My Desert Island Mix CD
So my good buddy Castor over at Anomalous Material has me taking part in one of these blogathons that all the kids seem to be into these days. The idea behind this little ditty is that I’m stuck on a desert island with enough rations and hard liquor to last me a lifetime, but I’ve only got one CD with 12 choice tracks on it and a good ol’ Discman with infinite battery power to last me the rest of my days. But since this is a movie blog and I can’t just list my Top 12 favorite songs of all-time, there’s a catch: every song has to be from a movie soundtrack. Not an easy mix to compile, but neato bandito all the same.
Not gonna get too analytical as to why I chose these twelve bitchin’ tunes, but here’s my thinking:
– No instrumentals. Not my style. Sorry, Jonny Greenwood, Clint Mansell and Trent Reznor.
– Can only choose one song from a given movie.
– No repeat bands.
– The movie can’t suck.
Bearing in mind that my Pandora station hasn’t switched from The Kinks for the past month, I was pretty tempted to just go with the whole Rushmore soundtrack, but that’s no fun. In a nutshell, most of these selections are the ones that made my ears perk up and go “Holy shit, that is my new favorite song!” when I first heard ’em in their respective movies, but there’s one or two peppered in there just because they’re great songs matched with great movies. Alright, I’ve babbled enough. Here’s the list and give these songs a listen. Trust me, they kick ass.
1. “Making Time” by The Creation – Rushmore
2. “Where is My Mind?” by The Pixies – Fight Club
3. “Sister Ray” by The Velvet Underground – Brick
4. “To Love Somebody” by Nina Simone – I Love You Phillip Morris
5. “The Pusher” by Steppenwolf – Easy Rider
6. “Trouble” by Cat Stevens – Harold and Maude
7. “Things We Said Today” by The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night
8. “I’ve Seen All Good People: Your Move” by Yes – Almost Famous
9. “The Sounds of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel – The Graduate
10. “Cosmic Dancer” by T. Rex – Billy Elliot
11. “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” by The Smiths – (500) Days of Summer
12. “Under My Thumb” by The Rolling Stones – Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Tada!
Well, that’s it, folks. Hope that blew your minds ’cause I think all those songs and bands freakin’ destroy, and hey, hop on over to the Desert Island Mix CD headquarters over at Castor’s stomping ground to get more musical knowledge dropped on ya’ from the rest of the movie nerds in the blogosphere.
And much love to Castor for having me on board with this. Big fan of non-movie related lists, even if it is kinda movie related.
This is pretty awesome. I have no idea how I the skipped Pixies… TBH that’s one of the best scene+song combos ever.
Agreed. Love when songs immediately bring specific scenes to mind like that one does. Great band, great movie, great pairing.
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I love your selection and it always made me happy to see The Beatles on the list
Haha. Thanks! Had to include them on the list, would have been sacrilege not to. And glad to see them on your list, too!
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Dude. This is seriously an awesome list. Major props for including the Velvet Underground. Looks like I am going to have to watch Brick now, simply because that song is in it.
Thanks, man! Yeah, I’ve been on a mean Velvet Underground kick as of late, that probably helps. But Sister Ray is the song that plays over the end credits and that was the first time I’d heard it. Needless to say, I listened to that song for a week straight after. And definitely check out Brick, awesome movie.
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Not a Cat Stevens fan, but I must admit it works beautifully in Harold and Maude. Pixies, Velvet Underground, The Beatles, T-Rex, Rolling Stones, Nina Simone? You’ve got some outstanding taste in music sir! Excellent list!
Thanks! Yeah, I love the Cat Stevens tunes on that soundtrack. Dude’s got some great ones though, Father and Son might be in my Top Ten. Geez, music used to be so damn good…
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Lookin’ out my back door by CCR – Big Lebowski would have to be on my list. As I feel music can make a good movie great, I’m going to have to check out some of the movies on your list.
I know, man. I thought of Lebowski this morning and felt like a fucking idiot for not putting CCR on the list. What a poser fan I am. And def check these songs out, great stuff IMHO.
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FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!!! Can’t believe I forgot to put that (500) Days of Summer song on mine. Damn fine list! Would love to hear your thoughts on mine.
Hahaha. Yeah, that’s a good one, but I think Morissey will forgive you. Will def check out your list, what an awesome meme, huh?
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Where is my mind seems to be making a few lists (including mine). Good call on Sister Ray, can’t go wrong with anything from White Light/White Heat!
Yea! Where is My Mind seems to be on like half of the list I have read so far.
Yeah, had a feeling that was gonna be popping up a lot. Deserves to though, awfully memorable and awfully good tune.
Agreed. Great effing album.
Brick, Fight Club, Almost Famous…awesome choices from simply awesome movies. But you probably could have got Under My Thumb from any Scorsese film you know:P Or did you just want Scott Pilgrim on your list? 😄
Haha. Good point about every Scorsese movie, but yeah, it was mainly ’cause of Pilgrim.
Nice list Aiden! I like that you didn’t go for obvious choices from those movies like Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous or Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate. Cool Desert Island CD sir.
Thanks! And what can I say, Seen All Good People and Sounds of Silence are just better songs. Word up.
500 Days of Summer! good song choice! I liked your additional “criteria” for your cd! Nice!
Haha. Thanks! I listened to that song like crazy after I first heard it. Great stuff.
Great list! Wow, you saw I Love Phillip Morris? I thought I was the only person who saw that!
You bet I did! Funniest movie of last year and the funniest thing Jim Carrey’s done since his glory days with the Farrelly Bros. Too bad no one else but us got to see it, and what a great song, too!
I quite like how in a lot of instances – 500 DAYS, FAMOUS, HARD DAY’S – you’ve gone with the less-than-obvious choice. Always the sign of a great mix.
Nifty choices good sir.
Thanks, man! Much appreciated considering your kickass taste in music, good sir.
Cosmic Dancer.. great shout. T Rex.. best band ever
Haha. Thanks, man. They definitely kicked ass.
Man, I knew your list would kick ass — and I was not disappointed. I’m thrilled to see a song from “Harold and Maude” on here, plus songs from “Rushmore” and “Brick.”
Haha. Oh, you. Yeah, Cat Stevens is the man, Wes Anderson really does have incredible taste in music, and Brick is just an awesome movie. Thought of a couple more over the past few days that I wish I had substituted in here, but whatevs, I’d be happy with this mix.
I wanna listen.
Dig your presentation, too. Not surprised to see some sweet Rushmore love on here at all. 🙂
Thanks, man! Do listen, it’s all for you.
And the Rushmore love should always be a given.
Gotta love Streets of Fire – I’d pick any track from that movie
Haha. Never seen it and never heard of it ’til now, but it sounds pretty bitchin’ just going off the title.