10 Songs I’ll Always Associate With Quentin Tarantino Movies

The other day, I overheard my friend singing Luis Bacalov’s “His Name was King” to his 2 year-old son. It’s a song that my friend had discovered while watching Django Unchained. And by divine providence, his 2 year-old just happens to have a toy horse named “King”, a precedent that had been established well before my friend, the father, had seen Django. The whole incident helped cement a fact in my mind- that Quentin Tarantino’s films are inexorably linked to their soundtracks. Thinking about it gave me one example after another. Here are ten songs I’ll never hear again without thinking of a Tarantino movie.

Simon Says: The 9 Best Cinematic Uses of Paul Simon Songs

Paul Simon is a musical icon, the kind of artist whose career has garnered fame, critical acclaim, and numerous awards. His appeal is not limited to music fans. Simon’s music also holds a special place in the heart of cinephiles. Simon’s music, performed solo or with Art Garfunkel, possesses just the right blend of introspection, cryptic meaning, and melodic charm that it fits perfectly every time it’s used in a film. Here are the nine best examples.

Boardwalk Empire: The Music

If a cable network asked me to come up with a concept for a TV series, I’d come up with something like Boardwalk Empire, which will debut its third season starting this weekend. It’s about organized crime and classic real life gangsters, it’s produced by Martin Scorsese, it stars Steve Buscemi, and it’s a period piece. In fact, the effort HBO makes to place it in a proper era context is a big part of the show’s charm for me. And a significant part of their effort is that they go out of their way to use actual music from the Roaring 20s. It’s a neat trick. Here are some of my favorite songs that have been featured on Boardwalk Empire.

Nine Kinks Songs That Could be Movies

–

The Kinks are sort of the forgotten member of the British Invasion bands. Everyone knows and loves the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and The Who to varying degrees. You don’t find nearly as much excitement for The Kinks, which is a shame. Maybe it’s that they were such obvious fans of the movies that draws me to them. However you slice it, I’m a huge fan. And a lot of their songs are fertile territory for potential films. Examples:

The Nine Best Uses of Songs in Movies

I’ve been watching too much “Prime Nine” on the MLB Network. In reality, my list of candidates for this entry amounted to something like 25 songs in various movies. Note that when I say “Best”, I really mean “my favorite”. So if you don’t see “I Like Changing Myself For the Woman I Love” from “Love is Nice” starring Julia Roberts or whatever, well… it’s because I don’t watch that shit. Feel free to add ’em in the comments section, though.