Songs from Movies, TV & Musicals (Beat Beats #10)

by Ashley Hobley

Welcome to Bevan Beats! This is a fortnightly article and accompanying playlist from us at the Explosion Network. It aims to enable us the ability to share the music we love, discuss a certain theme, or share what we are simply listening to in our everyday lives. You’ll be able to find the playlist on Youtube and on Spotify.

As the host of the Explosion Network’s Premier Media Podcast, What Do You Wanna Watch?, it seems right that I compile a playlist of some songs from Film and TV with a few from musicals that will inevitably end up being made for the silver screen. Honestly, I just wanted to do this before somebody else thought of it. (There a bunch of other songs I wanted to include but they are not on Spotify)

01.) ANOTHER DAY OF SUN – LA LA LAND CAST from LA LA LAND

I remember being amazed watching this song in the cinema, the choreography of this sequence was top notch but it’s also a fun song to listen to. A great one to start your day too. I appreciate that a song about failing to achieve your dreams can sound so upbeat. While “City of Stars: and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” may have gotten Oscar noms, this is my favourite song from the film.

02.) LIFE’S A HAPPY SONG – JASON SEGEL, AMY ADAMS & WALTER from THE MUPPETS

I really enjoyed The Muppets and this was a great way to open the movie. It truly took me back to the old Muppet movies but felt very modern at the same time.

03.) WAVING THROUGH A WINDOW – BEN PLATT from DEAR EVAN HANSEN

This is the track that made me want to put this playlist together. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with severe social anxiety, who fabricates a lie after the death of one of his classmates that inadvertently brings him closer to the classmate’s family. This song perfectly captures the feeling of being unnoticed or on the outside, something we can all relate to at some point in our lives.

04.) GIVE UP – JORDAN HARE, JON PRASIDA, CRAIG HYDE-SMITH & GERALDINE VISWANATHAN from EMO THE MUSICAL

Listen, Emo the Musical is not great. We talked about it on Episode 4 of What Do You Wanna Watch? but this is a fun song with a catchy chorus that get stuck in your head, but not enough to make you actually go to church.

05.) UPBEAT INSPIRATIONAL SONG ABOUT LIFE – MICHAEL BOLTON, HYNDEN WALCH, TARA STRONG, SCOTT MENVILLE, KHARY PAYTON & GREG CIPES from TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES

I was really enjoying this but then Michael Bolton started singing as a white tiger with a keytar and I was in love. If you watch the YouTube video, you’ll see the Teen Titans animated in a 1930’s rubber hose style of animation, just one example of the many different art styles used throughout the film. Go see it!

06.) YOU’RE WELCOME – DWAYNE JOHNSON from MOANA

Is there anything The Rock can’t do? (except make Skyscraper a good movie…) I really enjoy Maui’s self-confidence in this song and this song is oddly a regular on my shopping centre’s playlist. “Shiny” and “How Far I’ll Go” are also great songs from this film

07.) BOTH OF YOU – ZACH CALLISON from STEVEN UNIVERSE

Steven Universe is a great show with great music, which shouldn’t be surprising from a show by Rebecca Sugar who wrote some of the best songs on Adventure Time. Steven in order to urge Greg, Steven’s father, and Pearl, one of the Crystal Gems that Steven is a part of,  to talk about the tension they share from fighting over Rose, Steven’s mother, who has passed away. It’s a cathartic moment on the show. “Dear Old Dad” and “Stronger Than You” are also great songs that deserve a mention.

08.) WAIT FOR IT – LESLIE ODOM JR. from HAMILTON

If you haven’t heard of Hamilton, you must be living under a rock. The musical about American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton made Lin-Manuel Miranda a household name and is one of the most commercially and critically successful musicals of this century. Leslie Odom Jr. plays Aaron Burr, a future US Vice President and the man who kills Hamilton (It’s not a spoiler, it’s revealed in the first song) and “Wait for It” explores his cautious approach to life. They are some great lyrics in this song. “Death doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints” and “I am the one thing in life I can control” are lines that stick with me.

09.) FALLING SLOWLY – GLEN HANSARD & MARKÉTA IRGLOVÁ from ONCE

I haven’t seen Once but I remember them performing this song at the 80th Academy Awards. Really good song.

10.) BAD IDEA – JESSIE MUELLER & DREW GEHLING from WAITRESS

There are a few great songs from this musical that I discovered after hearing Laura Bailey do a cover of “She Used To Be Mine”. The musical follows Jenna, a waitress in a bad relationship, as she learns that she is pregnant and as she tries to get out of her situation. The song sees Jenna and her Doctor attempt and fails to end the affair they’ve been having.

11.) CAROL BROWN – FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS from FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS

There is a slew of great songs in the 22 episodes of Flight of the Conchords but “Carol Brown” is a stand out one. I still find it funny to hear all the ways Jermaine’s ex-girlfriends left him.

12.) I BELIEVE – ANDREW RANNELLS from THE BOOK OF MORMON

From the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and the co-writer of Avenue Q, Robert Lopez, The Book of Mormon follows two young Mormon missionaries who travel to Uganda to preach the Mormon religion. Hilarity ensues. This song follows Andrew Rannells’ Elder Price as he tries to overcome his doubts to try to convert an African warlord. It’s pretty great and very funny.

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If you have any particular problems with any song choices you can Tweet @ExplosionPod or, ideally, just the author of this article.

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Bevan Beats is a fun project about sharing and curating songs to share with one another. If you’d like to put together a playlist and article for Bevan Beats you can contact mail@explosionnetwork.com