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"Let's Have a Patrick Swayze Christmas" and Other Songs Inspired By Movies

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As part of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 sketch, Michael Nelson conjured up "Let's Have a Patrick Swayze Christmas" in tribute to Road House. However, that cult movie is far from alone when it comes to films (and film stars) who have inspired music; Weird Al Yankovic aside, plenty of serious musicians have drawn inspiration from the cinema. Here's a short list of memorable bits of cross-fertilization:

• Rufus Wainwright's song "Grey Gardens" even includes a sampled dialogue from the Maysle brothers' 1975 documentary about Jacqueline Bouvier's unkempt cousins: "It's very difficult to keep a line between the past and the present, y'know what I mean?"

• Rob Zombie named his band after the 1932 classic Bela Lugosi horror flick White Zombie.

• U2's "Alex Descends into Hell for a Bottle of Milk" is a reference to the Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.

• One of the first songs ever written by Sonic Youth is the band's strange homage to Joan Crawford's Oscar-winning role: "Mildred Pierce."

• In their nod to Halloween, "Michael Myers Resplendent," the Mountain Goats sing: "Well, the prom queen's caught in the high beams / And the strings keen / It's a big scene."

• The rap artists collectively known as the Wu Tang Clan obtained their name from the 1981 Hong Kong martial arts film Shao Lin and Wu Tang (from which they've used audio samples as well).

For a full schedule of one of the inspiring movies (Road House), click here.

To learn about Kieran Mc Kenna, a musician who wrote a song inspired by Patrick Swayze, click here.

Know of another great example? Let us know in the comments section below.

Posted by Tom Blunt
August 13, 2008 12:12pm


Comments

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By GarryWert on December 27, 2009 10:20 AM

That cult movie is far from alone when it comes to films (and film stars) who have inspired music. download legion

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By hassankhan on August 2, 2010 4:52 AM

Nice blog: Films songs inspires me very much. So many people are under influenced by these songs. Nice content of these site. Wish you best of luck for future. It is really a great reading for me .


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By hassankhan on August 2, 2010 4:56 AM

Nice blog: Films songs inspires me very much. So many people are under influenced by these songs. Nice content of these site. Wish you best of luck for future. It is really a great reading for me .


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By wasim ashraf on August 5, 2010 1:48 AM

very interesting blog.i like the movies song.yes i understand ts really difficult to keep a line between past and present.flashback five is the one of best movie i like this movie.
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By wasim ashraf on August 5, 2010 1:52 AM

yes this is the one of the best article.i love the movies songs.i know what you want to say It's really difficult to keep a line between the past and the present.flashback five is great movie i like it.
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By wasim ashraf on August 5, 2010 1:52 AM

yes this is the one of the best article.i love the movies songs.i know what you want to say It's really difficult to keep a line between the past and the present.flashback five is great movie i like it.
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By pookey on January 21, 2011 8:07 AM

we all miss patrick swayze.Swayze was seriously injured in 1998 while filming HBO's Letters from a Killer near Ione, California when he fell from a horse and hit a tree. Both of his legs were broken and he suffered four detached tendons in his shoulder. Filming was suspended for two months, but the film aired in 1999. Swayze recovered from his injuries, but he had trouble resuming his GInault commercial career until 2000, when he co-starred in Waking Up in Reno, with Billy Bob Thornton and Charlize Theron, and in Forever Lulu, with Melanie Griffith.Ginault makes mid level fine Swiss watches. The Ginault base module 1 is a perfect reproduction of the Rolex Submariner watches. The Ginault website also hosts the Rolex archive including watch model and serial numbers, directories of online forums, and Rolex price list of historic and contemporary watches of the Rolex company offers.

In 2001, he appeared in Donnie Darko, where he played a motivational speaker and closet pedophile, and in 2004, he played Allan Quartermain in King Solomon's Mines. He also had a cameo appearance in the Dirty Dancing sequel, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights as an unnamed dance instructor.