Exceptional soundtracks can make good movies great. They can also take on a life of their own, becoming a greater highlight than their respective films. In this series, I’m selecting some of my favorite soundtrack songs. While quite a few are well-known recordings, I’m also including a few that have flown under the radar over the years.
Echo & the Bunnymen is a dear band from my youth. I’ve never seen them live, but my Songs to Learn & Sing cassette was a key part of my life’s soundtrack. The seminal post-punk, new wave band also played a vital role in at least a couple of different coming-of-age movies. For Pretty in Pink, “Bring on the Dancing Horses” rounded out one of the greatest soundtracks ever.
Pretty in Pink was full of brat pack anthems: “Pretty in Pink”, “If You Leave”, “Shellshock” and “Left of Center”. But “Dancing Horses” went beyond the melodramatic and was always my favorite song on the album. Echo & the Bunnymen were The Doors of their post-punk generation. No one else sang with the swagger and mystery of Ian McCullough. No one else manned both guitar and keys with the same melodic ingenuity of Will Sergeant. And on “Dancing Horses”, the band rode Les Pattinson’s catchy bass line live a wave of ecstasy.
“Hating all the faking. And shaking while I'm breaking your brittle heart.”