Music and movies go together naturally. Films have theme songs that can become popular hits, soundtracks to add drama, and scores that can build up expectations, tensions, and emotions.
The best-known movies feature music that reaches beyond the silver screen and stays with us long after the last credits have rolled. Fans treasure soundtracks like “Help!” by the Beatles, the pop hits of “The Big Chill,” or the lively disco tunes of “Saturday Night Fever.” Songs like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz,” “As Time Goes By” from “Casablanca,” and “My Heart Will Go On” from “Titanic” are everlasting.
But sometimes the influence works in reverse and movies inspire songs.
In some tunes, it’s just a borrowed phrase—like Elton John singing “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”—while other tracks are inspired by specific characters or plotlines. Many are well-known, like Merle Haggard’s “The Story of Bonnie and Clyde;” others are less so, like Scott Walker’s “The Seventh Seal,” based on Ingmar Bergman’s stark masterpiece of the same name.
Stacker compiled a list of 22 songs inspired by movies, drawing from lyrics, magazine and newspaper articles, fan sites, album liner notes, historical accounts, social media, and film archives.
So take a look, listen to the music, and enjoy the show.