The 10 greatest closing songs in movie history
Cinema is a celebration of the moving image, with filmmakers such as Stanley Kubrick, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Denis Villeneuve and Steven Spielberg having gifted audiences with some of the most spectacular images ever put to the art form. What makes the medium so great, however, is its ability to combine other forms of expression, including dance, architecture and music.
The combination of sound and vision is what we’re focusing on for this list of the ten greatest closing songs in movie history. Focusing on previously established songs that were used in iconic films, rather than original soundtracks made for the sole purpose of the movie, this list will look at the best musical moments from cinema where a track was perfectly used, to sum up a film’s themes before the credits roll.
This means we’ll have to painfully omit a number of classic movie moments, such as when ‘Blue Moon’ provided the perfect curveball during the credits of John Landis’ American Werewolf in London and Frankie Valli’s ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ that perfectly bookended Ari Aster’s Midsommar. Indeed, if you’re after some of the greatest closing credit songs of all time, look no further.
Delving into the movies of David Fincher, Stanley Kubrick, Rob Reiner, Martin Scorsese and more, take a look at our definitive list of the ten greatest closing songs of all time below.
The 10 best closing songs in movie history:
10. ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ – The Breakfast Club (John Hughes, 1985)
Whatever our opinion is about John Hughes’ iconic coming-of-age movie The Breakfast Club (it has aged pretty badly), there’s no denying that it features one of cinema’s greatest endings. The film, which follows a group of rag-tag teenagers thrown together during a Saturday detention, ends with them each having learned a thing or two from each other, coming to a close as Judd Nelson’s John Bender takes to the dusk-lit American football field and punches the air to the tune of ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’ by Simple Minds.
Quite simply one of cinema’s most iconic moments, the song speaks to the melancholy of one’s final days as a teenager, begging the school and the ones who have helped to form your character, “Don’t you forget about me”.
9. ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ – Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
If there’s one thing the American movie maestro David Fincher knows how to do, it’s finish a movie, with the director being known for being able to pick the perfect song to accompany a climax. One case in point is the curious choice of ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ by Donovan, used to bookend 2007’s eerie crime drama Zodiac with a sense of deranged and surreal uncertainty.
Telling the true story of the serial killer who was never found, Fincher ends his creepy tale with the feeling that the killer could still be out there. Has the nightmare even ended? The lyrics of ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’ speak of a narrator being visited by a strange man in their dreams and is sung with constant, unstable vocals. Eerie.
8. ‘The Sound of Silence’ – The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)
Mike Nichols’ Oscar-winning movie The Graduate is well-known for being the movie that catapulted actor Dustin Hoffman into the limelight, but it is also celebrated for its seminal soundtrack from the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel. Its ending is also known as one of cinema’s very best, showing Hoffman’s Benjamin Braddock sitting beside his new love Elaine Robinson (Katharine Ross) after having hijacked her wedding.
It all comes to a close with the pair sitting next to each other, unsure of whether they’ve made the right decision by running off together. Their actions were of mad young love, but all they’re left with now is the ponderous ‘Sound of Silence’.
7. ‘Stand by Me’ – Stand by Me (Rob Reiner, 1986)
The Ben E. King song ‘Stand By Me’ feels so closely associated with Rob Reiner’s iconic coming-of-age movie from 1986 that you’d be forgiven for thinking that the track was written specifically for the film itself. Starring the likes of River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman and Kiefer Sutherland, the film tells the story of a group of young boys who venture into the countryside to try and find a reported dead body.
The journey turns out to be one of the last adventures for the group of friends before they all go off and grow up, with ‘Stand By Me’ being the perfect melancholy climax to their story, suggesting that no matter what, they would have each others’ backs for the rest of their lives.
6. ‘Where is My Mind?’ – Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
We’ve already talked about David Fincher’s staggering ability to conclude a film with the perfect song, yet three entries later and we’re back with the American mastermind. The way he chose to close his 1999 cult classic Fight Club has gone down in the history books of the medium, with ‘Where is My Mind?’ by the Pixies becoming a favourite of disgruntled teenage fans from across the globe.
Starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, the film tells the story of a dissatisfied man looking for meaning in his life who creates a secondary persona to be able to enact his deepest desires. This thematic idea of split personalities is reflected in The Pixies’ classic rock song, finishing off the film with eerie, epic aplomb.
5. ‘The End’ – Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
Francis Ford Coppola chooses to end his spectacular Vietnam War film in the exact way it started, playing The Door’s song ‘The End’ in a reflection of the definitive nature of war itself. Starring Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen, the seminal classic tells the story of a US Army Officer tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who has proclaimed himself as a God among a forest tribe.
Originally choosing the song because he thought it would be a funny idea to start a film with a song named ‘The End’, Coppola’s choice to use the song during the two most important parts of the movie subsequently created some of cinema’s greatest moments.
4. ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’ – 45 Years (Andrew Haigh, 2015)
The most recently released movie on our list is Andrew Haigh’s 2015 drama 45 Years, adapted from the short story ‘In Another Country’ by David Constantine. A complex romantic tale that asks the audience how well we claim to know the people we love, Haigh’s film is a masterclass of screenwriting, featuring some heartbreaking performances from Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay.
The story follows a happily married couple whose life is thrown into disarray following the discovery of the body of one of their former lovers. Re-arising feelings of regret and lost love, the film builds to an anniversary party in which they play ‘their song’, ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’ by The Platters, a song that explores the pain and torment that comes with choosing the person you love. It’s utter perfection.
3. ‘I Did It My Way’ – Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
There’s no ifs, whens, whys or buts about it, Martin Scorsese’s 1990 movie Goodfellas is a seminal American classic. Telling the story of Henry Hill, a young man who chooses a life in the mafia, the film features career-defining performances from the likes of Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci and ultimately follows a group of people in search of the mythical American dream.
That’s what makes Scorsese’s choice to finish the film with ‘I Did It My Way’ by Sid Vicious so perfect, with the song reflecting the self-obsessed ethos of the American psyche, as individuals pursue wealth and happiness with little care for who gets lost along the way.
2. ‘We’ll Meet Again’ – Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
Known as the master of cinema for a reason, Stanley Kubrick certainly knew his way around a soundtrack, just look at the way in which he weaves music throughout his iconic sci-fi 2001: A Space Odyssey or his psychological drama A Clockwork Orange. But, nothing quite compares to the moment when he bookends his nuclear war drama Dr. Strangelove with a particularly eerie rendition of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ by Vera Lynn.
His film, which tells the story of a group of bumbling government officials and military officers who are trying to prevent nuclear war, eventually ends with a fateful explosion, triggering an all-out war. Using archive footage, Kubrick ends his film with a montage of explosions and Lynn’s wartime song, acting as a creepy warning that a nuclear bomb could indeed be dropped again in the future if humanity doesn’t keep itself in check.
1. ‘Rhythm of the Night’ – Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1999)
Also topping our list of the greatest movie endings of all time, we simply cannot get enough of the climax to Claire Denis’ Beau Travail. A complex film that deals with modern masculinity, nostalgia and much more, this iconic arthouse classic tells the story of an ex-Foreign Legion officer who is recalling the glory of his life leading the troops whilst dealing with the jealousy he feels toward the youth and beauty of one of his soldiers.
This jealousy eventually leads the officer to indirectly kill the soldier, leading to one of cinema’s greatest endings of all time in which the protagonist expresses his suppressed masculinity and yearning for his past youth. Gliding across the dancefloor to the tune of ‘Rhythm of the Night’ by Corona, the protagonist embraces the liberation of his freedom, finally prising himself away from the strict structure of the army to tap his feet on the twinkling dance floor with effeminate style.
