Last night, I was faced with a challenge. Read a book or watch a movie.
I’m writing something, and part of it is set in a community radio station, and I wanted it to sort of have that feeling that the book and the movie “High Fidelity” have, where people are talking about music in a wholeheartedly snobby, exclusive way, but with an endearing passion. You don’t hate them, because they’re just nerds talking about the Licorice Comfits, even though they’re being jerks about it.
Here’s the thing. I’m a pretty fast reader, and the book “High Fidelity” is only around 300-350 pages. And I’ve read it several times. I can probably read it, cover to cover, in about two hours. The running time for the film is about an hour and 50 minutes. Timewise, it’s the same commitment.
But if I read it, I wouldn’t get the soundtrack. So I watched it. It has a really fantastic soundtrack, full of songs that are songs I already play on this show, so naturally, I started to build a playlist for today’s show made up of songs I like from movies I like.
The Kinks – “Nothing In This World Can Stop Me Worrying About That Girl”
Movie: Rushmore, 1998 (Absolutely perfect in a scene where Bill Murray is throwing golf balls into a swimming pool at his sons’ birthday party.)
Badly Drawn Boy – “Delta (Little Boy Blues)”
Movie: About a Boy, 2002
Belly – “Broken”
Movie: Mallrats, 1995
Elliott Smith – “Miss Misery”
Movie: Good Will Hunting, 1997 (Was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to Celine Dion, for the “Titanic” theme song.)
Joe Dassin – “Les Champs-Elysees”
Movie: The Darjeeling Limited, 2007 (Wes Anderson movies have these totally unexpected but absolutely perfect songs in them.)
The Kinks – “Strangers”
Movie: The Darjeeling Limited, 2007
The Moldy Peaches – “Anyone Else But You”
Movie: Juno, 2007
Nancy Sinatra – “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”
Movie: Kill Bill Vol. 1, 2003
The Specials – “Ghost Town”
Movie: Shaun of the Dead, 2004 (et. al, notably, Snatch, 2000)
Penny & The Quarters – “You and Me”
Movie: Blue Valentine, 2010 (In the context of the movie, one of the most depressing songs ever.)
Dire Straits – “Romeo and Juliet”
Movie: Can’t Hardly Wait, 1998
Zero 7 – “In the Waiting Line”
Movie: Garden State, 2004
Stevie Wonder – “I Believe When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever”
Movie: High Fidelity, 2000
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – “Crimson and Clover”
Movie: The Runaways, 2010
Cat Stevens – “Miles from Nowhere”
Movie: The Brothers Bloom, 2008
Bob Dylan – “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You”
Movie: The Brothers Bloom, 2008 (This one and the one before it, both incredible in this movie. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend seeing it immediately. If you have seen it, eh, think about watching it again, immediately.)
Iggy Pop – “The Passenger”
Movie: Waking Life, 2001 (They used this song for the promos only, original music for the movie was done by the Tosca Tango Orchestra.)
The Shins – “New Slang (When You Notice the Stripes)”
Movie: Garden State, 2004
The Who – “A Quick One While He’s Away”
Movie: Rushmore, 1998
Paul Simon – “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”
Movie: The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001 (“I’m not talking about dance lessons. I’m talking about putting a brick through the other guy’s windshield. I’m talking about taking it out and chopping it up.”)
Folk Implosion – “Natural One”
Movie: Kids, 1995
The 5.6.7.8s – “Woo Hoo”
Movie: Kill Bill Vol. 1, 2003 (Quentin Tarantino movies always have great soundtracks)
Chuck Berry – “You Never Can Tell”
Movie: Pulp Fiction, 1994
Black Lips – “Veni, Vidi, Vici”
Movie: (500) Days of Summer, 2009
Sleep – “Dragonaut”
Movie: Gummo, 1997
The Ramones – “Judy is a Punk”
Movie: The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001
Bob Dylan – “Wigwam”
Movie: The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001
The Rolling Stones – “Play With Fire”
Movie: The Darjeeling Limited, 2007
Archers of Loaf – “Web in Front”
Movie: Mallrats, 1995
The Replacements – “Can’t Hardly Wait”
Movie: Can’t Hardly Wait, 1998
The Thirteenth Floor Elevators – “You’re Gonna Miss Me”
Movie: High Fidelity, 2000 (“What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?”)