From Rolling Stones to N.W.A: The 10 best songs in gangster movies
If there is one added element that can elevate a film and its subject matter, it’s music. A good soundtrack can bring a brilliant film home, tying it with its tone or symbolising a particular character. Many movie genres come with expected soundtracks, original scores or familiar songs that fit effortlessly with narrative and style. One particular genre is the ganger film, a genre stylised by materialism, corruption and organised crime.
Gangster films attract some of the industry’s finest directors, including Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, to create some visually stunning and thrilling explorations of gangs and mobs. Style and execution are crucial in a gangster film, as every detail needs to align with the story and translate the director’s vision to audiences, and the soundtrack seems to be a suitable vessel for this.
Songs in gangster films can be from a variety of eras, as ganger films tend to be set in notorious eras such as the 1950s to ’60s. This factor allows some of the music business’s most significant and respected contributors to appear on a movie’s soundtrack. When the right song comes in at just the right moment and is utilised well, audiences experience a thrilling or emotional punch of a scene.
Including classic rock melodies and powerful diss tracks, here are the ten best songs used in gangster films.
The best songs from gangster films
‘Rags to Riches’ by Tony Bennet – Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
This masterpiece stars Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci as members of a tight-knit group of mob associates. Liotta’s Henry Hill rises and falls in the world of organised crime after becoming immersed in the gangster world as a teenager, losing loved ones and luxuries as things spiral out of control.
Goodfellas is a prime example of everything in a film just coming together perfectly, from cast to direction to soundtrack. Hill’s story opens with the character talking the audience through his long-standing admiration for gangsters, emphasising their wealth, power and class. Scorsese picks the perfect song to showcase Hill’s goal and transformation, Tony Bennett’s 1953 hit ‘Rags to Riches’. This song embodies the film’s themes and narrative values of American Independence and growing from poverty to obtain power through material items. The song also signals the profound Italian identity of the film, as Bennett shares the main character’s nationality referenced throughout the film.
‘Speak Softly Love’ by Andy Williams – The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1973)
The Godfather is another American crime classic, starring film legends Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as a father and son duo controlling a mafia family. Pacino’s Michael is set to take his father Vito’s place as head of the family.
Also known as ‘Love Theme from The Godfather’, the film’s signature theme was originally an instrumental composed by Nino Rota. It was then lyricised by Larry Kusik and performed by Andy Williams, titled ‘Speak Softly, Love’. The song is a soft and easy-listening rock piece, keeping up with The Godfather’s soul and pristine tone and emphasising its themes of loyalty and honour within its lyrics.
‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ by The Rolling Stones – Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese, 1973)
De Niro stars alongside Harvey Kietal in Scorsese’s hit crime film following a small-time hood who finds himself in trouble with a loan shark. He seeks the help of a criminal friend when the danger of his debt takes a toll.
Mean Streets saw the introduction of one of film’s mightiest duos in director Scorsese and actor De Niro, with the former making sure this launch went down in style. De Niro’s character John “Johnny Boy” Civello, steals the show when he appears on screen in a red-lit club accompanied by The Rolling Stones’s ‘Jumpin Jack Flash’. The scene’s visual and audio design introduces a focal and vibrant character in a manner that elevates the mood and atmosphere through an upbeat rock sound.
‘Stuck in the Middle with You’ by Stealers Wheel – Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992)
Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut narrates a jewellery heist that goes wrong, resulting in bloodshed and bond-breaking. Reservoir Dogs stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward Bunker as diamond thieves.
The most famous scene from Reservoir Dogs blends a country rock hit, improvisation and a grizzly shock. Madsen’s Mr Blonde ties a police officer, played by Kirk Baltz, to a chair and plays Stealer Wheelers’s ‘Stuck in the Middle with You’. After performing a dance improvised by Madsen, Mr Blonde brutally cuts off the officer’s ear, taunting him as he screams in agony. The scene utilises camera work and score perfectly, as the camera only focuses on the build-up, pulls away from the vicious act, and leaves audiences with the upbeat music as a contrast.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Tarantino shared: “That was one of those things where I thought [the song] would work really well, and [during] auditions, I told the actors that I wanted them to do the torture scene, and I’m gonna use “Stuck in the Middle With You”, but they could pick anything they wanted, they didn’t have to use that song. And a couple of people picked another one, but almost everyone came in with “Stuck in the Middle With You”, and they were saying that they tried to come up with something else, but that’s the one. The first time somebody actually did the torture scene to that song, the guy didn’t even have a great audition, but it was like watching the movie. I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is gonna be awesome!'”
‘You Can Never Tell’ by Chuck Berry – Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
In this American pop culture classic, two hitmen navigate their lives of organised crime in Los Angeles. Accompanying narratives include a hunt for a precious watch turned sinister and a diner robbery.
Pulp Fiction is a stylised whirlpool of pop culture references, a primary centrepiece being music. One of the film’s most iconic images occurs during the date night between John Travolta’s Vincent Vega and Uma Thurman’s Mia Wallace at Jack Rabbit Slim’s. The two enter a twist dance contest upon Wallace’s insistence, dancing to Chuck Berry’s song ‘You Can Never Tell’, released in 1964. The scene is fun, brilliantly choreographed and riveting.
‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’ by Devo – Casino (Martin Scorsese, 1995)
A mafia associate is handed over a chain of Las Vegas casinos and employs the opportunity to rise to a newfound power. However, his associates and love interest create conflicts, jeopardising his status.
Casino includes many classic songs to accompany its themes of power, materialism and status, as well as the conflicts these elements generate. One symbolic song from the film is The Rolling Stones’ ‘I Can’t Get No Satisfaction’, covered by fellow American rock band Devo. The song embodies how De Niro’s character Ace Rothstein’s quest for financial prosperity and materialistic power never brings complete contentment and stability. The cover also provides some energetic funk to Scorsese’s intense and brutal depiction of surface-level glamour.
‘Something Stupid’ by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell – Legend (Brian Helgeland, 2015)
Tom Hardy is a double threat in this biographical crime film about the notorious Kray Twins, who are thought to have run a ’50s East End. Ronnie and Reggie may be a team in their organised crime and fights, but when it comes to their personal lives, it is nothing but brawls and fallouts.
Legend’s third act is harrowing and heart-wrenching, as Reggie’s wife, Frances, passes away from an overdose to escape their toxic relationship. During a party scene shortly after this tragedy, Ronnie dances in front of his grieving brother to the song “Somethin’ Stupid” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. His moves are tormenting, considering the lyric “then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid” can be heard, signalling Reggie’s abusive treatment towards Frances. The song’s use symbolises previous plot events and the brothers’ fractured relationship, emphasising the film’s sudden, heartbreaking tone.
‘I’m Shipping up to Boston’ by Dropkick Murphys – The Departed (Martin Scorsese, 2006)
This crime thriller epic stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson. It follows an undercover spy and an agent trying to throw each other under the bus to save themselves from the authorities. Both also have their eye on an Irish gang.
A trademark element in Scorsese’s film is the Dropkick Murphys’ song ‘I’m Shipping up to Boston’, an energetic yet aggressive tune released in 2005 that’s seen many media appearances, such as The Simpsons. However, its characteristics of brute and thrill help the song fit in effortlessly with the film’s pent-up aggression and action sequences, becoming the most known use of the song in media.
‘Fuck tha Police’ by N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton (F.Gary Gray, 2015)
This biographical film documents the rise of a group of rappers from Compton, California, as their passion for revolutionary music with a message is met with several controversies and cultural rifts.
The film tells the story of N.W.A, a popular hip-hop group featuring Arabian Prince, Dr Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and MC Ren. Straight Outta Compton shows the origins of the group’s biggest hit, ‘Fuck tha Poilce’, a pushback against the violent brutality black people experience at the hands of the police, which resulted in the term ‘gangsta rap’. The song captures the torment, pain and revolution the community experiences at the hands of a corrupt institution, performed during a live show that brings energy and power in front of officers.
‘Push it to the Limit’ by Paul Engemann – Scarface (Brian de Palma, 1983)
Brian de Palma’s crime drama is one of the gangster genre’s greatest cult classics, starring Al Pacino as a penniless refugee turned powerful drug lord living in Miami.
Scarface is quintessential ’80s cinema full of power, energy and excitement, evident in its soundtrack. The film features Paul Engemann’s upbeat and thrilling song ‘Push it to the Limit’, a melody that highlights Tony Montana’s drive, ambition and animated persona. The song raises Scarface’s material with some hard-hitting yet exhilarating influence, capturing the iconic decade brilliantly.
