Songs Ruined By Movies

In the history of film, it is not uncommon for soundtrack producers to snatch up a great song to use in a pivotal scene in a film.  More often than not, the song has already established a degree of awesomeness that supersedes the mediocre of the film it accompanies.  Or in some cases, compliments the film to such a point that it elevates them both (see pretty much any Quentin Tarantino soundtrack).  But then every once in a while a movie comes along that has such an overpowering reputation, that it forever tarnishes the sparkle of the song it is affiliated with.  So without further ado....

"Unchained Melody" by The Righteous Brothers

This used to be a great ballad sang passionately by The Righteous Brothers.  Then a Ghost came along with its erotic pottery and ruined the song forever (despite Andy Williams' attempts 25 years previous).  Patrick Swayze was no stranger to music-based soundtracks with Dirty Dancing (nothing to ruin that wasn't already terrible there) and Road House (which only made Jeff Healey more awesome), but he did no favors to "Unchained Melody" with its inclusion in this gloomy weeper.  Unfortunately for The Righteous Brothers, Ghost was a huge box office success whose central tragic romance will forever associate "Unchained Melody" with Patrick Swayze's translucent embrace of Demi Moore.

"New Slang" by The Shins

Unlike some people, I don't hate Garden State.  I thought it was a pretty decent mopey, Indie-ish flick with a really good soundtrack.  The problem I have with the way it handled "New Slang" is the way the song is introduced in the movie.  Zach Braff is in a waiting room at a hospital getting his mope on when Magic Pixie Girl Natalie Portman rudely interrupts his stupor demanding he listen to a song stating "it'll change your life".  Now, I don't know about you, but while I love music and find it to be an important part of my life, I can safely say I have never heard a single song that was so amazing that it changed the very core of my being, altering forever the trajectory of my life.  "New Slang" is a great song, but there is no way it could possibly live up to that expectation.  As a result, it will forever be associated with everything that is wrong in a cloying, saccharine Indie Comedy Drama.

Several songs from the late 60's/early 70's

The Big Chill featured quite a few songs from the late 60's/early 70's, which makes sense given its focus on the ruminations of the Baby Boomer generation looking back from middle age.  Many of these songs are Motown classics like Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" and more than one track from The Temptations.  The Big Chill was a big success at the box office, and it's soundtracks sold very well, forever cementing the association between the two.  Because of this film, many of these songs are now closely affiliated with the Baby Boomer mentality that they were the greatest generation.  As a result, younger generations have started to grow a general distaste with much of this music.  This sentiment was expressed well in the film High Fidelity.  When proposing a list of Top 5 Songs About Death, The Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" comes up and is immediately shot down due to "it's involvement with The Big Chill".  The song choice is then switched to Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald", and everyone was satisfied.  Why couldn't The Big Chill leave good music alone?

"Oh Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison

It's one of the great tragedies in history that whenever someone mentions the name Roy Orbison, a hooker with a heart of gold is the first thing that comes to mind.  Not only has the song "Oh Pretty Woman" been ruined by the almost-titular film, but that song defined Pretty Woman so thoroughly and was such a big hit (the song briefly re-entered the Billboard charts after this film premiered) that the very name Roy Orbison has been tainted with Julia Roberts' gaping maw.  Screw her, screw Richard Gere and screw Garry Marshall.  While "Oh Pretty Woman" is a great song, I'll take "Ooby Dooby" any day.

 "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen among others

"Hallelujah" may be both the most welll-constructed and most reviled song on this list due to its insistence in rearing its head in various pop culture ephemera in recent years.  More often that not, Leonard Cohen's version is not the one represented (save for the film Watchmen where it was used in service of a very uncomfortable flashback sequence).  Jeff Buckley's soaring, passionate and, in Jeff Buckley fashion, overwrought version has been the most used and abused, cropping up seemingly everywhere from Shrek to American Idol.  I'm personally partial to John Cale's rendition which Scrubs used in an episode for a typically rollercoaster-of-emotion sequence involving three patients dying at the same time, a bummer of an episode ending even without the haunting melody to accompany it.  "Hallelujah" is a fantastic, beautifully written song by one of the greatest songwriters of the last 50 years, and I honestly never want to hear it again.