This month, I’m looking back at movies and tv shows to rediscover songs that graced the screen. The scenes and the music are inseparable. They’re engrained in our heads and our hearts. And they’re proof that the best music we have doesn’t exist in isolation. It attaches itself to a moment or an experience. #SceneSongs
Movie: High Fidelity
I have unreasonably high expectations for movie soundtracks — and those expectations are even higher when the movie is about music. So when High Fidelity came out in theaters, I wanted something epic. Nick Hornby’s book is one of my all-time favorite reads, mostly because it truly captured the obsessive, and often ridiculous passion we have for music. While the movie soundtrack left a lot to be desired, “Seymour Stein” was one of the few bright spots in my mind.
The Belle & Sebastian classic wasn’t even officially on the soundtrack album, but it appeared in the movie and there’s even a reference to the new Belle & Sebastian single written into the script. “Seymour Stein” is probably one of my favorite B&S songs because of that sleepy, melodic, retro vibe. It’s not something I’d listen to in large doses, but it’s a reminder of that interesting little niche that B&S has carved for itself in the music world that no one else can claim.
“Half a world away. Ticket for a plane. Record company man, I won't be coming to dinner.”