FEATURE:
Right Place, Right Time
PHOTO CREDIT: Anthony Macajone/Pexels
The Beauty of Needle Drops in Films and T.V.
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MAYBE words associated more…
PHOTO CREDIT: Suzy Hazelwood/Pexels
with classic films and those from the past thirty years or so, the epic needle drop is something that can define a scene and elevate the visuals. The term refers to when you drop the needle on a vinyl album. A perfect time and place moment when a well-chosen song perfectly matches with a scene. I think, as I will explore, we are seeing some potential classics from modern films. There are articles like this that rank the most iconic needle drop moments. I feel, in an age where music can be too ephemeral and we miss so much because of the array of choices, committing a musical moment to screen in such an effective and standout why has a lot of value. In fact, when talking about his new film, Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese told Zane Lowe about the importance of music in his work and through his life. For new artists especially, a song of theirs being used as a needle drop is going to do wonders. It needn’t be a dramatic or tense scene. All genres can be considered. That difficulty of finding a ‘perfect’ song that is just right for that moment. I am going to come to modern needle drops across film and T.V. – and maybe some of the issues regarding music choice. This feature lists some of the all-time great needle drop moment, in addition to looking at the science behind that potent music-movie cocktail:
“What makes for a great song moment?
The songs on this list all range in genre and style. Some are classical pieces while others are modern pop songs from the movie’s release.
It is important to recognize that a memorable song moment is more than just plopping some music over a scene. It requires the filmmaker to understand both the song and the scene and know how he or she wants the audience to feel in that moment.
Some songs provide catharsis and allow the audience a moment to breathe while the protagonist is bolting a hit song. Other needle drops are present simply to let the audience know the setting they are in.
Let’s look at a quick definition before we jump into our list of the greats.
NEEDLE DROP DEFINITION
What is a needle drop?
A “needle drop” is slang used in the film industry to describe when a pre-existing song is used in a movie. In the best cases, the audio and video become intertwined to the point where people can’t disassociate the song from the film.
What Makes the Best Needle Drops in Movies:
The perfect fit between sound and image
Provides a layer characterization
Comments on the themes
Some of the most famous movie moments of all time are on this list. Others are a bit underrated. This list contains 60 of the best needle drops in film history based on our belief that the song and scene worked incredibly well together.
Here’s our list of the best needle drops of all time”.
I am fascinating in the interplay of film and music. How a soundtrack or diegetic song can make a good scene legendary. That interplay between visual and audio, whether a single song or sweeping score, is wonderful. For those filmmakers that can get that needle drop just so and make something breathtaking, the rewards are huge. Both the song and the film go down in legend. Screen Rant talk about the why a needle drop is so important. Why we remember those really impactful ones:
“Great needle drops in movies use popular songs to tap into deeper emotions for both characters and the audience, elevating an already emotional scene.
Needle drops can be done ironically to juxtapose what is happening in the film and provide a unique viewing experience.
The right song can become an anthem for a character or a film, adding layers of meaning and capturing a specific feeling or theme.
The right song in the right movie can elevate both works of art, and join forces to elevate the movie to new heights. While an original score can also enhance the emotion of a scene, there is something special about a great needle drop, especially when the song is particularly appropriate. Great needle drops don't just sell more soundtracks, but they also help expand the world and characters of a film.
An outstanding needle drop doesn't just play a popular song for no reason, but instead uses the song to tap into deeper emotions for both the characters and the audience. The song can be a favorite of the main character, or just play as a strange twist of fate, but either way, it elevates an already emotional scene. A great needle drop can also be done ironically, and used to juxtapose what is happening in the film”.
The nature of the needle drop has changed. Maybe broadened. Whereas you did get popular music scoring some classic moments, I think a lot of it was more score-based. Fewer contemporary Pop songs. Now, as film soundtracks are more varied than ever, you get needle drop moment featuring songs that are new and people might not have heard of. Variety wrote about this earlier in the year. They commended great needle drop moments. Though, as noted, a bad needle drop can ruin a song, artist and show/film at the same time. Maybe T.V. series are more culpable of this – when they misjudge the tone or go for the ‘wrong’ song (though that might be a subjective measure):
“Yet much like the films themselves, the way in which pop music was dropped into the stories was much different. Tarantino’s cues were silky, retro hits, recalibrated into unforgettable moments: The smash cut from the opening diner robbery to the opening credits where Dick Dale starts shredding his surf-rock classic “Misirlou”; Mia (Uma Thurman) making Vincent (John Travolta) wait for her slinky onscreen introduction while piping in Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man”; The Statler Brothers’ “Flowers on the Wall” soundtracking a revealing, quiet moment with Butch (Bruce Willis), before he commits a shocking act of violence. All of the choices were a perfect blend of sound, style and offbeat energy that matched the film’s kinetic spirit.
Meanwhile, “Forrest Gump” was a film about the ’60s and ’70s, and the song choices are right on the nose. A Vietnam scene soundtracked by Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son”? Check. A scene with hippies? Of course “California Dreamin'” by the Mamas & the Papas is on. Forrest (Tom Hanks) returns to Alabama and Jenny (Robin Wright) teaches him to dance? Hell yeah, “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd is blasting. Believe it or not, the famous montage of Forrest running across America features Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty” and Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” Because he’s running!
“Forrest Gump” won the best picture Oscar.
Ever since that fateful year, more and more films and TV shows deploy pop music cues instead of scores in order to enhance their scenes. While music supervisors tend to be more considerate with diegetic music (songs that take place within the world of the characters, such as the “Wayne’s World” crew head-banging along to their tape of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”) projects are using non-diegetic songs to either spark insta-nostalgia for times gone by, or to artificially ratchet up emotion beyond what the script calls for.
Two innovative shows this year — “Beef” and the second season of “Yellowjackets” — fell into the same trap. “Beef,” which is primarily soundtracked by late-’90s/early-’00s alt rock hits, ends its finale with enemies-turned-friends Amy (Ali Wong) crawling into badly-injured Danny’s (Steven Yeun) hospital bed, as a passing of time assures the audience that everything is going to be alright. It’s soundtracked to Smashing Pumpkins’ shoegaze classic “Mayonaise,” a singular work from the band that heaps emotion onto a scene that hasn’t been earned. Given what we know about Amy — even after a strange trip in the desert — this compassion wouldn’t seem to be her go-to move. By elevating it to epic levels with such a bombastic song choice makes it feel even more out of place.
The finale of “Yellowjackets” hits a similar note. The show, which is awash in early-90s alt rock, soundtracked the sudden and unceremonious death of adult Nat (Juliette Lewis) to Radiohead’s monumental work “Street Spirit (Fade Out),” an aching lament from singer Thom Yorke about the inevitability of death, buoyed at the end with his aching plea to “Immerse your soul in love.” It’s a wholly complete meditation on the life and the afterlife, and running it over a slapdash end to the season seemed like a quick fix to bring drama into the series.
What’s frustrating about both shows is that there are moments of brilliance in song choice. For example, the “Yellowjackets” theme song — “No Return” by Craig Wedren and Anna Waronker — has always sounded like a beautifully bizarre Breeders b-side, fitting the vibe and time period of the series with lyrics that only point to the themes without being overtly literal. Meanwhile, one of the key moments in “Beef” is Danny’s acoustic performance of Incubus’ “Drive,” mercifully not a reference to the road-rage in the pilot, but rather a wonderful interpretation of his musical gift, remixing a secular song into a religious lament”.
There is the risk that, with more music and series/films released, it is harder to create a modern-day classic needle drop. I think that we are still seeing them. Variety noted how it is best not to force needled drops. It is the organic and seemingly natural mix of song and visual that leads to these timeless moment. Even if Stranger Things’ deliberate use of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God) does seem like a modern classic where the song was well placed and used, there is a lot of forced insertion regarding songs trying to deliberately create a needle drop moment. Variety did mention two recent examples that are pretty good and do not fall intro that trap:
“Queen’s “Under Pressure” in 2022’s “Aftersun”: It’s a testament to the power of “Aftersun” that it’s able to so deftly decontextualize one of the biggest rock songs ever. This tender dance scene between Calum (Paul Mescal) and his daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) rewires the inner workings of their relationship — past and future — with very little dialogue and many things left unsaid.
Lil Wayne’s “How to Love” in 2022’s “The Dropout”: Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried) loved dancing to hip-hop music through the series, and this scene in which she tried to lighten the mood with her lover and business partner Sunny (Naveen Andrews) was a masterclass in cringey sincerity”.
Whether you love a needle drop because it elevates cinema/T.V. and enriches a scene, or it brings to light a wonderful song, there is no doubting the fact employing a needle drop requires some skill, intuition and, above all, ensuring that the song is chosen because it is best for that particular scene – rather than forcing a song to work or using it because it is trending or popular. Whether diegetic, on a score or a soundtrack, when you see a song arrive in the right place and time and create this phenomenal scene, it does take the breath and lodges in the memory! Pairing song with scene, mind you, can be a tricky balance that can be more of…
A vinyl jump.