Movie Title equals Song Title

Published on May 10, 2004 by Eric James Stone

I’ve been thinking about songs from movie soundtracks. Not songs from movie musicals, nor songs that characters in the movie sing. (Yes, I think there’s a slight difference there. In musicals, the characters sing their feelings in situations where real people would not actually sing. In movies about singers, however, the character will sing in situations where a singer would sing. See the difference?) Nor am I thinking of popular songs that were then added to a movie soundtrack. I’m thinking about songs that were either written for the soundtrack (“If You Leave” by OMD, for the Pretty in Pink soundtrack) or that were rather obscure until they were put on a movie soundtrack (“500 Miles” by the Proclaimers, on the Benny & Joon soundtrack.)

Then there’s an even more specific category: the soundtrack songs that have the same name as the movie.

So, in the same-name category, I came up with four that I really like:

“The World Is Not Enough” by Garbage
“Footloose” by Kenny Loggins
“A View to a Kill” by Duran Duran
“Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker, Jr. (and, post-lawsuit, Huey Lewis)

I’m actually hard pressed to think of many more (other than the rest of the Bond themes), and I’m not particularly fond of the others I came up with: “Weird Science” by Oingo Boingo and “Pretty in Pink” by the Psychedelic Furs.

Anyone have other suggestions for good movie songs with the same name as the movie?

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13 comments on “Movie Title equals Song Title”

mqstone says:

May 11, 2004 at 1:57 am

What about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. True, the actual title of the song is “Turtle Power”, but they do say the title of the movie during the chorus, and it is a great song.

Michael says:

May 11, 2004 at 8:42 am

I like Weird Science, but to add another James Bond film, I also like “Live and Let Die,” by Paul McCartney.

Audrey says:

May 11, 2004 at 9:31 am

Against All Odds – great song, lousy movie.

danithew says:

May 11, 2004 at 11:44 am

A Hard Day’s Night — the Beatles (best rock band ever, I say).

mqstone says:

May 12, 2004 at 5:31 am

If you’re looking for a good song and movie with the same title, but that are unrelated, I would suggest “Unforgiven.” Great movie with Clint Eastwood. Great song by Metallica.