Why Did It Take Hearing It In A Movie For Me To Start Liking That Song?

On becoming interested in a song or piece of music when you hear it used in a movie, I feel, as a movie buff, that it happens often to me. It feels surprising when I think about it actually. How songs I didn't give much thought to before become appealing when they're used for extra effect in a film.

The most obvious example to me is The Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin, which I originally dismissed as a crazy, headbanger of a rebellious song that would likely never hold any appeal for me.

When I heard The Immigrant Song used to give music to two exciting battles at the start and end of Thor: Ragnarok (2017) though, the song felt different to me.

Now The Immigrant Song makes me think of heroes of Norse myth finding hidden strength to fight great adversity facing them. What's more, now that I had heard the lyrics, I felt that it was a song with fitting references to Norse myth, making me even more a fan of it.

There is also the song Sabotage by The Beastie Boys. I doubt I would have had any interest in that one at first, for one thing since I found it too loud and raucous to understand any of the words. When I heard it used to great effect in one of the final scenes of Star Trek: Beyond (2016) though, I started feeling differently about it too. Now for me it represented the idea of stoically fighting back and triumphing against a dangerous, all controlling enemy who threatened your world.

There was even the song Angel of the Morning by Juice Newton, which was just another romantic one to me at first.

Amazingly the movie I heard Angel of the Morning in, Deadpool (2016), wasn't even one I was interested in seeing!

I only saw its opening scene because it was shown in my art school Moving Image Design program, since our instructor saw it as a good example of still-montage. However, hearing the song as apart of the montage led me to regard it as a romantic song with a funny edge, in how it represented the movie's ever-sarcastic anti-hero going out into his day of "good" deeds.

A close relation of mine has also commented that I'll 'like any song if it's used in an interesting context'. Their case in point: the song Paper Planes by M.I.A., which I heard in the movie Slumdog Millionaire (2008) (the soundtrack of which I liked enough to buy on CD).

I have wondered if hearing these songs used to emphasize movie plots I enjoy has "brainwashed" me into liking them.

Although I'm not an expert on the subject of brainwashing, I suppose it is arguable that some movies (and other entertainment media for that matter) are designed to have that effect. Case in point: filling viewers with motivation to buy huge amounts of unsustainably produced toys and other merchandise.

When I really think about it though, I don't think discovering a liking for songs this way is the worst thing. This is because movies are stories that, on the one hand, entertain but can also give their audience new perspectives and ideas on what they portray.

If I start liking a song after hearing it in a movie, I would quite likely become more familiar with the song, its lyrics, its writers and their motivations for writing it.

As such, I would better understand what the song represents and what role in culture it has. This understanding may even give me the insight I'd need to create such works of art myself or to come up with new views on life.

It also makes you wonder how much wider a perspective movies and songs can give when they're used in combination. No, I really don't think it's the worst thing. Maybe it would also make an interesting question to ask someone for conversation; what songs have you discovered through movies or other mediums?

#movies #music #musicinmovies #entertainmentmediums #popculture