The Best Soundtrack Songs of Film

Many components go into making a movie good. A movie needs a good foundation provided by a screenplay. It needs good casting to put the right people into roles that will make the movie standout. Of course it also needs good directing and a good actors to be cast, but one thing that can often be overlooked is the soundtrack. Music can set the scene of a movie, even when the viewer doesn't realize that the music is setting the tone.

There are two types of music that makeup the soundtrack of a movie. The film score is background music specifically created to accompany a movie and help set the mood, many times on a subconscious level. Even so, there are a number of composers so good, that their music stands out for beyond just background music. Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Danny Elfman, and more recently the Nine Inch Nails front-man, Trent Reznor, have done excellent jobs in their roles.

Even then, a great soundtrack song, dropped into the right moment of a film, can set not only the mood, but make a scene or even the movie itself more memorable. In some cases, years after the movie is released, a song from a soundtrack could be more remembered than the movie it was used for. The following are examples of some of these songs that have played integral roles in making a movie standout.

1. "After Dark" by Tito & Tarantula: From the movie From Dusk till Dawn, this song was the one that played during Salma Hayek's memorable scene as an exotic dancer in the nightclub full of vampires. Not only was "After Dark" the perfect song for Santanico Pandemonium to dance to while memorizing the crowd, it was part of the experience that introduced Salma Hayek to mainstream American film and vaulted her career from that point on. Tito & Tarantula also played the night club band in the movie that played the song and eventually transformed into vampires. While the band never made it big in mainstream music, their song will forever be remember for helping launch the career of Salma Hayek and elevating Robert Rodriguez into mainstream while giving George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino acting careers.

2, "Dead Souls" by Nine Inch Nails: Not only is Trent Reznor gifted in scoring films, but with his band Nine Inch Nails, he set the tone for the movie with his song "Dead Souls" in the movie The Crow. When Eric Draven comes back from the dead and comes to terms with his second chance to avenge his and his fiancée's death, he runs along the rooftops of the city, displaying his athletic abilities and chance taking that will making him the anti-hero that viewers will cheer for. The Crow became one of the most successful comic book movies at the time and helped elevate the goth, industrial, and nu-metal music movements in the music industry. With a soundtrack that included The Cure, Pantera, Henry Rollins, and Stone Temple Pilots, it was the Nine Inch Nails song that helped cement the feeling that Eric Draven was a superhero of sorts and a character that people would dress as every Halloween over twenty years later.

3. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers: Originally released in 1988 by the Scottish duo, the song saw little success initially. It failed to chart in the top ten in the UK, never found any success in the United States, and oddly topped the charts in Iceland, New Zealand, and Australia. Five years later, it was launched into the mainstream media when it found itself in the movie Benny & Joon which starred Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson. During the movies run in the theaters, it reached the top ten in both the US and Canadian charts and was certified as a gold selling single. Even though a gold single is considered successful, the song found itself playing at sports events and being inserted into other soundtracks of entertainment including Doctor Who and Pitch Perfect. The song grew to be more memorable than the movie itself.

4. Bring Me to Life by Evanescence: Another song that traveled farther than the movie it was featured in was "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. Featured in the Daredevil movie, the song hit top ten in fifteen different countries and won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance. Before the release of "Bring Me to Life", Evanescence had never seen national success in their previously released music. Once they collaborated with Paul McCoy of 12 Stones, Evanescence vaulted into the mainstream and singer Amy Lee became a mainstream gothic/hippie darling. The song set the scene for Elektra's breakout as a superhero and helped cement Jennifer Garner as not only a television actress, but as an actress than could potentially carry a movie on her own.

5. Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees: Initially a song that wasn't included in the movie Saturday Night Live until post production, the Bee Gees song not only became the hit of the movie's soundtrack, it became the unofficial song of disco. It also helped vault John Travolta into mainstream movies and led the soundtrack that was the highest selling soundtrack of all-time (until The Bodyguard surpassed it). The soundtrack won a Grammy and the album was certified 15x Platinum.

6. You're the One That I Want by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John: Reeling in from the success he had from Saturday Night Live in 1977, John Travolta went on to star in Grease and sing the hit song along with Olivia Newton-John. The song plays as Travolta and Newton-John lip sync to it in the finale of the movie, as they finally end up happily ever after. This scene ended up being the most famous scene from Grease and even sparked Halloween costumes with girls dressy up as the "bad girl" Sandy. Counting it's releases and re-releases, the soundtrack for Grease became the top-selling soundtrack of all-time with over forty-four million copies sold.

7. #1 Crush by Garbage: The Garbage song is the only Garbage song to end up number one on the American charts despite all their success. The song that singer Shirley Manson was worried about because she didn't think fans would understand that it is about a stalker, was also called "disturbing" by Garbage's own drummer and producer, Butch Vig. Despite the reservations by the band, the song was perfect for the Romeo + Juliet that starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes. "#1 Crush" reached number one on the Modern Rock Charts and won Best Song from a Movie at the MTV Movie Awards in 1997.

8. When Doves Cry by Prince: Prince's first number one hit in the United States, the song was featured in Purple Rain which also starred Prince. This single was the top-selling single in the United States in 1984 according to Billboard Magazine and solidified Prince as one of rock music's most important artists in the 80's. Rollingstone Magazine lists "When Doves Cry" as the fifty-second best song of all-time, Spin Magazine listed it as the sixth best song of all-time, and VH-1 listed it as the fifth best song of the decade. One of the odd aspects about the song, especially considering how well it was received in dance clubs, is that it features no bass line. Most dance music features bass lines that give those dancing to it a rhythm to move to.

9. Mrs. Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel: Obsessed with Paul Simon's work, director Mike Nichols kept insisting the Paul Simon write him a song for his movie "The Graduate". Originally called "Mrs. Roosevelt", Nichols had Simon change it and inserted it into his hit movie. The song worked great and despite the lyrics not really following the storyline of the movie, it set the tone for the inexperienced Benjamin Braddock played by Dustin Hoffman and his seducer played by Anne Bancroft.

10. The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News: The song written for and performed by Huey Lewis and the News, gave the band their first number single in the United States' Billboard Hot 100 charts and their second number one single on the rock charts. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards as well. The song is played several times throughout the famous movie trilogy including a scene when Marty McFly is auditioning for a Battle of Bands show and one of the judges complains the song is, "just too darn loud." That judge is comically played by Huey Lewis himself.

Photo is a screencap from the movie From Dusk till Dawn