The 10 best end credit songs
Perhaps the hardest job for film music supervisors is finding the right track for the end of a movie, one that perfectly bookends the story and leaves viewers stunned as it plays into the credits. But when it’s done well, a track can become synonymous with the scene or film it accompanies, as best shown by Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting.
Pairing the right song with your final scene can make or break the feeling that viewers are left with. Many filmmakers go for a track that matches the themes and atmosphere of the film and its final moments, such as ‘Baby You’re a Rich Man’ in The Social Network or ‘She’s Got You High’ in 500 Days of Summer. Some filmmakers, meanwhile, go as far as to commission an artist to write the perfect accompanying track for the scene, like Radiohead’s ‘Exit Music (For a Film)’ in Romeo + Juliet.
Other directors take a contrasting approach. Particularly in horror, it can be all the more unnerving to leave viewers with an upbeat, cheerful song to sit with through the credits. Modern masterpieces in the genre, like Midsommar and Us, are recent examples of this.
Below, we’ve picked out ten of our favourite films with perfect end credits songs. From Radiohead to Rage Against The Machine, their musical accompaniment only enhances their final moments.
The 10 greatest movie credit songs:
‘Born Slippy’ – Underworld (Trainspotting, 1996)
Though it had a relatively small budget, Danny Boyle’s 1996 drama about heroin addiction was marketed so cleverly that uni students still put ‘Choose Life’ posters up in halls. Part of its mass appeal was the soundtrack, featuring Lou Reed, Brian Eno, and New Order, which was primed for the 1990s indie-Britpop phenomenon. Oasis were even asked to contribute to the soundtrack but declined, as they thought it was really a film about trainspotters.
One of the most iconic moments in the film’s use of music comes right at the end. ‘Born Slippy’ by Underworld fades in as the main character Renton, nail-bitingly anxious, makes the decision to betray his friends. It soundtracks him swapping out Buckfast for water, easing the drug money out of Begby’s grip, and leaving his old life behind. It’s a fitting music choice – a song about the destruction of alcoholism with the word “lager” repeated over and over. The electronic dance track plays as Ewan McGregor launches back into the iconic ‘Choose Life’ monologue and the credits roll.
‘Exit Music (For a Film)’ – Radiohead (Romeo + Juliet, 1996)
Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 on the Shakespearean tragedy modernised the story stylistically and through their soundtrack. Luhrmann approached Radiohead to write a song for the film, and ‘Exit Music (For a Film)’ was born. In 1997, frontman Thom Yorke told Humo Magazine: “When we saw the scene in which Claire Danes holds the Colt 45 against her head, we started working on the song immediately.”
After the film’s final scenes, Radiohead’s devastating choral guitar track accompanies the opening credits. Thom Yorke’s lyrics reference Romeo and Juliet’s tragic demise as an escape: “Now we are one in everlasting peace.”
‘Miss Misery’ – Elliott Smith (Good Will Hunting, 1997)
Like Radiohead’s contribution to Romeo + Juliet, Elliott Smith also wrote ‘Miss Misery’ to appear in Good Will Hunting. The soundtrack featured a number of Smith’s tracks, but ‘Miss Misery’ was the one that went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for ‘Best Original Song’ in 1998.
The psychological drama sees ‘Miss Misery’ play in its final moments, as Matt Damon’s Will Hunting narrates his letter to Robin Williams’ Dr. Sean Maguire. It continues as we follow Will’s car down a lonely road below the credits. In Boston Magazine in 2013, production designer Missy Stewart commented on how fitting the track was: “It was just sort of the essence of that movie. You can do something simple and make it true.”
‘Wake Up’ – Rage Against The Machine (The Matrix, 1999)
One of the defining films of the 1990s, The Matrix gained widespread popularity for its cyberpunk futurism and innovative filmmaking, including the “bullet time” effect. The film has retained cultural relevance to this day, with continued references to the “red pill” scene.
Its soundtrack was similarly innovative, featuring a range of alternative metal and electronic, including Deftones, The Prodigy, and Meat Beat Manifesto. However, its most iconic musical moment comes at its ending, as Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Wake Up’ kicks in when Neo promises to free everyone from the Matrix, puts on his sunglasses, and flies away. The politically charged rock track aligns with the film’s philosophy and packs the perfect punch at its ending.
‘Where Is My Mind?’ – Pixies (Fight Club, 1999)
One of the most iconic ending scenes and songs of all time, the climactic final minutes of Fight Club see the narrator shoot himself in the cheek, thinking he’s shooting Tyler Durden. ‘Where Is My Mind?’ from the Pixies’ 1998 album Surfer Rosa kicks in as buildings fall around him and Marla. He takes her hand and states, “You met me at a very strange time in my life,” while the twangy guitars surround them.
The screen glitches and the Pixies continue into the credits. In true Tyler Durden style, Black Francis wonders, “Where is my mind?”. Fight Club pushed ‘Where Is My Mind?’ further into cultural relevance, and the song has since become Pixies’ most famous.
‘She’s Got You High’ – Mumm-ra (500 Days of Summer, 2009)
The 500 Days of Summer soundtrack was an indie haven that featured The Smiths, Simon & Garfunkel, Doves and more. The final scene is soundtracked by the optimistic indie rock track ‘She’s Got You High’ by Mumm-ra. Tom has seemingly shaken off his hopeless romanticism and abandoned his belief in fate. But in the film’s final moments, he meets a new girl who introduces herself as Autumn.
The Mumm-ra track kicks in, and Gordon-Levitt looks knowingly into the camera. The day counter resets from five hundred to one, and the credits roll. The idealistic, sunny guitar track leaves audiences wondering if Tom really abandoned his idealistic look on relationships or if he’s doomed to make the same mistakes with each turn of the season.
‘Baby, You’re A Rich Man’ – The Beatles (The Social Network, 2010)
David Fincher’s second entry on the list, The Social Network features a Beatles song at its climax. Fincher shows Mark Zuckerberg pathetically requesting his ex-girlfriend on his own website, then solemnly refreshing the screen repeatedly as the camera zooms in.
‘Baby You’re A Rich Man’ plays, and Lennon remarks on the rich and famous. On-screen text details the real-life outcomes for each character. Ending with Jesse Eisenberg’s vacant stare, it details, “Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in the world.”
‘Heroes’ – David Bowie (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, 2012)
Every 2010s indie kid’s favourite film and introduction to the alternative music of the ’70s and ’80s, The Perks of Being a Wallflower has a climactic final scene soundtracked by David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’. Paralleling the earlier tunnel scene, an excited Sam, played by Emma Watson, tells protagonist Charlie that she’s “found the tunnel song”. The three friends embark on the most exciting adventure for any group of teens living in the suburbs: a drive through the city.
Charlie embarks upon a final monologue about the fleeting happiness of these teen moments, lifts his hands to the sky to feel the air in the tunnel, and the opening chords of ‘Heroes’ begin as he utters his final line, “And in this moment, I swear, we are infinite.” The cathartic end scene, much of its impact down to the musical choice, cemented the Stephen Chbosky adaptation as a modern coming-of-age classic.
‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore’ – Frankie Valli (Midsommar, 2019)
Midsommar’s final moments birthed some iconic cinematographic imagery – the burning yellow temple, the bear suit, and Florence Pugh’s oddly victorious smile. After the nine-minute sonic cathartic release that is Bobby Krlic’s ‘Fire Temple’, the end credits roll with the accompaniment of Frankie Valli’s version of ‘The Sun Aint Gonna Shine Anymore’.
The choice to pair a doo-wop pop artist with such an intense horror at first seems an odd one. But really, it fits perfectly. Midsommar already flips the expectations of the genre on its head, set entirely in daylight. The sun is always shining in Hårga. The track running through the end credits is folky and cheerful, but its lyrics retain an eeriness that “The sun ain’t gonna shine anymore.”
‘Les Fleurs’ – Minnie Riperton (Us, 2019)
Another triumph in modern horror, Jordan Peele’s Us in 2019 featured a sinister “tethered mix” of ‘I Got 5 On It’ alongside music from Janelle Monae, N.W.A. and The Beach Boys. But in its final moments, as the film reveals that its protagonist was “tethered” all along, Minnie Riperton’s ‘Les Fleurs’ fades in, and the camera pans to show the lengthy chain of hands across America.
Like Midsommar, Peele’s film pairs what was once a peaceful, beautiful song to further enhance an unsettling final scene. As Riperton sings of “love and joy, faith and hope”, the audience is left to sit in their discomfort, affronted by a black screen. It’s contemporary horror done right.