Some songs don’t just soundtrack a scene; they change its temperature. This list pulls from our “Soundtrack” playlist and spotlights the moments where a track snapped the picture into focus; the needle-drop that tightened a chase, the ballad that let a character finally say what they couldn’t, the end-credits song that kept the story walking with you after the lights came up.
We’re celebrating songs that work twice: they hit hard in their scenes, and they live on outside the screen.
Our picks balance gut and footprint. We considered how the music deepened the story on first play, how it replays in your head without the visuals, and the cultural trail it left behind; from chart runs and awards to the way a theme becomes shorthand for a character, a place, a feeling.
Think of it as a viewer’s list with a critic’s memory: the tracks we loved, the moments they made bigger, and why they still land today.
Spotlights (20 picks from our playlist)
Kavinsky – “Nightcall” (Drive, 2011)
Scene: Title crawl through LA at night.
Why it works: Vocoder hush and synth pulse sketch the driver before he speaks: calm surface, danger underneath.
Receipt: Used in the opening credits and widely tied to the film’s identity.
If this antihero mood is your thing, our explainer on the rise of “literally me” characters from Drive’s stoic Driver to modern brooding leads breaks down why these figures resonate today; read it here: Why Do People Like Literally Me Characters?
Yann Tiersen – “La valse d’Amélie (Version orchestre)” (Amélie, 2001)
Scene: Paris introduced like a daydream.
Why it works: Piano and accordion waltz you into Amélie’s head in a few bars.
Receipt: Central theme from the Amélie soundtrack.
Counting Crows – “Colorblind” (Cruel Intentions, 1999)
Scene: The film’s most fragile turning point.
Why it works: Sparse piano and a raw vocal let the story breathe.
Receipt: Long regarded as the cue that anchors the film’s emotional peak.
Blue Foundation – “Eyes on Fire” (Twilight, 2008)
Scene: Early Bella and Edward tension.
Why it works: Dream-pop haze over heartbeat percussion turns curiosity into foreboding.
Receipt: Standout placement on the Twilight soundtrack.
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross feat. How to Destroy Angels – “Is Your Love Strong Enough?” (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, 2011)
Scene: Wintry epilogue.
Why it works: A Bryan Ferry cover reimagined as frost and ache.
Receipt: Commissioned for Fincher’s soundtrack; plays over the credits.
Lesley Gore – “You Don’t Own Me” (The First Wives Club, 1996)
Scene: The sidewalk finale.
Why it works: A 1963 anthem reframed as a victory lap.
Receipt: Performed on screen by Midler, Keaton, and Hawn.
Pixies – “Where Is My Mind?” (Fight Club, 1999)
Scene: Buildings fall, hands held.
Why it works: That spectral hook makes apocalypse feel intimate.
Receipt: The finale placement supercharged the song’s afterlife.
Billie Eilish & Khalid – “lovely” (13 Reasons Why, S2E13, 2018)
Scene: Clay’s last conversation with Hannah.
Why it works: Close-mic duet and strings translate grief into hush.
Receipt: Featured in the season-finale episode.
Our analysis traces how the duet bottles suspended grief and why it works so well on screen—read it here.
Massive Attack feat. Elizabeth Fraser – “Teardrop” (House, M.D., 2004–12)
Scene: Cold-open into diagnosis theatre.
Why it works: Trip-hop heartbeat for a brilliant, damaged mind.
Receipt: U.S. theme for House, M.D.
Blondie – “Call Me” (American Gigolo, 1980)
Scene: Morning routine as style.
Why it works: Moroder pulse, Debbie Harry bite; chrome-bright pop for a high-polish world.
Receipt: Written as the film’s theme; six weeks at U.S. No. 1.
Urge Overkill – “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” (Pulp Fiction, 1994)
Scene: Back at Mia’s place.
Why it works: Retro romance that curdles into dread at just the right moment.
Receipt: A defining Tarantino needle-drop.
Dusty Springfield – “Son of a Preacher Man” (Pulp Fiction, 1994)
Scene: Vincent picks up Mia.
Why it works: Smoky soul that hints at danger wrapped as charm.
Receipt: Plays during the pickup scene, now a pop-culture staple.
For the full backstory and why this soul classic became perfect on-screen shorthand for flirtation and danger, read our deep dive on “Son of a Preacher Man.”
The Rolling Stones – “Gimme Shelter” (Goodfellas/Casino/The Departed)
Scene: Scorsese’s menace motif.
Why it works: A storm front in four minutes; shorthand for rot closing in.
Receipt: Used across multiple Scorsese crime films.
Moby – “Porcelain” (The Beach, 2000)
Scene: Sun-bleached wonder with an undertow.
Why it works: Glassy strings and a sighing melody frame paradise with doubt.
Receipt: One of the film’s best-known cues.
The Mamas & The Papas – “California Dreamin’” (Chungking Express, 1994)
Scene: Faye hits repeat in the snack bar.
Why it works: A 1965 pop sigh as a character tic about escape.
Receipt: Repeated needle-drop and motif in Wong Kar-wai’s film.
Cyndi Lauper – “Time After Time” (Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion, 1997)
Scene: The three-person dance.
Why it works: A promise hook that turns sentiment into lift-off.
Receipt: The dance sequence is still a touchstone.
Dive deeper into the song’s creation, lyrical spine, and why it keeps landing in reunion and farewell scenes in our feature on “Time After Time.”
Maria McKee – “Show Me Heaven” (Days of Thunder, 1990)
Scene: Big choices, bigger feelings.
Why it works: Power-ballad sweep that sells the stakes.
Receipt: Recorded for the soundtrack; hit single in multiple countries.
Joy Division – “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (13 Reasons Why, 2017)
Scene: Season 1 mood-setter.
Why it works: Post-punk melancholy that mirrors memory and loss.
Receipt: Included on the official soundtrack and noted by press round-ups.
Goo Goo Dolls – “Iris” (City of Angels, 1998)
Scene: Angels and mortals weighing the cost.
Why it works: A chorus built like a confession; the song outlived the movie.
Receipt: Written for the film; became a signature hit.
We unpack how “Iris” was written for City of Angels and why its chorus turned into a pop standard—find it here.
War – “Low Rider” (Gone in 60 Seconds, 2000)
Scene: Crew preps the boost.
Why it works: Laid-back strut that makes a ritual feel mythic.
Receipt: Indelibly tied to the 2000 remake’s garage prep.
See the full list of picks (alphabetical)
- 15 Step — Radiohead
- A Thousand Miles — Vanessa Carlton
- Ain’t No Sunshine — Bill Withers
- Apologize — OneRepublic
- Baby I’m Ok — Kadebostany;KAZKA
- Back To Black — Amy Winehouse
- Before We Drown — boerd;Stella Explorer
- Bella’s Lullaby — Carter Burwell;Dan Redfeld;Elizabeth Hedman
- Blue Jeans — Lana Del Rey
- California Dreamin’ – Single Version — The Mamas & The Papas
- Call Me — Blondie
- Can’t Help Falling in Love — Elvis Presley
- Can’t Help Falling In Love — Kina Grannis
- Cloudbusting — Kate Bush
- Colorblind — Counting Crows
- Cudi Zone — Kid Cudi
- Disparate Youth — Santigold
- Drive It Like You Stole It — Sing Street
- Edge of Seventeen — Stevie Nicks
- Everytime — Britney Spears
- Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime — The Korgis
- Eyes on Fire – Twilight Soundtrack Version — Blue Foundation
- Falling — HAIM
- Free Ride — The Edgar Winter Group
- Gimme Shelter — The Rolling Stones
- Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon — Urge Overkill
- Glory Box — Portishead
- Good Vibrations — The Beach Boys
- Happy Together — The Turtles
- Hometown Glory (High Contrast Remix) — Adele
- How to Save a Life — The Fray
- I Put A Spell On You — Annie Lennox
- I See Fire — Ed Sheeran
- I Will Always Love You — Whitney Houston
- Iris — The Goo Goo Dolls
- It’s Just You — Nancy
- La valse d’Amélie – Version orchestre — Yann Tiersen
- Letters From The Sky — Civil Twilight
- Long, Long Time — Linda Ronstadt
- Love Will Tear Us Apart — Joy Division
- Lovely Day — Bill Withers
- lovely (with Khalid) — Billie Eilish;Khalid
- Low Rider — War
- Mariners Apartment Complex — Lana Del Rey
- More Than a Feeling — Boston
- More Than This — Roxy Music
- Mr. Brightside — The Killers
- Nightcall — Kavinsky;Lovefoxxx
- Nothing Else Matters — Metallica
- Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby — Cigarettes After Sex
- Nude — Radiohead
- Only You — Yazoo
- Ordinary World — Duran Duran
- Porcelain — Moby
- Radioactive — Imagine Dragons
- Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) — Kate Bush
- Season of the Witch — Donovan
- Set Fire to the Rain — Adele
- She’s so High — Tal Bachman
- Show Me Heaven – From “Days Of Thunder” — Maria McKee
- Signal Fire — Snow Patrol
- Somebody That I Used To Know — Gotye;Kimbra
- Son Of A Preacher Man — Dusty Springfield
- Stressed Out — Twenty One Pilots
- Succession – Andante Risoluto — Nicholas Britell
- Summer Breeze — Seals and Crofts
- Supermassive Black Hole — Muse
- Sweet Emotion — Aerosmith
- Teardrop — Massive Attack;Elizabeth Fraser
- The Power Of Love — Celine Dion
- The Sound Of Silence — Simon & Garfunkel
- The Way You Look Tonight — Frank Sinatra
- Time After Time — Cyndi Lauper
- True Colors — Cyndi Lauper
- Under Your Spell — Desire
- Wakanda Forever — Ludwig Göransson
- What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture “Barbie”] — Billie Eilish
- Where Is My Mind? — Pixies
- Wicked Game — Chris Isaak
- With or Without You — U2
- Wuthering Heights — Kate Bush
- You Don’t Own Me — Lesley Gore
- Your Woman — White Town
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