Don't Want to Slag Silent Films, But...

Sometimes I want to see a movie based on the strength of its music. I'd been a fan of Imogen Heap's since seeing her open for Rufus Wainwright in 1999, so hearing Frou Frou's Let Go in the Garden State trailer inspired immediate interest. I would've watched Shopgirl anyway because I liked the book, but The Notwist's Consequence, featured in the trailer, affirmed that I should see it right away. I couldn't get that song, with its trance-inducing refrain, "leave me paralyzed, love, leave me hypnotized, love", out of my head. More recently, Your Hand in Mine (with strings) by Explosions in the Sky caught my attention. It's the instrumental song looping on the The Diving Bell and the Butterfly's website and it makes me feel warm attachment to a film I haven't even seen.

Good music can only enhance your relationship to a movie. For instance, I was charmed by About a Boy because it was sweet and funny, but my emotional investment in the sweetness was heightened by Badly Drawn Boy's excellent soundtrack. The song, I Love N.Y.E., is a beautiful instrumental piece that establishes the tone of the film perfectly. I can't hear it without feeling sentimental in a good way.

If I were to make a playlist of favourite "first heard on film" songs, it might look like this (though it probably wouldn't be ordered chronologically and it would also include the songs mentioned above):

Good Enough - Cyndi Lauper (The Goonies)
There She Goes - The La's (So I Married an Axe Murderer)
Have a Little Faith in Me - John Hiatt (Benny & Joon)
Yoo Hoo - Imperial Teen (Jawbreaker)
Dry the Rain - The Beta Band (High Fidelity)
Mad World - Gary Jules (Donnie Darko)
69 Police - David Holmes (Ocean's Eleven)
Woo Hoo - The 5 6 7 8s (Kill Bill)
Ikebana - Kevin Shields (Lost in Translation)
One April Day - Stephin Merritt (Pieces of April)
Theme - Jon Brion (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
Deceptacon - Le Tigre (Reprise)
Til the End of Time - DeVotchKa (Little Miss Sunshine)
Buggin' (Remix) - The Flaming Lips (Summercamp!)

Feel free to chip in with your own outstanding movie music picks.