There have been many
great films with even greater soundtracks. From the inclusion of bands like
Echo, The Bunnymen, and Joy Division in
Donnie Darko, to Alex Turner’s
contribution in the movie
Submarine, a lot of good music has been added
to films to supplement them. There is one film, however, with a soundtrack that
does more than just sound good to the audience. Danny Boyle’s
Trainspotting does
not only include great music, but the soundtrack actually helps in developing
the narrative. While there have been many great soundtracks in film,
Trainspotting
is film’s best soundtrack due to the fact that it helps complete the narrative,
has been included in multiple best soundtrack lists, and combines both diegetic
and non-diegetic music in a way that has never been done before.
The
Trainspotting
soundtrack really helps in developing the narrative for the audience. In
the opening scene of the movie, Renton is running away while Iggy Pop’s “Lust
For Life” plays in the background. The song is fast-paced and fits well in this
scene as Renton is running, which helps to create a feeling of excitement for
the audience. According Madeleine Brand of
NPR, “Lust For Life” is an
ode to drug culture, which helps to foreshadow what is to come in the movie,
since
Trainspotting is about heroin use. The next song in the film is
“Carmem - Habanera” by Georges Bizet, which plays as Renton explains how he is
going to quit heroin after one final hit. According to
Justin Gerber of Consequence of Sound, this song is included as a “comedown” for the “high” that “Lust
For Life” provides the audience. The next song that plays is Brian Eno’s “Deep
Blue Day”. This song plays after Renton climbs into a toilet to retrieve the
drugs he let drop into the toilet. Once inside the toilet, the audience can
infer that Renton has found the drugs since the calming sounds of “Deep Blue
Day” begin playing.
Renton then goes to
a nightclub where Heaven 17’s cover of “Temptation” is playing. As the title of
the song suggests, there are obviously quite a few temptations, like drugs, to
be found in a nightclub. The lyrics of the song, “I’ve never met anyone quite
like you before,” foreshadow what happens next. Once “Temptation” finishes
playing, Sleeper’s cover of the Blondie song “Atomic” begins playing. Renton
then sees Dianne and falls in love. Lyrics in the song like “make me tonight”
and “your hair is beautiful” help to create this feeling of desire that Renton
feels for Dianne. The song also plays while a bunch of the characters from the
movies are having sex with girls in their homes, which again goes with this
feeling of desire. The next song in the movie is the original version of
“Temptation” by New Order. This song plays the morning after Renton has sex
with Dianne and is eating breakfast with her parents. He then finds out that
Dianne is still in school. Just as the audience now gets a new look at the same
song that was played earlier in the movie, Renton gets a new look at the girl
he had sex with the night before. Gerber comments, “Choosing
this new wave song to play while Diane’s middle-aged parents eat breakfast in
silence is bizarre. It makes an uncomfortable situation that much stranger, as
things stop making sense for Renton.” The next song in the film is Iggy Pop’s
“Nightclubbing”. The song plays as Renton is seen stealing to make money so
that he can buy heroin, and continues playing as he injects himself with the
drug and talks with his friend, Tommy, about his break-up with his girlfriend.
Tommy then tells Renton he wants to try the drug. Gerber believes
“Nightclubbing” is included in this part of the film due to its random lyrics
and the repetition of the drum machine, which is representative “rinse and
repeat troubles” of the characters.
The
next song that plays in the movie is Blur’s “Sing”. The song contains the
lyrics “I can’t feel cause I’m numb,” which likely refers to the heroin Renton
and the other characters in the movie are using after the death of one of the
character’s baby. The song also includes the lyrics “If the child in your head,
if the child is dead,” which foreshadows the hallucination of the dead baby
Renton sees when his parents lock him in his room in an attempt to get him to
quit heroin cold turkey. The song that plays next is “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed.
It plays as Renton overdoses and has to go to the hospital. Since the song is
about heroin addiction, it makes perfect sense that this would be the song
playing as Renton overdoses. Gerber also notes that the final words of the song
“You’re going to reap just what you sow” is a good transition into “Renton’s
cold turkey experience.”
The
next song that is played in the movie is Underworld’s “Dark and Long”. The song
plays as Renton begins hallucinating as a result of his withdrawal from heroin
as he is unable to leave his bedroom that his parents have locked him inside
of. As the title suggests, the song does in fact have a very dark feel to it.
The song also contains dark lyrics, like “I want to smash it up, I want to
break it down, I want a wall of tears to wash away.” The lyrics certainly show
how Renton must have been feeling, unable to escape his room and take any
drugs. After Renton is finally allowed to leave his room, he leaves town. The
song that plays during this part of the movie is “Think About the Way” by Ice
Mc. Although never explicitly said by Renton in the movie, the audience can
infer from the music that Renton has done a lot of thinking about his life, as
the lyrics say, “think about the way that we live today”.
Not
long after Renton moves away, gets a job, and finds a place to live, Begbie
finds him and decides to live with him. When Begbie places a bet on a horse and
it wins, Pulp’s “Mile End” plays. As Jarvis Cocker sings lyrics like “We didn’t
have no place to live, we didn’t have no place to go,” it describes the living
situation that Renton and Begbie are in. As Cocker sings “The lift is always
full of piss, the fifth floor landing smells of fish,” the audience knows that
the place that Renton and Begbie are living in is not a nice place to live in.
Begbie and Renton then celebrate the horse winning at a club. At the club, “For
What You Dream Of” by Bedrock is playing. Renton and Begbie appear to be happy
as lyrics like “Life’s not just a way of marking time, express the feeling some
time” are playing in the background.
The
next song in the movie is “2:1” by Elastica. This song is playing as Sick Boy
comes to live with Renton and Begbie,
Sick Boy sells Renton’s TV and tries to convince
him to sell his passport, and Renton finds Begbie and Sick Boy a different
place to live. As Renton tries to keep his cool while dealing with Sick Boy and
Begbie, lyrics like “keeping a brave face in circumstances” fit perfectly into
the film. The next song in the movie is actually sung by
the character Spud. The song, titled “Two Little Boys” follows the funeral of
Tommy. Spud sings sad lyrics like “When we grow up we’ll both be soldiers, and
our horses will not be toys, and I wonder if we’ll remember, when we were two
little boys.” After this song, “A Final Hit” by Leftfield plays. As the song
plays, Renton, Begbie, Sick Boy, and Spud take a bus to London, and Renton
takes what he says is his final hit of heroin. This makes it appropriate for a
song titled “A Final Hit” to play in the background. The next song in the film
is Sleeper’s “Statuesque”, which helps to show the excitement of Renton,
Begbie, Sick Boy, and Spud after the success of their drug deal.
The
second to last song in the film is “Born Slippy (NUXX)” by Underworld. The song
plays as Renton takes the money from the drug deal and leaves Begbie and Sick
Boy with nothing. He does leave Spud some money in a locker, however. As the
title of the song suggests, Renton was not to be trusted or relied on. The song
also includes, lyrics like “Let your feelings slip boy,” which fits in nicely
with this part of the film. The final song in the film, Damon Albarn’s “Closet
Romantic” is played during the ending credits. This is the only song in the
film that does not seem to contribute to the story, but since it is in the
ending credits, the audience wouldn’t really expect it to.
Not
only is the soundtrack of this movie great because all of its songs contribute
to the story, but it is also great because of its use of both diegetic and non-diegetic
music. Diegetic music is music that is actually occurring within the story. In
Trainspotting,
this mainly consisted of music that was being played in the clubs. Examples of
these occurrences include Heaven 17’s cover of “Temptation” and Sleeper’s cover
of “Atomic”. On the other hand, non-diegetic music is music that were added in
and are not actually a part of the world in which the story takes place.
Examples non-diegetic music in this film includes songs such as “Lust For Life”
by Iggy Pop and “Mile End” by Pulp.
Another
piece of evidence backing up that the
Trainspotting soundtrack is the
best in film is that it has been included on many best soundtrack lists. The
soundtrack was included in
NME’s
“61 Of The Greatest Film SoundtracksEver” in February of 2015.
Rolling Stone also included the soundtrack
its list
“The 25 Greatest Soundtracks of All Time” in August of 2013. Finally,
Time
included the soundtrack in its list
“Top 25 Movie Soundtracks” in February
of 2011.
One
more reason that the
Trainspotting soundtrack is the best in film is
that after the first volume of the soundtrack was released, a second volume of
the soundtrack was released. According to
Time, the original soundtrack
was so popular that the filmmakers decided to release a second volume. The
second volume of the soundtrack included songs from artists on from the first
volume, such as Iggy Pop, and also included artists that were not included in
the first volume such as Joy Division. According to Gerber, the
Trainspotting
soundtrack “gave an opportunity for younger audiences to become familiar
with many different bands. This was an age before iTunes and before the
widespread use of the internet.
Trainspotting gave us Iggy Pop, New
Order, Blur, Lou Reed, Underworld, and other bands not found in heavy rotation
on FM radio or MTV at the time.”
There
have been many great soundtracks throughout the history of film. However, no
other film manages to accomplish the things the the
Trainspotting soundtrack
is able to accomplish. The
Trainspotting soundtrack does not just
include a lot of great songs, but uses them in a way that helps the audience
understand the narrative of the film. While the film uses mainly non-diegetic
music, it uses a combination of both diegetic music and non-diegetic music in
order to complete the film. The soundtrack has been included in multiple lists
of best soundtracks, was so popular a second volume of the soundtrack was
released, and gave young people a chance to experience a wide array of bands,
making the
Trainspotting soundtrack the best in the history of film.
