With Rihanna contributing “Life Me Up” to the soundtrack for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the song has gotten almost as much attention as the movie itself. Indeed, there have been times when a movie’s theme song takes on a life of its own and eclipses the movie in popularity.
In some of these cases, the song belongs to a movie that failed to find much of an audience, like Once, yet the song managed to rise out of obscurity. Other songs belonged to hit notable movies, like Rocky III, but over time, became more well-known. Though rare, it is interesting to listen to these movie themes that surpassed the movies.
Falling Slowly – Once (2006)
Once is a charming independent movie that follows two amateur musicians who form a connection and begin making music together. For such a small movie, Once managed to find a decent audience, but that was largely helped by the song “Falling Slowly.”
Though the movie has remained a small favorite among fans, Redditor Sane333 finds that the song “has taken a life of its own.” In fact, with the song winning an Oscar, it likely led people to discover the movie rather than vice versa.
Can’t Help Falling In Love – Blue Hawaii (1961)
With the recent success of the biopic, fans might be revisiting some of Elvis Presley’s best movies. But while he was a superstar musician, Presley’s acting career never garnered the same level of acclaim. This includes the movie Blue Hawaii where he plays a musical tour guide, leading to him singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love” for the first time.
One Redditor points out that few fans likely realize the popular song “started in Elvis’s cheesy Hawaii film.” It is a fitting example of the difference between his movie career and music career as Blue Hawaii is largely forgotten while “Can’t Help Falling in Love” is one of his most iconic songs.
Unchained Melody – Unchained (1955)
There are likely few people who remember the movie Unchained but it gave the world one of the most covered songs of all time. The overlooked crime movie follows a convict who struggles between finishing out his sentence or attempting an escape.
Though quite unexpectedly given the story, the movie introduced the popular romance song “Unchained Melody.” Redditor great_auks admits the song wasn’t given much notice within a movie “that hardly anyone has ever seen.” It also shows how important the use of a song is within the movie. When the Righteous Brothers’ cover of “Unchained Melody” was used in Ghost, the song found a new life.
Iris – City Of Angels (1998)
City of Angels is the story of an angel who comes down to Earth to help usher the recently deceased to heaven but ends up falling for a human woman. Despite the high concept and stars like Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan, the movie is best remembered for the song “Iris” by Goo Goo Dolls.
One Redditor admits of the movie that they “never even heard of it and I consider ‘Iris’ a classic.” Interestingly, the movie failed to get people too invested in its romance story but the song managed to become a pivotal love song of the 1990s.
We Have All The Time In The World – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
While some of the James Bond theme songs are more popular than others, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service includes a song that is not the movie’s official theme yet still surpassed the movie itself with Louis Armstrong’s “We Have All the Time in the World.”
Redditor MrTidels claims that it “wasn’t until I watched all the Bond films two years ago” that they realized this was the song’s origins. Fittingly, after being used to mark Tracy Bond’s death. the song was reused for No Time to Die for another sad death in the James Bond franchise.
Lux Aeterna – Requiem For A Dream (2000)
Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream is a harrowing look at the connected lives of several people who see their dreams and futures destroyed by their drug addictions. It all builds to some of the saddest movie endings fans refuse to rewatch accompanied by the haunting theme music “Lux Aeterna.”
Redditor FlerblesMerbles points out that people “probably don’t know where ‘that epic trailer song’ came from” as it has been used in countless trailers since then. Even with the movie’s acclaim, the fans might associate it with other movies given its frequent inclusion in trailers.
Theme From Love Story – Love Story (1970)
Love Story is a puzzling example of a movie that had so much success initially only to fade from memory over time. It tells the story of a young couple from different backgrounds who pursue a romance only for tragedy to strike.
Despite being a huge box office success and being nominated for Best Picture, Redditor faust06 insists Love Story is “mostly forgotten at this point.” However, its one win at the Oscars was for its theme music which remains recognizable to this day. It is hard to say why this is the only aspect of the movie that was able to remain while the rest was forgotten.
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door – Pat Garret And Billy The Kid (1973)
Bob Dylan only starred in a handful of movies throughout his career and never made much of a splash as an actor. However, like Elvis Presley, sometimes bringing his own musical talents to the movie helped it gain some recognition. In the western Pat Garret and Billy the Kid, Dylan performed the song “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”
While Redditor EersteDivisie admits they are “not sure how many people even heard of that movie today,” the song remains one of Dylan’s most popular. Given that the movie is a pulpy western while the song is a thoughtful and powerful tune, it is not too surprising which one stood out the most.
Eye Of The Tiger – Rocky III (1982)
While the score for the original Rocky matched the iconic status of the movie, the song “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor for the third movie was perhaps too catchy. Though the first movie was an underdog story, Rocky III finds the boxer overcome by fame and facing a hungry new challenger.
Redditor poptophazard insists “most people can hum or sing “Eye of the Tiger” more than they can describe the plot of Rocky III.” It’s true that this sequel is not as memorable as some other installments while “Eye of the Tiger” gets stuck in people’s heads almost immediately.
Main Theme – Chariots Of Fire (1981)
As Redditor JohnTequilaWoo points out “even though it won Best Picture,” there aren’t too many people who can say they have watched Chariots of Fire. The movie tells the story of two track athletes from different backgrounds who seek to win at the 1924 Olympics.
There is probably one image from the movie that fans will recognize with the characters running in slow motion on the beach. But that is likely due to the use of the iconic music which has been used endlessly to parody such moments and seeped into pop culture in a way the movie never did.
