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.

Few movies and soundtracks define their times better than Singles. The movie took place in Seattle, at the height of the grunge era. The music was almost all grunge or some variant of it — Screaming Trees, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Alice in Chains. Then there were two tracks from Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg. They stuck out like sore thumbs on the soundtrack, but somehow sounded right at home within the movie.

“Waiting for Somebody” feels like a continuation of The Replacements musical narrative — raw, melodic, guitar-driven. minimally produced rock. The seminal alt rock sound that the band helped shape was still pumping in Westerberg’s blood. The charm of it, “Waiting for Somebody” still feels like it was recorded in your garage, untainted and spared from the record label execs and Billboard charts.

“Been down so long, doesn't really matter.”