About Pop Music

Talkin' 'Bout Pop Music
By Lenn Millbower

“Songs go far beyond words in their ability to insert emotion into communication.” Robert Sylwester, A Celebration of Neurons

Filmmakers, if they knew who brain researcher Robert Sylwester was, would agree with him. They often integrate familiar songs into their movies. Pop songs are so successful that movie producers will pay exorbitant sums, in some cases as much as $100,000, to acquire the rights for the song.

Sylwester, in his book A Celebration of Neurons, went on to explain:

“The songs of our adolescent years often become the beacons of our adult life because they can help us to recall the important developments of our adolescence. We often listen to this music to relive the memories in the extended reverie of song. The song slows the simple message so that we can savor all the emotions of the experience.”

In a film composer’s hands, pop songs are chosen and linked to those memories in a way that adds emotional texture to the film. Films with pop music scores function on two distinct levels. The first level is the application of the song in the film. Every song lyric tells a story and a well placed song’s story will dovetail with the film’s visual.

The second, and deeper, level is the emotional meaning the use of specific songs brings forth within the listener. The songs become metaphors, placing the subject to be taught in the context of the learners prior experiences. When people hear songs they know, and have personal memories of, they immediately are drawn back into those memories, and the experience is enhanced. In essence, pop music helps us relate to the story being told in a deeply personal, highly emotional way.

Three famous films used this technique to achieve success.

American Graffiti (1973), telling the story of a group of early 1960s high schoolers enjoying a last summer before adulthood, was intentionally designed as a series of pop music vignettes. George Lucas, the film’s director, developed the storyline, and selected the songs to almost simultaneously.

Each scene matched the length of the song accompanying it. For example, Bill Haley’s “Rock Around The Clock,” played during the opening credits, set up the film’s innocence of summer theme. The Crests’ “Sixteen Candles” accompanied a young girls sixteenth birthday. “Teen Angel” by Mark Dinning was played when a character dies in a drag race. The film ends with the Spaniels’ “Goodnight, Well It’s Time To Go.”

The Big Chill tells the story of a group of former 1960s radicals turned 1980s yuppies who gather to mourn the passing of an old friend. Like American Graffiti, The Big Chill uses pop songs, although in this case, to add commentary to the on-screen occurrences.