Friday Five: Magic Music Moments

It seems that an alarming number of my posts are inspired by obituaries, which really isn't me being morbid - it's just the way things happen sometimes! The latest is Hal David, who was best known as the lyricist to Burt Bacharach's music, and died aged 91.

One of his biggest hits was Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head (from the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) for which he won an Oscar with Bacharach. The pair also wrote I Say a Little Prayer, which was used to sensational effect in My Best Friend's Wedding.

So I thought about the best use of music in film, and just to give myself some rules, or guidelines as I prefer to call them, it can't be a song specifically written for the film (which rules out Vangelis' Chariots of Fire or Mark Knopfler's Theme from Local Hero, which are otherwise both excellent), but an existing song used in a powerful way.

5 Great Musical Moments in Film:

1. Lust for Life - Iggy Pop (Trainspotting) - "Choose life!"
2. You've Lost That Loving Feeling (Top Gun) - tremendously cheesy but brilliantly memorable
3. Paper Planes - M.I.A. (Slumdog Millionaire) - I loved this song when I first heard it, and when I saw it used in this film, I loved it even more
4. Right Here; Right Now - Fat Boy Slim (There's Only One Jimmy Grimble) - "I've got a better offer"
5. Where is My Mind? - The Pixies (Fight Club) - "Trust me, everything's going to be fine"