“That’s a strong statement”: Greta Gerwig names the “best pop song ever written”
What would you say the greatest pop song ever written was?
If you go by popular opinion then you’ll usually land on one answer, that being ‘God Only Knows’ by The Beach Boys, which admittedly, is melodically, structurally, and harmonically so astonishing that it sounds like it was wrought in the very clouds of heaven by angels. But according to director Greta Gerwig, that answer would be incorrect.
Now Gerwig’s opinion is one that should definitely be listened to, because she is known to be something of a music obsessive, and like many of the best directors she makes music an integral part of her movies, whether that be an independent effort like 2017’s Lady Bird or a world-conquering behemoth like 2023’s Barbie, the soundtracks for both were very carefully curated.
That’s something Gerwig was doing all the way back to 2012 and the movie Frances Ha, which she starred in and co-wrote and was directed by her husband, the frequent Wes Anderson collaborator Noah Baumbach. Gerwig and Baumbach worked hard to get the music for the film exactly right, the film telling the story of a struggling dancer in New York City.
One artist they felt was integral to the movie was David Bowie, with a standout scene featuring Gerwig in the lead role running and dancing through Manhattan to an early 1980s track from the Thin White Duke.
Gerwig said at the time: “(Noah and I) kind of feel that David Bowie’s Modern Love is the best pop song that’s ever been written. That’s a strong statement, but I do think it’s so incredibly infectious, and the first time you hear it, you need to hear it again right away”.
Adding, “We wanted the movie to have that kind of energy; that there were hooks and choruses and melodies.”
The Bowie obsession was a theme she carried on with 2019’s acclaimed Little Women too, with Gerwig giving composer Alexandre Desplat a directive for the soundtrack to find a mix between Mozart and Bowie. It worked too, with the score picking up an Oscar nomination.
‘Modern Love’ was the first song on Bowie’s 1983 album Let’s Dance, which marked yet another new direction for him and was co-produced by Chic’s Nile Rodgers, with both men aiming to make the most commercially viable album possible. The song was a big hit, as was the album, which is probably most fondly remembered for its title track, which was a massive global smash, topping the charts in twelve countries.
Next month, Gerwig will be seen alongside George Clooney and Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly, a new film directed by Baumbach that tells the story of a famous actor travelling through Europe with his manager. The film had its premiere in New York this week with Clooney’s performance already being described by critics as the best of his career so far.
Baumbach said, “George seemed like a great one to do it because… George feels like he could be a movie star in any time period. There is something kind of timeless about him.”
Meanwhile, Gerwig has written and directed Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, an epic adaptation of the first book in CS Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series. Some big names are attached, including Meryl Streep and Daniel Craig, and the film is currently pencilled in for a Netflix release next November.
