Top 11 Songs Written for Non-Musical Movies

By CJ Tiernan

Every now and again you hear a song in a movie and it sticks with you. It becomes an ear worm you want to hear again, well after the movie is over. While a lot of the most memorable music in a film is either a pre-existing song or it is part of a musical, sometimes there is a song that is written for a movie that stands all on its own. Below is a list of my Top 11 songs that were written for a movie that wasn't a musical.

1. Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters (1984)

I mean, c'mon. Who ya gonna call? How can this be anywhere other than number one? I might choose this song as my walk-up song at a baseball game or to listen to as I charge into battle. It gets me so amped! Yeah, there was a slight case of plagiarism there, but, I mean, who hasn't been there. Besides, the directive to Ray Parker Jr. was to make a song that sounded like the Huey Lewis and the News' song "I Want a New Drug." If you want it to sound that like, you might need to borrow a note here and there. Plus now, Huey Lewis has a writing credit, so every time I listen to the song he gets a shekel. Everybody wins.

2a. Everything is Awesome by Tegan and Sara feat. The Lonely Island - The Lego Movie (2014)

The positivity and energy this song generates is like few others in the history of music. It is the perfect tone-setting sequence for the comedy and energy of the movie. "Stepped in mud, got new brown shoes" is my favorite line, but it is toxic positivity turned up to 11 and I absolutely dig it. Plus, who doesn't love them some Lonely Island?

2b. Cat People (Putting Out Fires) by David Bowie - Cat People (1982)

Truth be told, I've never seen the movie "Cat People." It is one of three movies on this list that I haven't actually seen. The song was used in one of my favorite movies of all time, however, in "Inglourious Basterds." It is used in the scene toward the very end where they burn down the theater. There is a lot of tension in the song and the scene and they work so well together. It would be neither the first nor the last time that Bowie wrote a song for a film, but in my opinion stands as his best. I like to believe that David Bowie wrote this song method (which is to say he dressed as a cat). It wouldn't be the oddest thing into which that spaceman dipped his toes.

2c. Mad World by Michael Andrews feat. Gary Jules - Donnie Darko (2001)

Alright, I've sandbagged you again. This is a song originally written by the band "Tears for Fears" in the '80s. It was written as a bit of a pop song (as much of the '80s were a brightly colored wonderland, I feel like most music in the '80s was pop, but I don't know. I was barely there). The version crafted for "Donnie Darko" is much darker and more brooding, matching the tone of the film. Because I attached a bit of an asterisk to the last 2, I decided to make them 2b and 2c and give you a couple bonus songs.

3. The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News - Back to the Future (1985)

Huey Lewis again! Man, these guys were kind of a big deal in the '80s, huh? As the story goes, he was approached to do a song for the movie by the creators of the film (Robert Zemekis and Bob Gale, plus producer Steven Spielberg) and Mr. Lewis denied them because he was uninterested in writing a song called "Back to the Future." They didn't want to put him in a box, so they said there were no requirements or stipulations on his choices for the song. He decided they could simply use whichever song he wrote next which happened to be "The Power of Love." It has no real connections to the plot of the film but, fun fact: it's dope! It is also a commonly used song title. I checked and it seems that title has been used quite a few times, most notably by Jennifer Rush (with covers by Air Supply and Céline Dion) and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The Céline Dion version is equally exceptional.

4. Little Wonders by Rob Thomas - Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Rob Thomas was the lead singer for Matchbox Twenty. They only had like 20 amazing songs there in the back half of the '90s and into the early aughts (are we still trying to make "aughts" happen?). And yet, this stands as one of his very best. It has a soft but magical quality to it, perfectly befitting of the film. "Meet the Robinsons" would definitely make the list if I created a Top 11 most underrated Disney movies. It is so dang funny. My siblings and I still quote it to this day ("They all hated me.") Plus, I'm always a sucker for a story that follows an inventor. I love inventors in movies.

5. I'm Just Ken by Ryan Gosling - Barbie (2023)

This movie is SO pink and this song is SO perfect. I could not stop listening to this song when the movie came out. It is outstanding. Yes, I know, the Academy Award for best original song went to a song from this movie and it wasn't this song. Eh, what are you gonna do. Just because a bunch of people whose job it is to know good songs failed, it will not stop me from making my list in my image. "I'm just Ken" is a song that is over-the-top dramatic and hilarious. Now please, permit me to brood in my Mojo Dojo Casa House over the fact that Billie Eilish and her brother won over this song.

6. Lose Yourself by Eminem - 8 Mile (2002)

I never saw this movie. That doesn't mean that I haven't sung along to this song a thousand times (plus the delicious "Weird Al" version: Couch Potato). I absolutely love it. It came out around the height of my Eminem fandom. Even though I never watched it, I feel like I have a good sense of the movie because the song does such a great job of painting a picture of Eminem's character's backstory. Good ol' Marshall Mathers has really come a long way, as the line "Mom's Spaghetti" from the song became a restaurant in Detroit. They even sell pasta sauce for $13/jar. That's a good way to lose yourself a pretty penny.

7. Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds - The Breakfast Club (1985)

This song was written for the movie but not by the band that performed it. It was written by a producer and a guitarist (Keith Forsey and Steve Schiff, respectively) who then proceeded to seek a band to play the song. They got some no's, including from Simple Minds, before finally locking them down. The rest, as they say, is history. It is one of the most iconic tracks in all of '80s filmdom (I know, I have several on the list already). I use the phrase "end it like an '80s movie" far too often this far into the new millennium but when I utter that phrase, I picture the end of this movie. You've got this song blasting while they freeze-frame a fist in the air. Pure greatness.

8. Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins - Top Gun (1986)

Oh ho ho! This song oozes coolness like The Fonz or an endothermic reaction. Because of "Danger Zone," the Top Gun Soundtrack was the top selling soundtrack of '86 and one of the best selling soundtracks of all time (to be fair, it isn't the only track on the album. Miami Sound Machine, Berlin, Loverboy, and Cheap Trick also have songs on there). I liked "Top Gun: Maverick" more, but this song (and the theme song to the movie) is a banger!

9. Holiday Road by Lindsey Buckingham - Vacation (1983)

National Lampoon was a magazine that ran from 1970-1998. Its hey day was the '70s, and it operated as a national spin-off of a humor periodical started at Harvard (aptly named The Harvard Lampoon). They lent their name (and two of their writers) to the 1978 release of Animal House. They would proceed to launch movies in the intervening years, including the Vacation films. "National Lampoon's Vacation" was written by John Hughes, based on a short story he'd written for The National Lampoon years earlier (called Vacation '58). There is a fantastic documentary that details the rise (and fall) of The National Lampoon called "Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead." Oh yeah, and the song. It's delightful! Lindsey Buckingham was a member of Fleetwood Mac so, you know, some musical chops there. It is a great Holiday song and a great road-trip song.

10. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle - Life of Brian (1979)

Eduardo Unda-Sanzana from Antofagasta, Chile, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Of all the songs one could sing whilst being crucified, this one may be the most chipper. Sung by Eric Idle (who also wrote the music and lyrics) in a cockney accent, "Bright Side" has become the most popular song that is performed at British funerals. That is a level of comedy that not even Monty Python could have hoped for. It is, as the name would imply, a song imploring a positive spin on things, complete with a whistled section of the song. Idle also used the title for his memoir, a so-called "sortabiography."

11. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor - Rocky III (1982)

Yeah, I never saw Rocky III. I haven't seen most of the Rocky movies. I saw "Rocky Balboa" and the first "Creed" in theaters and that was about it. Thing is, you don't need to have seen any of the Rocky movies to rock out to this song. That guitar comes in nice and spicy right off the bat and you are off the races. My assumption is that the song is used for some sort of amped-up training montage, but again, I haven't seen it. The real question is, have you heard "Weird Al" cover the song? His rendition, Rye or the Kaiser, will get the juices pumping too.

Final Thoughts

Obviously, some of these songs transcend the movie to such a degree that you don't have to have seen the movie to listen to (and love) the song. I have listened to every song on this list loads of times outside of watching the movies they're in (including the "Weird Al" songs). There are a slew of songs written for movies every single year (you knew that, you've seen The Oscars) so there are plenty to choose from. I'm sure your list differs from my own. That's fantastic! Let me know what you've got in the comments below. Thanks!