5Ws Wednesday
What’s wrong with that?!
And by “that”, I mean, what’s wrong with liking songs simply because I heard them in a movie that I like?
I have many songs on my “Random Awesomeness” playlist that are there because they’re from favorite movies.
For example:
“And Then He Kissed Me” by the Crystals has long been a favorite of mine. Not because it’s from the movie “Goodfellas”, which I didn’t become a fan of until later in life. I love this song because it’s from the opening credits of the OG “Adventures in Babysitting” when Elisabeth Shue is dancing around her bedroom getting ready for her big date.
I also have a couple of Johnny Cash’s most famous songs on there because I’m a fan of the biopic about him, “Walk the Line” in which Joaquin Phoenix famously portrays him. I figured I’d like to have the original version of the songs to listen to, so there they are.
Other songs from tv shows/movies include:
“Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush–featured prominently in season 4 of “Stranger Things”
“I Think I Love You” by the Partridge Family–featured in a funky Levi’s commercial I saw on Mtv in the 90s
“Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Journey–played during a scene in “Tron: Legacy”
“I Don’t F*** With You” by Big Sean–from the iconic scene in “Fist Fight” where Charlie Day sings it during a talent show with his daughter.
“Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles–from “Project Hail Mary”
This does not count songs that are specifically from movie soundtracks and were made for that movie. I’ve got songs from “Gone in 60 Seconds”, “City of Angels”, and “Wicked” on there, among others.
The songs I’m talking about are songs that you would watch a movie and recognize as a song you’ve heard on the radio. It’s kind of like what Kathleen Kelly in “You’ve Got Mail” meant when she said the thing about things reminding her of something she read in a book when it should be the other way around. Meaning, she should read a book and be reminded about something she’s seen in real life.
That’s what I’m getting at with these songs. Many of them are on my playlist because I first heard them in a movie and then added them. I bring this up because Josh made fun of me recently because he was in the car with me and heard songs that I explained I liked because they were from a movie we had seen. He clearly thinks it should be the other way around. As in, I added them because I like them, not because they’re from a movie. The song that came up that brought up the conversation? “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” by KISS. It’s on my playlist because of the movie “The Fall Guy” with Ryan Gosling. Love me some Ryan Gosling.
Of course, Josh made fun of me good-naturedly. I certainly didn’t remove any songs because he thought I was weird for not liking them (or even knowing about them) until I heard them in a movie. Which, now that I think about it, he’s guilty of this too. One year he heard a song on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Some group of older men walked through and did this goofy dance to a song. I helped Josh track down that song. I don’t remember what it was though.
So, back to my original question, what’s wrong with that?! What’s wrong with liking a song simply because I heard it used in something?! The answer is…nothing! Nothing is wrong with that. What can I say? I like what I like.

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