<<<Return to “The Score"
Best Use of a Song in a Movie
#7 – Tuesday’s Gone by Lynyrd Skynrd – Dazed and Confused
The Song
Lynyrd Skynrd took the rock music of the Southern States of America nationwide, with their early hit songs “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Free Bird” being among their most popular. In 1973, they released “Tuesday’s Gone”, a song described by it’s lyricist as a reflection of his normal life being finished forever with the bands new musical sound that would be released in the wake of this song. It’s a slower, sombre rock song, that makes anyone stop and reflect on the end of one chapter and the beginning of another, which is much like life. It was also the case for this band, who tragically lost three founding members in a plane crash in 1977, ending the bands run until they reformed in the late 80’s.
The Movie
For those of you familiar with my blog, you would have just
seen the “Movies of my Teens” series of reviews I put out. The film I placed
proudly as my #1 favourite teen film was the brilliant “Dazed and Confused” Set
in the mid 1970’s, it follows a group of youths around on the last day of high
school. There are jocks, stoners, nerds and loners, all driving around, drinking
beers and smoking weed. It’s observant, insightful and funny, rounding out as a
classic coming of age comedy-drama that everyone should see and will no doubt
watch more than once in their lifetime. Try and catch up to me, as I’ve
probably seen it 50 times. True story…
When the song and movie meet…
The film has a killer soundtrack, chock full of countless
classics from the era, and wraps up it’s big party scene towards the end of the
film, with “Tuesday’s Gone”. By this point in the film the beer kegs were
empty, everyone was leaving and it marked the end of high school for several
characters. Quite fitting this song was used in this moment, as you feel the
sadness and goodbyes of the character as they leave each other for either the
summer, or forever, and this song and film leaves you, never forgetting it.
What the movie did for the song
I was a teen of the 90’s but fell in love with the 70’s,
thanks largely in part to this film. I also owned the soundtrack and listened
to it right after watching the film on every occasion. The soundtrack takes you
back to that decade, and this song in particular is the stand out accompaniment
in the whole film. Apparently, American
College students coined the phrase
“Tuesday’s Gone” whenever a beer keg was finished at a party, which was a nice
tribute to the scene in the film when this song kicks in.
No comments:
Post a Comment