some of the most iconic songs in popular
music history only reached that level
after they were showcased in memorable
ways in motion pictures
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we're
counting down our picks for the top ten
songs that gained popularity through
their use in movies for this list the
songs chosen must have been already
released prior to the movie in which
they were included and not have been
written specifically for the motion
picture is everything you ever wanted
they were chosen based on a mix of song
quality and overall recognition and they
must have gained more exposure or
popularity through their inclusion in
the film regardless of their initial
success or lack thereof
number 10 where is my mind by Pixies
Fight Club gentlemen welcome to Fight
Club the title question from this ultra
rock classic is perfectly suited to
Edward Norton's adult character in Fight
Club someone in mind you know as he
tries to make sense of his life with the
help of Brad Pitt's psychotic instigator
Norton's inner monologue might sound a
lot like the lyrics to this song with
that in mind Fight Club director David
Fincher used this song to score the
film's unforgettably explosive finale
and it's been associated with it ever
since you met me had a very strange time
number nine mad world by michael andrews
featuring gary jules
donnie darko cuz i'm donnie darko a song
was needed to sum up the emotional
turmoil amid all the weirdness of one of
the most bizarre yet enduring cult
movies ever that's to place the makers
of donnie darko found that song in mad
world while it was a top 40 hit in the
80s by Tears for Fears this new version
featuring stripped-down ambient music
and vocals by gary jules proved to be
just the right kind of haunting song to
tie the film's dark themes together
dreams in which I'm dying
it also bested the originals UK chart
position by going to number one people
run in circles it's a very very
number eight I'm shipping up to boston
by Dropkick Murphys
the departed
you'd never know it from hearing the
Dropkick Murphys version that I'm
shipping up to boston was written by
folk troubadour Woody Guthrie
the bank gives it a rowdy rockin Irish
spin and director Martin Scorsese
correctly realized that the song would
make a good anthem for his movie The
Departed after all the movie story of
crooked cops and organized crime is set
in Boston and has the same sense of
violent energy as this Celtic punk track
which became the band's most successful
song to that point that's me
number seven tiny dancer by Elton John
almost famous when director Cameron
Crowe needed a song to serve as the
emotional centerpiece to his film about
his time as a teenage Rolling Stone
reporter he looked to Elton John's
soaring ballad it was to see the song
inspires a group sing along on a bus set
heals a lot of festering wounds sir
Elton's powerful reading of Bernie
tokens lyrics manages to sum up both the
thrill and heartbreak of the Rock and
Roll life
turning bad
she's just considered a non-starter that
only initially charted within the
American pop charts top 50 tiny dancer
eventually found its way into pop
culture and got an extra boost through
this flick
I have to go home
you are number six old time rock and
rolled by Bob Seger risky business Bob
Seger's boogying rock song didn't get
too much attention
other than some rock radio airplay when
it was released on his 1978 album
stranger in town
and then as a single the following year
yet when it served as the soundtrack to
Tom Cruise's famous dance in dress shirt
and underwear and risky business it
became a belated sensation
it's fitting that the song was lip
synced by a teenage character since it
is now an anthem for all those who
missed the music of their youth number 5
the end by the doors Apocalypse Now this
is the Francis Ford Coppola --zz
meditation on the horrors of war
Apocalypse Now needed a song that
dripped chaos and menace and was
era-appropriate
he certainly made the right choice when
he picked the doors harrowing the end
in the track the doors frontman Jim
Morrison slowly transforms from a coiled
symbol of danger to a nightmarish
screaming Avenger and this is much like
the transformation of Martin Sheen's
character in the film
number four misirlou' by Dick Dale and
his Dell tones pulp fiction
director Quentin Tarantino has always
had a knack for finding relatively
obscure songs and turning them into
perfectly placed soundtrack items
this surf rock classic from Dick Dale is
in many ways the unofficial theme of
Tarantino's masterpiece Pulp Fiction
originally a Greek folk tune this
version is well-suited for the flick
considering it blends frenzied guitar
moody rhythms and slide warns into a
wild stoop
it never slows down and grabs your
attention much like the movie itself
number three stuck in the middle with
you by stealers wheel Reservoir Dogs
this is the ultimate example of how the
whole vibe surrounding a song can change
through its inclusion in a movie when it
appeared on the radio in 1972 the song
came off as an amiable piece of bluesy
pop with endearingly frazzled lyrics
that was also a platinum-selling single
for the band
when Quentin Tarantino had michael
madsen sing and dance along with it as
he prepared to slice off an ear in his
gangster classic Reservoir Dogs it
became a movie song for the ages and its
popularity wasn't only cemented but
increased number two unchained melody'
by the Righteous Brothers ghost you
doing who knew that pottery could be so
sexy in the supernatural romance ghost
Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze's
unbreakable connection is symbolized by
this Righteous Brothers tearjerker
as singer Bobby Hatfield hits the
towering heights of the melody more and
Swayze's undeniable chemistry is as
evident as the mess they're making with
that pottery wheel the scene turned an
already classic ballad into the ultimate
manifestation of undying love as well as
a second time resident of the Billboard
charts 25 years after its original
release
wait for me
Oh
before we unveil our top pick here are
some honorable mentions 1973 that song
belongs to me
when I'll be talking till I know I'm
gonna be I'm gonna be the man
don't you need somebody to love
I really like somebody but it try to
find somebody
I think we'll go with a little bohemian
rhapsody' gentleman good call
number one Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
Wayne's World so you're driving around
with your buddies and me to hear a song
on the radio to which everyone can sing
along as Mike Myers and Dana Carvey
proved in Wayne's World the comedy
classic they created from their Saturday
Night Live sketches it has to be
Bohemian Rhapsody all of those
overlapping Freddie Mercury overdubs
mean that everyone will get apart even
if they have no idea what the words mean
and yes the song was a hit for Queen in
the mid 70s but there is no question it
wouldn't still be as popular as it is
today without this early 90s movie
appearance
do you agree with our list find it kind
of funny I find it kinda sad what's your
favorite song made popular by a movie
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