‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ – Donovan

The Eastern-inspired ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ by Scottish folk artist Donovan was a hit in 1968, but in the years since, it has often found itself on the soundtracks of various horror films, giving it a sense of creepiness that I’d argue isn’t immediately apparent when you first listen to it. Sure, the opening “Oohhs” are slightly unsettling, but as the song unfolds, there’s an epicness to it in spite of its relative sparseness that doesn’t necessarily feel scary, more so grandiose.

Yet, the track has since come to appear in movies and television shows like The Conjuring, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Salem’s Lot, and perhaps most notably, Zodiac, the David Fincher’s crime thriller, where we witness the mysterious killer’s first murder, a couple sitting in a car as Donovan’s track plays on the radio. You can also hear it at the end of the movie, but on its own, you can’t help but feel like the song is a bit tainted now by blood and gore.

Goodbye Horses – Q Lazzarus 

There’s a strange, nostalgic beauty to ‘Goodbye Horses’ by Q Lazzarus that sounds like a dancefloor at the end of the night, a slow pulse that refuses to fizzle out; however, if you’re in the know, you probably associate it with that iconic scene featuring Buffalo Bill dancing with his bits tucked between his legs while his victim watches on in horror, unable to escape. 

The song was actually discovered by director Jonathan Demme when he got picked up by taxi driver Q Lazzarus, who played him her demo of the song, blowing him away. He knew he had to use the song, so he first put it in Married To The Mob, making it a hit, but when he also used it in The Silence of the Lambs, well, I will challenge you to find anyone who doesn’t associate it with that sequence.

‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’ – The Smiths

(500) Days of Summer turned The Smiths’ ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’ into the ultimate hipster anthem back in 2009, and I think that damage is irreparable. The song plays a pivotal role in uniting the primary characters, Tom and Summer, with the latter hearing the incredibly popular indie hit playing through his earphones in a lift, which leads her to utter the iconic line, “I love The Smiths!” before he takes his earphones out, confused, only for her to sing along before leaving the lift and him smitten. 

The whole sequence is infuriating because it’s not like she has stumbled across him listening to something super obscure and impressive; it’s just The Smiths. He’s listening to every 14-year-old’s go-to band when they’re feeling inexpressibly and dramatically melancholic. Now, every time you hear that song, you can’t help but remember the encounter, and don’t get me wrong, I like The Smiths too, but I can hardly listen to ‘There Is a Light’, and I’m sure this is why. 

‘Singin’ in the Rain’ – Gene Kelly 

In 1952, Gene Kelly pranced through rain-soaked streets, swinging from lampposts as he sang the title number from his hit musical Singin’ in the Rain, making it a beloved classic until Stanley Kubrick stepped in 20 years later and put an incredibly sinister twist on it. His stylish meditation on extreme violence, A Clockwork Orange, sees protagonist Alex DeLarge get up to all kinds of heinous acts, and one of these is soundtracked by the once-lovely song. 

DeLarge sings the song while raping a woman after breaking into her house with his gang of droogs, which ensures you’ll never hear the song the same again, especially when you consider how cheery the character sounds as he sings, “What a glorious feeling, I’m happy again!” Rather understandably, Kelly wasn’t best pleased about the song’s usage.

‘Stuck in the Middle With You’ – Stealers Wheel

Quentin Tarantino has a thing for using pre-existing music, preferring to stay away from employing someone else to soundtrack his work. He finds music such a big part of his world that he opts to search through his own record collection and pick out the perfect piece to accompany scenes, and in the case of a pretty graphic one from Reservoir Dogs, he selected a 1972 classic. 

‘Stuck in the Middle With You’ by Stealers Wheel is a nice dancey number that’s now forever associated with Michael Madsen boogying in front of his tied-up victim before indulging in the pleasurable act of slicing his ear clean off. The lyrics, “I got the feeling that something ain’t right/ I’m so scared in case I fall off my chair”, will never mean the same again.