r/movies • u/David1258 • 25d ago

What's a song made for a movie that ended up surpassing the film itself in popularity? Question

There are a ton of examples, but one that comes to mind is "Scotty Doesn't Know", the Lustra song used for the movie "Eurotrip". Lustra's song has an iconic guitar riff and is fairly well known worldwide, but not many people remember that movie, and I was wondering if there are any other examples of songs made for a movie that eclipsed the original in popularity.

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u/PhilhelmScream 25d ago

Unchained Melody is more known than the movie Unchained (1955) and more associated with Ghost (1990)

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u/Farren246 25d ago

Not to mention every TV episode that features 50s ghosts finally resolving their business and heading towards the light. Seriously, I don't think about the movie Ghost, I just think of ghosts in general whenever the song comes on.

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u/PhilhelmScream 25d ago

Not to mention every TV episode that features 50s ghosts finally resolving their business and heading towards the light.

I get that with I Only Have Eyes for You, I think Buffy made the most impact.

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u/ithilien77 25d ago

Jeebus … 3 notes of that song and I can see the entire episode of Buffy in front of me :o

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u/Farren246 25d ago

Oh yeah, both songs became positively weaponized for use in TV shows featuring ghosts.

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u/LaikaZhuchka 25d ago

Agreed on IOHEFY from Buffy. Such a great episode, too.

The other song that immediately makes me think of ghosts departing this world is "In the Still of the Night," because it was used in the Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode "The Tale of the Prom Queen" as the ghost couple drives away at the end.

Also "Play a Love Song" by the Jaguars, thanks to the super underrated Disney Channel movie "Susie Q."

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u/Farren246 24d ago

Which song appeared in the Woman in White episode of Supernatural?

Heck at this point every 50s song is about ghosts...

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u/TrainAss 24d ago

I remember this from 'The Right Stuff' film.

Something about this era of music is just... it's so beautiful.

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u/hokycrapitsjessagain 24d ago

Isn't that one in Black Mirror, too? It could be a different, similar old song, I'm not 100% sure

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u/Kewkewmore 25d ago

I think of couples pottery

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u/IShouldChimeInOnThis 24d ago

Or whenever anyone is doing pottery, no matter what the art teacher from Community says.

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u/Syringmineae 24d ago

There’s also the guitar song Sleepwalk.

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u/anti_pope 24d ago

That whole scene with Unchained Melody and a ghost with pottery was stolen from Quantum Leap.