It’s possible to make a movie without music – it’s just not advisable. In truth, music and movies are two artforms that are nearly inextricable from one another. Some of the greatest scenes in film history are memorable precisely because of the song that soundtracks them, and there are many classic songs that you can’t hear without imagining a particular movie scene in your head.
Picking the right song for the right moment is an art in itself, and some filmmakers are well known for their selective prowess, like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. As you might guess, both are well represented on this list of the best uses of songs in movies, but they’re far from the only filmmakers to have woven music into movies and made magic. To make it clear, we excluded songs made specifically for the film itself, focusing instead on so-called ‘needle drops’ – recognisable tunes that punctuate a film at just the right moment. But that still left us with a ton of choice pop, rock, jazz and classical cuts to choose from. Here’s our playlist.
Recommended:
🎵 The 40 best musical movies of all-time
🎸 The 50 best 90s movies, ranked
🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time
