10 Greatest Songs Written For Movies
Is Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's Shallow the best movie single ever?
When writing a piece of music, the artist really has their pick of where to pull from. Whether it be from personal experience or detailing the lives they see around them, these musicians have used their art as a means to bring some depth to their everyday lives. Then again, it could be just as easy to write for the big screen as well.
For as many movies tend to fill out their soundtracks with score, these artists have stepped up to the plate with songs that fit perfectly within the context of the movies they're in.
Beyond just being a great track, these songs also serve to enhance the movies that they're in. It could be about the characters being played on screen or be completely removed from the premise altogether, but that's not really the point of these songs.
Rather than be a straight retelling of the story, these songs help put you in the correct mindset for the horror, adventure, or comedy that's going to be playing right before your eyes.
From metal to pop to funk, this is just a few cases where a movie needed a little more musical spunk to get their point across.
10. Would? - Alice In Chains (Singles)
When Cameron Crowe first started getting the ball rolling as a film director, he did whatever the hell he wanted.
Originally known as an editor for Rolling Stone, Crowe found an alternate niche in directing, where he went from movies like Say Anything to Vanilla Sky. Right in between those though, Crowe wanted to make another romantic comedy detailing the lives of his friends from Seattle.
Opening up to a pretty dismal showing, Singles became legendary more for its soundtrack than for the actual story. From front to back, the soundtrack runs like a who's who for alternative music, with Jimi Hendrix and Smashing Pumpkins each getting an equal amount of space.
Every contributor brought their A-game, but "Would?" by Alice in Chains was something else entirely. When asked to write a song for the movie, guitarist Jerry Cantrell turned in a dark and brooding song about the death of Seattle luminary, Andy Wood.
With Alice in Chains already having a role in the movie, the song went beyond just a great soundtrack cut and ended up being one of the most celebrated tracks the band had ever released. Knowing the power of the song, the band threw it on the end of their second album, Dirt, where it was the ideal closer to the band's drug-addled masterpiece.
"Would?" may not have started as a major piece of work, but it slowly turned into one of the greatest songs of the band's career.