Vanilla Sky Ending: Every Frame Explained

14. Music References

With Crowe being a former music journalist, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the montage is absolutely jam-packed with music references.

For starters, a picture of Sigur Rós - who contributed to the movie's soundtrack - is glimpsed in one over-exposed frame.

Elsewhere, a clip of The Who jamming from their 1979 documentary The Kids Are Alright can be briefly spotted, as is relevant given that the smashed Gibson SG guitar in David's apartment is implied to have belonged to the band's guitarist Pete Townshend.

The cover art for Bruce Springsteen's beloved album "The River" also appears, but this proves to be more than a random musical nod from Crowe, given that the title track includes the knowing lyric, "Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, or is it something worse?"

Given the film's central theme of dreams and reality, it couldn't really be more relevant.

On the face of it this next image might look like it's taken from behind-the-scenes footage of a sci-fi movie, but it's actually from the photoshoot for Led Zeppelin's beloved 1973 album "Houses of the Holy."

If we assume these albums to be the most seminal records in David's life, then he certainly proved himself to have good taste, confirmed by a snappy glimpse of Frank Sinatra's 1955 album "In the Wee Small Hours" - an album, we can speculate, David might've heard his father playing as a young boy.

And finally, there's the cover for Blind Faith's self-titled album, which proved hugely controversial upon the record's 1969 release due to it featuring a topless 11-year-old girl - which, understandably, was cropped out for its fleeting appearance in this movie.

Given that David ends up taking a literal leap of faith at the end of the film, it's yet again a thematically appropriate nod from Crowe.