Movies are a cornerstone of our lives. So is music. We spend countless hours consuming both mediums for enjoyment. It’s no secret that film has inspired musicians over the years. But while there are tons of articles about songs inspired by movies, most focus on bands in the mainstream. Today I’m digging a bit deeper to highlight songs based on movies from the scene bands we all know and love.
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Blink 182 – “A New Hope” / Star Wars
From their 1997 sophomore album, Dude Ranch, “A New Hope” is a love song. But it’s one about Princess Leia herself. There are a few Star Wars references within the song. The lyric, “drinking Colt 45’s with Lando” is a reference to Billy Dee Williams who was in commercials for the malt liquor Colt 45 and also played Lando in the movies. Mark Hoppus also has lyrics stating he would do anything for Leia, including searching the moons of Endor, home of those cute & very dangerous Ewoks.
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Neck Deep – “Kali Ma” / Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Taken from the band’s 2015 record, Life’s Not out to Get You, “Kali Ma” was inspired by the 1984 classic Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The chorus is based on the scene where Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), and nightclub singer Willie (Kate Capshaw) find themselves in an underground temple as the ancient Thuggee cult worships the Hindu goddess Kali Ma with human sacrifice. The song ends with a guest spot from A Day To Remember’s Jeremy McKinnon singing lyrics that are a direct quote from lines spoken by Willie Scott: “You’re gonna get killed chasing after your damn fortune and glory.”
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The Devil Wears Prada – “Alien” / Alien
While The Devil Wears Prada is widely known for their undead-inspired Zombie EPs, their 2015 Space EP has a song that pulls from the 1979 sci-fi classic, Alien. In an interview with Songfacts, singer Mike Hranica said the attacking alien in this song was inspired by Ridley Scott’s depiction of the creatures from the movie. Hranica describes the alien in his song as, “10-feet tall, drenched in saliva. It’s attacking, coming through the window, game over.”
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My Chemical Romance – “Early Sunsets Over Monroeville” / Dawn of the Dead
George A. Romero’s 1978 zombie classic Dawn Of The Dead is the inspiration behind this song from My Chem’s debut album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. Monroeville, PA is the home of Dawn Of The Dead’s killer shopping mall. Singer Gerard Way even uses the often-quoted “no more room in hell” tagline in the chorus.
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Circa Survive, Bayside, The Morning Of / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Now, this one is special. All three of these bands have songs inspired by one of my favorite movies of all time, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Circa Survive leads the pack here, with several songs off their debut album Juturna that reference the movie, including: “Oh, Hello”, “In Fear and Faith”, and “Meet Me In Montauk”. Bayside’s song “Montauk”, off their self-titled album, is inspired by the film’s closing events. The Morning Of (remember that band!?) was finishing writing lyrics for their 2010 album The Way I Fell In when singers Justin Wiley & Jessica Leplon rewrote the lyrics for the song after watching the movie.
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