[+] Rodman, Ronald. "The Popular Song as Leitmotif in 1990s Film." In Changing Tunes: The Use of Pre-existing Music in Film, ed. Phil Powrie and Robynn Stilwell, 119-36. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006.
The study of film music is often focused on the classical film score, which derives from late nineteenth-century opera and musical theater, including features such as the use of symphony orchestras, functional tonality, the leitmotif, and a newly composed score. However, the practice of the compilation score has been around from the earliest days of film, and by the end of the twentieth century, the popular music score was being used in a postmodern manner, decentering the role of the unique musical work and drawing upon the style and celebrity of a musical work, exemplified by Pulp Fiction and Trainspotting. In Pulp Fiction, the musical style of borrowed popular music rather than a singular theme is used as a leitmotif, and in Trainspotting, celebrity and irony are used as a leitmotif through the social codes (the mode of Social Practice). Full lists of borrowed music for the films are included in tables.
Works: Quentin Tarantino (director): Sound track to Pulp Fiction (121, 123-30); Danny Boyle (director): Sound track to Trainspotting (121, 130-35).
Sources: Dick Dale and the Deltones (performers): Misirlou (126); Kool and the Gang: Jungle Boogie (126); John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins (songwriters), Dusty Springfield (performer): Son of a Preacher Man (126); Neil Diamond (composer), Urge Overkill (performer): Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon (126); Lew DeWitt (composer), Statler Brothers (performers): Flowers on the Wall (126); Gerald Sanders, Jesse Sanders, Norman Sanders, and Leonard Delaney (songwriters), The Tornadoes (performers): Bustin' Surfboards (126); Dennis Rose and Earnest Furrow (songwriters), The Centurians (performers): Bullwinkle, Part II (126); Sam Eddy, Dean Sorensen, and Paul Sorensen (songwriters), The Revels (performers): Comanche (126); Bob Bogle, Nole Edwards, and Don Wilson (songwriters), The Lively Ones (performers): Surf Rider (126); Bizet: Carmen (131); Iggy Pop and David Bowie (songwriters), Iggy Pop (performer): Lust for Life (133), Nightclubbing (134).
Index Classifications: 1900s, Film
Contributed by: Karen Anton Stafford
