22
Sep '26
I’m moved most by 2 things, a great story and music. And when those two things come together and the perfect song is cued in a powerful movie or TV show scene, I feel giddy! It’s a physical reaction! I feel overjoyed that a moving scene could have a moving song, and I want to hug whoever thought of it.
If you’re anything like me, I bet your brain has already thought of a scene from a movie or TV show where this happened. You’re thinking of a scene where the stakes were high, or when things finally worked out for the main character. And then when you least expect it, a song you know; one that has such great lyrics, starts to play.
Let me share a few examples.
The Summer I turned pretty is peppered with Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and others. These songs are such a great fit for this show because it makes the show feel really current and modern. It’s the soundtrack of Belly’s life and also of many viewers’ lives. While some show creators might have wanted the show to feel more timeless, I think leaning into the music of the moment when the show was coming out was something that connected the audience with the show, and helped it go so viral. It was a shared online experience of people posting about ending song choices for episodes, or creating super cuts from the show with songs in the show. And it will mean when people re-watch it, the show will carry 2020s nostalgia.
A specific scene that gets me every time I watch it is in Season 3 on the weekend of Belly and Jeremiah’s wedding, after Conrad confesses his love for Belly. She’s in her room crying, and what song starts to play? loml by Taylor Swift. And maybe you don’t know that song. It’s not one of her radio play songs. It’s a deep cut. And to make it even harder to recognize, they don’t even cue the song at the heart wrenching chorus, they cue it at the beginning. So for some viewers maybe it’s just “oh a sad sounding song is playing here.” But for ALL the Swiftie viewers (and by Season 3 we knew Swifties were a main part of the audience) it’s gut wrenching. You immediately know what song it is, what the song is about and how the lyrics that describe going from “love of my life” to “loss of my life.” It fits too well with Belly and Conrad’s situation, making it a scream out loud, “they picked this song” moment. Even as someone who is strongly Team Jere, that scene and song choice gutted me.
Another show that does this so well, but in a different way is The Bear. I typically don’t know the songs in The Bear the way I know Taylor Swift songs, but they have the same effect. The songs feel chosen intentionally. They bring the exact kind of musicality, and pacing to each scene. Sometimes the song is chaotic which matches both the chaos of the kitchen, and the chaos of Carmen’s internal struggles. And other times, the songs are calm. Those calm songs are typically used to give the audience a little bit of a break between what I like to call “chaos scenes.” The calm songs play under gritty b-roll of Chicago or cinematic b-roll of food. Even with the songs being unfamiliar (though a lot of them have been added to my Spotify now), The Bear stands out as a show that has outstanding music selection.
And what about an example in a movie? All throughout Crazy Rich Asians there are amazing songs by Asian artists that bring the vibe both in pacing, sound, and language for the movie! But there are two moments that stand out to me. The first is during the wedding scene. There is a cover of Can’t Help Falling in Love as Araminta walks down the aisle. The slow pace of the song, and the slow sweet shots of Rachel and Nick make that scene so beautiful and emotional. While it’s Araminta’s wedding, that scene is really all about Rachel and Nick, and the music reinforces that.
I bet you already know the other scene I’m gonna talk about! The ending! When they go to the engagement party with all of their friends, a Mandarin cover of Yellow by Coldplay is cued as we see sweeping shots of Singapore and the credits begin to roll. Even without knowing why the song matters at this moment in the movie, the sound of the song as it slowly builds to the chorus is perfect for this scene. But as many people wrote about when the movie came out, the title of the song is Yellow, which is a historically derogatory racial term. By choosing it for this celebratory ending, it gets turned into an anthem of pride and triumph! It makes the scene and the movie overall end on an emotional high! For me personally, it reminds me that we’re all human. And isn’t that what a good film should do?
I bet the people picking music for movies and TV shows know how important that job is. But this is a shoutout to them. Thank you for making movies and TV shows even more powerful!