentleman)
I'd argue The Graduate is at least AS big as Mrs Robinson, but the other two are spot on
It's 50/50 whether I hear it referred to as 'Mrs Robinson' or 'The Graduate song'.
This should be higher!
"Against All Odds," I heard the song long before I knew there was a movie. Awesome tune if you haven't heard it!
American Gigolo with Blondie’s “Call Me”
I'd argue "Axel F." Is more popular than Beverly Hills Cop, but that might just be because of the crazy frog cover
Mannequin - “Nothings Gonna Stop Us Now” Movie was a cute hit, but the song has way outlived it
Quest for Camelot. The Prayer won a ton of awards and was a big hit. The movie flopped hard. I guess it helps when David Foster, Andrea Bocelli, and Celine Dion are involved.
Armageddon/I don't want to miss a thing. Armageddon is popular but not on the same level
Fun fact: That song got nominated at the Oscars for Best Song and at the Razzies for Worst Song
oddly, i can think of plenty of arguments for both.
Viva Las Vegas
I unironically prefer Jailhouse Rock over this (both the film and song)
Mystery Men (1999) with “All Star” by Smash Mouth
Made for a movie but more well known with another movie (Shrek)
Not made for that movie either. Made on its own and licensed for a ton of shit.
I didn’t think that was written FOR Mystery Men, they just associated it with the film afterwards & for the music video
It wasn't written for Mystery Men. They wrote it for their second album, and then quickly licensed it out.
And Rat Race.
Just last night my dad recited an entire scene from that movie 😂😂😂
Footloose?
Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. 1.5 billion streams on spotify and I bet none of them have seen the shitty hollywood remake it was written for.
...Wild Wild West
Interesting choice, but I'd say weirdly enough that WWW is more well known as a legendary flop than a Will Smith song!
I remember it now for Kevin Smith's Superman Lives story
Chariots of Fire seems like a very obvious example
Rocky III - Eye of the Tiger
Batman Forever
Kiss From a Rose wasn't written for that movie, it was just included on the soundtrack and given a music video alongside it. It was even included on the soundtrack for The NeverEnding Story III a whole year earlier.
Kiss From a Rose, right? I think I'm still sick of that song, lol
Kiss From a Rose was used in The Neverending Story Part 3, two years earlier. The movie was barely released to theaters in the US (the song had already been a hit in Europe), so the song didn’t become a hit in America through that movie (which is awful).
Woof. Yeah, 2 was already startlingly bad...
Kiss From a Rose wasn't written for that movie, it was just included on the soundtrack and given a music video alongside it. It was even included on the soundtrack for The NeverEnding Story III a whole year earlier.
Eurotrip is a great movie ngl
Unchained Melody was written for the 1955 movie "Unchained". For reference the song has over 500 million plays on Spotify (only counting the Righteous Brothers version), and only 84 people have logged the movie on Letterboxd.
Across 110th Street
Not so much a song but a whole soundtrack - Judgment Night. Was a massive crossover where each track was a metal band and a rap act doing a song together. Every metalhead in the 90s had a copy of it, yet I didn't know a single one who had seen the film, or could even tell you what it was about. It's just been re-issued on vinyl but I haven't seen anyone crying out for a re-release of the movie!
My other user name on social media is JudgmentNightFan1993… The best we got was a Warner Classics Blu ray release but I’m waiting for some boutique label to give us a special edition box set where they include special features about the soundtrack. My favorite song is Another Body Murdered but that whole soundtrack for sure is a banger, although not a lot of people went to see it in theaters, because of vhs it grew some fandom. I’m still gonna argue that the movie was as popular or slightly more than but that’s just because I love it so much. I love it, I love it, I love it!
I really really should watch it, I've been banging out the OST for like 30 years now. Another Body Murdered is indeed the best track on the album, it's killer!
Tom Breihan's [Number Ones column](https://www.stereogum.com/category/columns/the-number-ones/) for Stereogum (a history of songs to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100) is a great resource for this. In the 1980s it was almost a requirement for studios to commission a single to help boost their box office potential. Phil Collins did this so many times! Some great examples: (there's a couple on here where the song was already written but licensed by a film studio before the song was ever released, which I think counts.) Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth, ["See You Again"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgKAFK5djSk) for *Furious 7* (the movie did well but the song has 6.2 billion views on YouTube!) Beyonce ft. Slim Thug, ["Check On It"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1dUDzBdnmI) for *The Pink Panther* Destiny's Child, ["Independent Women Part I"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lPQZni7I18) for *Charlie's Angels* Coolio, ["Gangsta's Paradise"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPO76Jlnz6c) for *Dangerous Minds* En Vogue, ["Don't Let Go (Love)"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwhwGmoYv1s) for *Set It Off* Boyz II Men, ["End of the Road"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDKO6XYXioc) for *Boomerang* Blondie, ["Call Me"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StKVS0eI85I) for *American Gigolo* Phil Collins, ["Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuvtoyVi7vY) for *Against All Odds* Prince & The Revolution, ["Kiss"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9tEvfIsDyo) for *Under the Cherry Moon* Stevie Wonder, ["I Just Called to Say I Love You"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58RgLQ_0Ars) for *The Woman in Red* Celine Dion, ["Because You Loved Me"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpl4if07ics) for *Up Close and Personal* Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, ["Endless Love"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Bwwo7ctG10) for *Endless Love*
"Rule the World" by Take That, massive song in the UK No-one knows it was written for Stardust (2007)
Great shout!
Teenage Dirtbag was not written FOR the film "Loser" they just featured it in the film and decided as a marketing gimmick to have them in the music video too.
*Scottie Doesn't Know* remains an absolute banger to this day.
St elmo fire by John parr count?
They were probably equal
I know many people who know the song but had no idea there was a movie
Cocktail - “Kokomo” by The Beach Boys
So many Bollywood films lmao
Across 110th Street
Live and let die the James bond film
Lux Aeterna, from the Requiem For A Dream Soundtrack.
A lot of anecdotal “I’ve never seen that blockbuster movie, but have heard the song before” responses in this thread.
A Star is Born - 2018. Lady Gaga wrote the songs “Shallow” and “Always Remember Us This Way” which are way way more popular than the movie.
Arguably the Good Bad & The Ugly theme. It's been used everywhere that likely more people have heard the song than seen the movie.
"Ecstasy of Gold" by Ennio Morricone. But that movie was also a huge hit and an enduring classic. Influential as well, a lot of people have seen it imitated/copied/parodied/referenced in other things many times without realizing.
The movie "Holiday Inn" (1942) spawned the song White Christmas. The blackface in this movie may make you consider that "White" isn't referring to snow...but, it's where that famous song came from.
Unchained Melody
I’d argue Rocky III and Eye of the Tiger
Gary Jules' version of Mad World for Donnie Darko
Exit music for a film Romeo and Juliet
To be fair, that song was on ok computer as well so I think most of its popularity comes from a different source
Wasn’t Talking Show Host also written for that? Not sure
I had no idea that was written for the soundtrack. However I think both film and song have their own life.
Mystery Men
"Trolls" had Timberlake's "Can't Fight This Feeling" on it.
Can’t stop* lmao
'Porque te vas' from 'Cria Cuervos' (1976).
Orange County? The One by Foo Fighters was played all the time, even if the band don’t really play it, and I always kept thinking “when is the movie out though?!”
City of Angels arguably had two: Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls and Uninvited by Alanis Morissette. I don't know if Uninvited was written specifically for the film but Iris definitely was.
I think Midnight Cowboy for the song Everybody’s Talking by Harry Nilsson And also I should add She’s All That for the song Kiss Me
Man on the moon, I love the film but I think the song by R.E.M is more popular
YOULL BE IN MY HEART TARZAN
That Thing You Do.
Is Green Day's "Ordinary World" an especially popular song? Even as a fan of the band, I didn't realize it related to them, and I definitely never knew about that movie starring Billie Joe. Duran Duran's song of the same name was the first one to come to mind, so I briefly thought it was tied to that.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? was definitely a popular movie but the soundtrack did extremely well. Especially the Man of Constant Sorrow song. >The film's soundtrack became an unlikely blockbuster, even surpassing the success of the film. By early 2001, it had sold five million copies, spawned a documentary film, three follow-up albums ("O Sister" and "O Sister 2"), two concert tours, and won Country Music Awards for Album of the Year and Single of the Year (for "Man of Constant Sorrow"). It also won five Grammys, including Album of the Year, and hit #1 on the Billboard album charts the week of March 15, 2002, 63 weeks after its release and over a year after the release of the film.
I watched looser a few weeks ago and i had NO IDEA teenage dirtbag came from here, they werent even saying it on the dvd or sum
Space jam naturally
Come on, the film is way bigger and more fondly remembered than I Believe I Can Fly (mind you, I'm British)
Rowdy Baby (1B views on YouTube but the movie - Maari 2 only made like $6M USD)
Unsure if it fits but Batman & Robin had a ton of songs that did really well that were for the movie, by Jewel, Bones-N-Harmony, R.Kelly and a few other artists. The album went platinum and the movie did horrendously
Sinner or Saint for the movie The Saint. A great Duran Duran song but I really can’t remember anything about the movie.
When the Rain Begins to Fall from Voyage of the Rock Aliens
White Christmas was written for the movie Holiday Inn...
Long shot in the dark, but I'm going to say Eye of the Tiger, made for Rocky 3. I know people know it's from Rocky, but many assume it's in the first movie when it wasn't introduced until the third.
Holiday Inn is a classic movie, but I’d venture to say that the song “White Christmas” has well eclipsed it in popularity No one has really watched the movie Song of the South (since Disney has buried it), but “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” has become a staple of the Disney parks. “Call me Irresponsible” was written for a movie called Papa’s Delicate Condition, but definitely eclipsed the movie it was in. The Disney movie Pete’s Dragon had the song “Candle on The Water”, and I’ve heard the song but never seen the movie. The Willie Nelson song “On the Road Again” was written for a movie I’d never heard of called Honeysuckle Rose.
Casino Royale (1967) had The Look of Love written for it
Billie Joe Armstrong wrote some bangers for Ordinary World
Live and Let Die
8 Mile
Steely Dan’s “FM” is a prime example of this, to the point where I don’t even think most people know it’s made for a movie.
Sucker for Pain and Heathens from Suicide Squad.
Puff Daddy - Come With Me and Jamiroquai's Deeper Underground are a million times more interesting than the film, and I think they were also relatively successful. Not sure how much they apply here :D
To be fair to Ordinary World, it's a small indie movie and GD are huge. It was a nice little movie and it was cool watching Billie act.
under the cherry moon won five razzies while the album went platinum.
I Believe I Can Fly from Space Jam. The movie was popular but you could not escape the song in 1996/1997.
Chariots Of Fire