10 Songs That Got Popular After Being Used In Movies
6. We Are Going to Be Friends - The White Stripes
Before you think of even putting a popular song into your movie, you need to make sure just how you're going to be using it. You might have the perfect song for a specific moment in the film, but there's a fine line between having it serve the story you're trying to tell or becoming a glorified music video for a song that you really like. You can get there in a few different ways, but Napoleon Dynamite gave us the perfect reason for a song like We're Going to Be Friends: nostalgia.
When the White Stripes were first coming together, Jack White intended to have something that was much more primitive for his sound, almost going back to a child like sense of wonder with the world. Even with its barebones structure of just Jack and a guitar, this song is exactly the kind of song to capture that kind of emotion, reminiscing about the early days in preschool and not even noticing how the time passes.
Whereas Napoleon might not be the most optimistic character all of the time, this song also serves as a decent version of what adolescence feels like, either sounding like kids' stuff or the most important thing in the world depending on what day you catch them. There might not be as many bright spots as you might hope, but a song like this might be the best mindset, just fumbling through the world and hoping to find a friend in the chaos.