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: 500 Days Of Summer
Yesterday I covered a song from one chronically misunderstood band: Rush. Today I’m covering another. The Smiths are also one of my all-time favorite bands, an incredibly prolific band with an impressive album run and intense touring schedule in their short time together. In 500 Days Of Summer, the elevator scene succinctly encapsulates that strong connection and affinity that Smiths fans have for each other. No better song to illustrate that point with than “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out”.
One weekend during high school, I bought the Queen is Dead cassette and then played it non-stop that very same night. The album, along with a small handful of others, helped spark my love for music. A record this good only comes out maybe once a decade. and “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” was the lynchpin to the whole thing. Many great smiths songs seem to be composed of stories of odd, sad characters and stunning guitar riffs by Johny Marr. But “There is a Light” created something moodier, more orchestrated, more epic. I know this is sorta expected, but it is undoubtedly my favorite Smiths song of all time.
“DRIVING IN YOUR CAR, OH, PLEASE DON'T DROP ME HOME. BECAUSE IT'S NOT MY HOME, IT'S THEIR HOME AND I'M WELCOME NO MORE.”