Real Life Soundtracks

Movies and television programs incorporate songs into their soundtracks carefully, thoughtfully and with relevance to the scene at hand - after all, it would be frankly ridiculous (although possibly hilarious) to use Minnie Riperton's "Loving You" as non-diegetic background music to a prison rape scene.  In fact it would be ridiculous to use that song for any reason -  aside from perhaps, for determining what your dog sounds like howling.  Or to demonstrate the effects of high-pitched frequencies on glass.  And possibly as a mostly cost effective alternative to waterboarding.

But some songs make for great soundtracks to the goings on and frivolities of everyday life - police pursuits, for instance, are a great example.  On the Spotify playlist on my phone for example, I have two bluegrass "getaway" songs - "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Flatt and Scruggs and "Whitehouse Blues" by Bill Monroe.  They're great for whenever you're in the middle of traffic and the coppers zip by in pursuit of some lead-footed reprobate trying to wing it for the boonies.  "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" in particular is relevant as it was used in the film Bonnie & Clyde.

And police pursuits aren't the only thing where playing music out loud in response to something going on around you can be for the benefit of your own personal amusement.  You might also like to keep a copy of "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye should you ever stumble across animals mating.  I also recommend "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" by Barry White, especially if the mounting process appears to be fruitless or persistently unsuccessful.

My advice therefore is this - don't be afraid to take advantage of music streaming services and use music not just as a device for reinforcing on-screen narratives, but to make everyday life as amusing as possible.  I've also taken the liberty of including Spotify links to the aforementioned songs to illustrate my point.





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