In this scene, Sparkle Motion performs onstage while, miles away, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) burns down the house of creepy motivational speaker, Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze). Playing throughout this scene: Duran Duran’s “Notorious.”
With the passing of Chuck Berry, today’s musical sequence of the day is a bit of a no-brainer. This scene, from 1994’s Pulp Fiction, is already one of my favorite dance scenes and, today, it takes on a special poignance.
It’s funny. Whenever there’s a montage of classic dance scenes, we always get at least a few seconds of John Travolta and Uma Thurman dancing at Jack Rabbits Slim. In fact, I’ve seen this dance featured in so many montages that it’s easy to forget which song they were originally dancing to. I’ve seen this scene scored with everything from Sinatra to punk to Britney Spears to EDM. And, every time, it’s worked beautifully.
But really, “You Never Can Tell” is the perfect song for this scene. Pulp Fiction is so many thing that I think people sometimes forget that, at heart, it’s truly a celebration of Americana. Seeing John Travolta and Uma Thurman dancing to Chuck Berry serves to remind us of this fact.
“Johnny B. Goode”. “Roll Over, Beethoven”. “Sweet Little Sixteen”. “Rock and Roll Music”. The most iconic songs of the Golden Age of Rock’N’Roll belonged to one man, Chuck Berry. When I got home this evening and heard the news he passed away at the age of 90, I knew I’d have to preempt my regularly scheduled post and pay tribute. Because without Chuck Berry, there’s no Beatles, no Rolling Stones, no Beach Boys, no rock and roll as we know it. He was that influential on 20th century music, and the uncrowned King of Rock and Roll.
Sure, Elvis was bigger, but it was Chuck Berry who wrote the soundtrack for a generation of kids listening to their radios searching for relief from the blandness of 50’s commercial pop. He spoke their language, the language of teenage lust, hot rods, high schools hops, all set to a rocking back beat. Berry was…
(If you’re looking for the usual music video of the day, fear not! Val is currently having some internet issues but, as soon as their resolved, both she and the music videos should be back! Until then, I’m filling with some of my favorite cinematic musical sequences!)
For today’s musical sequence of the day, we have “Agony” from the 2014 film, Into The Woods.
Into the Woods got some notably mixed reviews when it was first released. At the time it was released, I wrote that, while I liked it “I never loved Into the Woods like I thought I would.” In retrospect, I think the film may have been the victim of a combination of my own high expectations and my tendency to be a snob when it comes to cinematic adaptations of Broadway musicals. I recently rewatched Into The Woods and it actually holds up remarkably well.
Definitely one of the highlights of the film was Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen’s duet on “Agony.” Both Pine and Magnussen were perfectly cast as fairy tale princes and “Agony” is a beautiful satire of melodramatic excess. When I first saw the film at the Alamo Drafthouse, “Agony” was the one number that inspired people in the audience to applaud.
Continuing today’s salute to St. Patrick and all things Irish, how about Mrs. Kelly’s baby boy Gene dancing up a storm to “The Hat Me Dear Old Father Wore” from the 1949 musical TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME (which you can read about here). Does it get anymore Irish than this?
This is a day that is very important to several of the writers here at the Shattered Lens. It’s a day in which we celebrate all things Irish and that means a lot more than just wearing green. (That said, I did buy green lingerie specifically for today because, seriously, when would I ever turn down a chance to buy lingerie?)
For today’s musical sequence of the day, I’m happy to present one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite Irish films, 2006’s Once. Prepare to wipe away a tear as Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova perform “Falling Slowly.”
And what better way to start things off than with the Head Over Heels scene from 2001’s Donnie Darko. Directed by Richard Kelly, this scene not only makes brilliant use of the Tears For Fears song, Head Over Heels, but it also manages to introduce every character and set up almost every important relationship in the film.
It’s brilliant but I always find myself wondering what Drew Barrymore had against Sparkle Motion.
Normally, this is Val’s feature but she’s currently in recovery after overdosing on Abba-related videos and attempting to watch Rob Zombie’s Halloween, all in the same night. So, I’m going to take this opportunity to toss in a music video from my favorite Canadian band, Jakalope!
(Jakalope was not only heavily featured on Degrassi but they even did a version of that show’s timeless theme song.)
From their debut album, It Dreams, here is Go Away!
The video for Go Away continues the story that was started in the video for Feel It. Both videos were directed by Lisa Mann.
It Dreams was produced by Trent Reznor and his also one of the five writers credited for this song. His influence certainly is felt, in both the song and the video!
Every January, I list my fourteen favorite songs of the previous year and, every January, I include the same disclaimer. My fourteen favorite songs are not necessarily the fourteen favorite songs of any of the other writers here at the Shattered Lens. We are a large and diverse group of people and, as such, we all have our own individual tastes.
If you ever visited the TSL Bunker, you would be shocked by the different music coming out of each office. You would hear everything from opera to death metal to the best of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. And then, of course, you would reach my office and you would discover that my taste in music pretty much runs the gamut from EDM to More EDM.
Now, usually, I do try to listen to a variety of music. You can go to my Song of the Day site — Lisa Marie’s Song of the Day — and see that I do occasionally listen to other types of music. But, I have to be honest. 2016 was not a year that inspired me to really leave me comfort zone. If anything, music provided me with some much needed consistency in an otherwise chaotic year. 2016 was a year that made me want to dance until it was all over and, for the most part, my favorite songs of the year reflect that fact.
Before I list my 14 songs, I should make something else very clear. These are my 14 favorite songs of 2016. I’m not saying that they’re necessarily the best songs of 2016. I’ll leave that debate for others. Instead, there are the songs that I found myself listening to over and over again. These are the songs made me dance. These are the songs that made me sing. A few of these songs relaxed me when I needed to be relaxed. One of the songs made me cry but I’m not going to say which one.
It might make you cry too.
Or it might not.
That’s the beautiful thing about art. Everyone experiences it in their own individual way.
Here are my 14 favorite songs of 2016:
14) David Bowie — Lazarus
13) Afrojack & Hardwell — Hollywood
12) Cedric Gervais (ft. Juanes) — Este Amor
11) Matoma (ft. Becky Hall) — False Alarm
10) Radiohead — Burn the Witch
9) Gorgon City (feat Vaults) — All Four Walls
8) Penthox — Give It Away
7) Britney Spears — Clumsy
6) Martin Garrix (feat Mesto) — WIEE
5) Tiesto, Oliver Heldens (feat Natalie LaRose) — The Right Song
