PROFESSOR'S PICKS: 7 Best Songs Written for (Non-Musical) Film

This being a blog about film, I generally keep my observations focused on movies, but today we're going to expand the menu just a little.

Most of the stuff I write here, I write with some film music playing in the background, usually a film score or a Broadway cast recording (right now I'm on a bit of a Raul Esparza kick, everyone deserves to hear his rendition of "Come to Your Senses" from this year's Miscast concert). I've been doing this for a while, yet I only recently had the idea to actually write about some of the songs that inform my writing process. The songs I can never get out of my head.

To keep things mostly on-brand, I'm going to be writing about music that features in films, preferably songs written for their respective movies. Just to make things interesting (and to keep the door open for a future installment ... maybe) I'm choosing to restrict the songs listed here to those written for non-musical films, and I'm choosing to define "musicals" as films that have spontaneous singing within the narrative. So for the intents of this piece, I'm not counting movies like "A Star is Born" as musicals.

We'll start with probably the most famous track on this list.

1. "My Heart Will Go On" - Titanic

This song famously plays over the end credits over James Cameron's Titanic, an epic love story set against the backdrop of the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic. Like the film it crowns, the song strikes emotions that are both powerful and tender. Like most anything that reaches popular terminal velocity, the song's legacy has been somewhat sullied by the parody that inevitably follows overexposure. Just so, anytime I can get myself to look past the zeitgeist and see the song itself, I can't help but be blown away by the song's power.

Most of the parties involved were hesitant about making the song to begin with. Cameron himself couldn't imagine playing a song over the credits of such an emotionally harrowing film. "Could you imagine a pop song during the credits for Schindler's List?" But James Horner wrote the song in secret with Will Jennings providing the lyrics. Even performer Celine Dion took some convincing, as she didn't want to be known for only singing movie theme songs. Horner reportedly hid the demo from Cameron until he was sure the notoriously volatile filmmaker was in a good mood, and the rest is history. For a song that nobody wanted to make, it's hard to imagine an ending to the film that doesn't immediately sweep us into the embrace of the song's heavenly opening notes.

2. "Halfway Home" - The Earthling

This lesser-known gem of Australian cinema sees William Holden playing a loner, Patrick Foley, afflicted with terminal cancer. Hoping to live out the last of his days in peaceful solitude, he disappears into the wilderness of the Australian outback. But this plan is complicated when a husband and wife vacationing in the outback tumble from a cliff, leaving their young son, Sean, stranded in the outback. Suddenly, Foley is Sean's only chance for survival. Against his nature, Foley takes the kid under his wing. In opening his heart, Foley discovers something he hadn't known in a long time: love.

I'm deliberately showcasing this song directly after "My Heart Will Go On." We have libraries full of romantic ballads, and female friendship has "Wind Beneath My Wings." Where are the songs that give space for the love that two men can have for one another? You can probably find them if you dig (I mean ... there's the completely incidental "If I Didn't Have You" from Monsters Inc), but there aren't nearly as many to go around.

3. "You Are What Love Means to Me" - Tender Mercies

The film follows Robert Duvall playing a former country singer, Mac Sledge, trying to piece his life back together after alcoholism has ruined both his career and his marriage. Mac finds love again with a widow named Rosa Lee and her young son. Despite Mac's transformation, the film almost ends on a sad note. Even after putting his life back together, Mac's daughter from his first marriage, with whom he was just starting to mend a relationship, is killed in a car accident.

After a devastating funeral, Mac confesses to his Rosa Lee that he "doesn't trust happiness." After all, finding love with her and her son didn't stop him from losing his daughter. Mac's inability to ascribe meaning to his life or suffering becomes his last word in the film. In some ways, the film is nicer for not trying to dismiss Mac's pain or confusion with some Oscar-winning dialogue.

Just so, it does offer the viewer something of an answer. The film ends with Mac playing ball with his stepson out in the field. Rosa Lee watches the scene unfold from the kitchen window, a voyeur to her own paradise. All the while, this song plays in the background. We see peace and happiness passing through Mac, even if he doesn't "believe" in it.

4. "Into the West" - The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

The Lord of the Rings is one of the most epic adventure sagas in film, and yet it's strangely fitting to end the series with what I can only describe as an epic lullaby.

This is one of those songs where it works from a number of different perspectives. Maybe this is Gandalf's message to Frodo as they sail off. Maybe this is Frodo's final admonition to Sam before he says goodbye forever. (Seriously, Frodo. What a jerk move!) Or maybe the song is for us, the audience. Maybe these characters are collectively easing us back into the world offscreen with the soothing tones of a lullaby, as though this world of magic and brotherhood is the waking world, and the world off-screen the dream.

5. "The Call" - The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

I heard this song when I saw the movie in theaters in the waning days of my own youth, and it's only from this side of adulthood that I can appreciate how this song describes maturation.

It's sometimes easier to imagine that childhood is divided from everything that comes after by a large brick wall. Once you've made the jump, the past is a forgotten land. I've come to realize that identity doesn't work that way. Maturity doesn't work that way. The transition is gradual and quiet. If there is a single moment where any of us become adults, it's not a moment most of us can discern. Because of that, we take the jump for granted. It isn't until we're far into the country of adulthood that we realize what we've lost.

I feel like with most media surrounding the passage from childhood to adulthood, there's an impulse to implore the audience to never lose sight of childlike zest for life. This song doesn't do that. This song gives childhood its due credit. Maybe childhood outlasts our own ability to screw it up or neglect it. The song assures us that the part of us we leave behind in childhood is never really out of reach. And when we're ready to give it place in our adult existence, it all comes back to us. No need to say goodbye.

I'm not wise enough to say for certain if this is actually how growing up works, but it's certainly a more novel perspective.

6. "Stand Up" - Harriet

In addition to playing the title character in the 2019 Harriet Tubman biopic, British singer and actress Cynthia Erivo wrote and performed the film's end credits number, Stand Up. We can look forward to seeing Erivo as Elphaba in the upcoming film adaptations of Wicked (as well as the Blue Fairy in Disney's Pinocchio remake.)

The song is a rousing power anthem, and Erivo carries the song with such force. The live performance at the Oscars was my favorite performance of the evening. (And this was the same ceremony that featured a legion of Elsas singing "Into the Unknown.")

7. "Moon River" - Breakfast at Tiffany's

Audrey Hepburn reportedly fought tooth and nail to keep this song in the film when executives wanted to drop it, and the world is better off for it. The song's haunting melody and poetic lyrics make it my favorite song on this list.

The film follows the blossoming romance between eccentric call-girl, Holly Golightly, and the soft-spoken aspiring author, Paul Varjak. Holly spends the entire film hiding behind her extravagance, flaunting her free spirit in a desperate attempt to convince herself and her world that she isn't bound to anything or anyone, no matter how much she wishes she could belong with Paul.

"Moon River" captures this paradox within Holly. The song speaks to a yearning for liberation and escape, yet through its inescapable romanticness, the song confesses an even deeper longing. The desire to flow down Moon River with someone you love.

_________

In film, good songs supplement the stories in which they are told while also carrying a life of their own. In some cases, a memorable song can help guide viewers to a new favorite movie--I was listening to "My Heart Will Go On" years before I was allowed to watch Titanic.

There are obviously many more worthy songs than I can write about here. Goodness, there are many more songs than I'll ever have the capacity to discover. But let this tribute suffice for a moment.

--The Professor

Honorable Mentions

"You'll Be in My Heart" - Tarzan

"Fall On Me" - The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

"Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

"I'm Still Here" - Treasure Planet

"Falling Slowly" - Once

"Never Forget" - Murder on the Orient Express

"Is That Alright?" - A Star is Born

"I See You" - Avatar

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