10 Greatest Songs Written For Movies
1. A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles (A Hard Day's Night)
Ever since the beginning of rock and roll, musicians were itching to find their way into the film industry. Before the counter-culture movements in the '60s, one of the first rock songs "Rock Around the Clock" ended up coming on the soundtrack to the film Blackboard Jungle. Rock music was an all-encompassing media experience, but the real euphoric feeling came when 4 lads from Liverpool hit the big screen.
Inspired by the Elvis movies of the '50s, the Beatles had signed a contract which entailed motion pictures as well as studio records. Already having a phenomenal presence in front of the camera on the Ed Sullivan Show, the band teamed up with producer Dick Lester to make a semi-autobiographic movie about the turbulent times of Beatlemania. Needing a theme song, John Lennon set to work one night and wrote the song "A Hard Day's Night" on the back of a birthday card he had given to his son Julian.
Recorded with George Harrison's new 12-string guitar, the entire song feels like something new and exciting coming around the corner while also being a snide comment at just how much the buzz of Beatlemania took its toll on these four men. This may have been one of the band's first steps up to the big leagues, but "A Hard Day's Night" pretty much captures everything fun about the Beatles into just a few minutes.