The ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ soundtrack: A window into Tim Burton’s ornately eclectic music taste
After a 36-year wait peppered with false starts and near-misses, the juice was finally let loose for a second time when Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice exploded into cinemas in September 2024.
With almost four decades of goodwill built up around an original that continues to win over new fans with each passing year, the long-awaited sequel shattered pre-release expectations with a record-breaking opening weekend at the box office, ensuring the follow-up was well worth the wait.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is Burton’s best-reviewed movie in years, and having admitted that he’d become increasingly disenfranchised with his lot in Hollywood, it was the perfect tonic for refreshing his creative energies. Knows as one of the industry’s most distinctive visualists, the fantasy comedy duology hasn’t skimped on the audio side of things, either.
As well as reuniting with regular collaborator Danny Elfman for the orchestral soundtrack, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice also features plenty of licenced songs, with the trailers reprising Harry Belafonte’s ‘Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)’, which became a key part of the original film’s appeal and has become synonymous with the franchise across live-action, animation, and even the musical stage production.
The songs of Beetlejuice – and, latterly, its sequel – are key to establishing the tone and atmosphere Burton wanted to achieve, which in this instance is off-the-wall anarchy. ‘Day-O’ might be the Beetlejuice song that comes to mind first when thinking of the saga’s audio delights, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
The Beetlejuice film series may only consist of two pictures with no guarantees of a third, but Burton and his team have nonetheless gone out of their way to craft a curated soundtrack that doesn’t only capture the essence of the film and its assortment of oddball characters to a tee but makes for a winning playlist even without the blockbuster to back it up.
What songs are on the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice soundtrack?
There are ten pre-existing tracks on the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice soundtrack, covering a wide array of genres, tastes, and even classic films. Alongside two original compositions from Elfman, it makes for a suitably eclectic listen.
One of the Beetlejuice movie songs even appears twice, with Richard Harris’ initial and Grammy-winning 1968 recording of ‘MacArthur Park’ featuring alongside the 1978 disco version recorded by Donna Summer to give it the distinction of being the only track to appear twice.
In keeping with the Beetlejuice characters being an assortment of oddities, both living and dead, who get drawn into all sorts of otherworldly misadventures, the soundtrack for Burton’s sequel pinballs between decades, styles, and artists to offer up a listening experience every bit as endearingly unusual as the movie itself.
The Alfie Davis and the Sylvia Young Theatre School Choir contribute their own version of ‘Day-O’, Bee Gees staple ‘Tragedy’, Sigur Rós’ epic ten-minute ‘Svefn-g-englar’, a remaster of late Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland’s 1998 solo track ‘Where’s the Man’ and even Pino Donaggio’s main theme from Brian De Palma’s classic Stephen King adaptation Carrie are all present and accounted for to deliver a listening experience every bit as offbeat as Michael Keaton’s titular entity.
The full Beetlejuice Beetlejuice soundtrack:
- ‘MacArthur Park’ – Donna Summer
- ‘Tragedy’ – Bee Gees
- ‘Day-O’ – Alfie Davis and the Sylvia Young Theatre School Choir
- ‘Somedays’ – Tess Parks
- ‘Cry, Cry’ – Mazzy Star
- ‘Where’s the Man’ – Scott Weiland
- ‘Right Here Waiting’ – Richard Marx
- ‘Svefn-g-englar’ – Sigur Rós
- ‘MacArthur Park’ – Richard Harris
- ‘Main Title from Carrie’ – Pino Donaggio
- ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Main Title Theme’ – Danny Elfman
- ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice End Title Theme’ – Danny Elfman
