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• Some of the best music-accompanied scenes in movie history

There are certain scenes that will be forever remembered for the music that acts as an accompaniment. The music not only perfectly fits the visuals, but also adds mood and tone to the scene. This list is made up of scenes with music that wasn’t part of a composed score, in other words, music that wasn’t specifically written for the film. Below are some of the greatest music scenes ever put to film.

2001: “Blue Danube” Scene

This could possibly be considered Kubrick’s most ingeniously composed scene. The immediate scene after “The Dawn Of Man” sequence, this sequence is one of the most memorable and parodied scenes in pop culture. The beauty of this scene, with the NASA looking spaceship approaching the ship that looks like two wheels, has both ships appearing to move aimlessly through space by the Earth’s atmosphere. The scene then cuts to the inside of the ship, showing off the wonders of this futuristic world Kubrick has brought us, like a woman climbing up the wall of the ship. These aren’t numbered, but this is definitely my favorite.

Boogie Nights: “Sister Christian”/”Jessie’s Girl”/”99 Red Balloons” Scene

This is a scene where the music feels really out of place, but that’s the point, since it adds to the tension. In the scene, Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) is attempting to rip off a cocaine dealer with flour, so they go to the dealer’s house where they find a gun equipped Alfred Molina, rambling around the house with a crack-addled mind. He’s also hanging out with a young Asian man who sporadically throws loud firecrackers, making the scene even more intense. The eighties music in the scene makes the scene incredibly suspenseful, with every crescendo leading the viewer to believe Dirk’s scheme will be found out.

Goodfellas: “Layla” Scene

Martin Scorcese is no stranger to the use of classic rock in his movies. He’s used the Rolling Stone’s “Gimme Shelter” in three of his films, but only once has he used Eric Clapton’s “Layla”, in a brilliant montage of death scenes. When Jimmy (Robert De Niro) gets paranoid after he and his gang pulled off a giant heist, he decides to kill everybody and keep the money for himself. The piano and guitar solo in Layla makes this montage extremely memorable mainly because “Layla” is such a recognizable song and using it in this fashion is well, brilliant.

Pulp Fiction: “You Never Can Tell”

If I ever become rich, the second item I’m buying (The first is having the Chocolate Room from Willy Wonka installed in my house) is recreating the Jack Rabbit Slims restaurant from Pulp Fiction. Filled to the brim with fifties nostalgia, waiters dressed up as Buddy Holly and Mimi Van Doren, this restaurant is where one of the best scenes in the film takes place. As Vincent Vega (John Travolta) is out to dinner with his boss’ wife Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman), Mia decides she wants to enter the nightly twist dance contest. The sequence that ensues, with Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” blaring in the background as the camera switches focus between Mia and Vincent, is nothing short of classic and will go down as Tarantino’s most remembered scene.