My Top 10 Pop/Rock Songs from the Batman films
For my final post for Batman month I will be counting down my top 10 favorite Pop/Rock songs from the Batman films, specifically the ones released between 1989-1997. The reason being that during this time all the Batman films were heavily promoted by pop/rock songs that saturated radio and MTV back in the day unlike the Chris Nolan films, which had zero pop/rock songs attached to them. As I have mentioned I wasn’t a huge music fan outside of what my parents listened to before 1997, but I was a big Batman fan from as far back as I can remember. I used to watch the live action Batman films from this era on VHS constantly growing up and many of these pop/rock songs ended up becoming part of the foundation to my taste in music without me even realizing it at the time due to how ingrained these songs became within my brain from watching these movies so much as a kid.
These movies are how I first heard 90s alternative rock and bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Goo Goo Dolls, U2, The Flaming Lips, The Offspring and Seal. It’s also how I first heard Prince whose other music I wouldn’t hear or know of until years later. By 1997 these movies inspired me to buy my first CD after getting Spice Girls on cassette tape thanks to the Smashing Pumpkins contribution to the Batman & Robin soundtrack. Music and Batman are my 2 favorite pop culture obsessions and theses songs from the Batman films forged a strong link between my Batman fandom and music fandom as I got further and further into music during the late 90s and early 00s. Unfortunately, due to many of these songs having rights issues between Warner Brothers and other labels these acts are on, I had to attach Youtube links for some songs and Spotify links to others since both platforms don’t have every song on this list. Also, some of the songs on Youtube are just the recording and not the official music video version since there seems to be right’s issues there as well. Hopefully this all gets sorted out in the future, especially on Spotify because I miss listening to songs like The End of the Beginning of the End on a regular basis. Alright let’s light up the bat-signal and turn up the volume in the Batmobile as I take you through my favorite pop/rock songs off the Batman soundtracks.
10. Smash It Up by The Offspring (Batman Forever 1995)
The Offspring’s contribution to the Batman Forever soundtrack is a cover song originally done by The Damned, which plays during the film when Dick Grayson (Chris O’ Donnell) steals the Batmobile for a joy ride around Gotham City. Despite being a cover, Smash It Up sounds like it could easily have been on The Offspring’s 1994 breakthrough album Smash, which means it sounds like peak Offspring. If you love Self-Esteem and Come Out & Play then you will enjoy Smash It Up.
09. Face to Face by Bright Light Bright Light (Cinematography 3: Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal 2017)
I only became aware of this cover song very recently! In fact when I posted on Twitter that I was thinking about covering songs from the Batman films as well songs by Bright Light Bright Light, Bright Light Bright Light himself responded to my post saying: “Well that fits seeing as I covered Face to Face from Batman Returns and that’s one of my favorite films ever! 😊 <3” I already love the original version of Face to Face (which is coming up later on this list), since it’s not just a great song but it’s also a combination of 2 of my favorite things, which is Batman and 90s Alternative. Now take those 2 things and top it off by making it a cover by a gay pop star I love and we now have 3 of my favorite things combined into 1! How could I not love it?!?! I also love that Bright Light Bright Light treats it as Christmas song with his cover, since the film takes place during Christmas and the production on this cover leans hard on the holiday sound. Bright Light Bright Light’s response on Twitter also once again reconfirmed for me that Batman Returns is the favorite Batman film among the gays due it themes about outsiders, sexuality, misogyny, and how the mainstream mistreats those who are different.
08. Revolution by R.E.M. (Batman & Robin 1997)
This R.E.M. song originates from the sessions for their 1994 album Monster and it definitely sounds it! That album saw the group tackle Grunge as they amped up the distortion on their guitars to 11 for the first time ever. The difference is that Revolution actually has much more forward momentum than most of the songs off Monster and can really get the blood pumping. The lyrics are also very political where it says that revolutions brought on by civil rights and feminism didn’t actually take down the patriarchy and sadly this theme resonates just as much now as it did back in 1997.
07. Lazy Eye by The Goo Goo Dolls (Batman & Robin 1997)
Lazy Eye by The Goo Goo Dolls came out between their 1995 breakthrough album A Boy Named Goo and the across the board smash of Iris in 1998. Before Iris lead singer Johnny Reznik was still capable of distortion laden Grunge songs that were hooky and Lazy Eye reminds me of their 1996 soundtrack contribution to the film Twister called Long Way Down. Lazy Eye did become a top 20 alternative rock hit in the summer of 1997, but has been forgotten like most of the band’s grungier work in the wake of Iris and the succeeding album Dizzy Up the Girl. Still if you love their Grungier songs such as Naked, Flat Top and Long Way Down then you need to check out Lazy Eye as well.
06. Partyman by Prince (Batman 1989)
Prince’s music to the 1989 Batman film gets a lot of flak now but back in 1989 it put Prince back on top of the pop charts after his last few albums under-performed a bit. While it’s not his most groundbreaking or best work ever, it has its merits. There’s a reason his soundtrack album to Batman topped the Billboard album chart for 6 weeks. Also, Batman was the first time I actually heard Prince’s music since I was not big on music as a kid outside of what my parents listened to, which was mostly Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, Gloria Estefan and John Mellencamp. This song soundtracks one of the most memorable sequences in the film where Joker and his men deface paintings in an art museum after killing everyone in the museum, except Vicky Vale, with Joker gas. This song makes me pretty nostalgic and I love the museum sequence because as a kid I found a lot of it quite creepy but I couldn’t look away either (mostly from when we see Jerry Hall’s disfigured face behind the mask). This became a top 20 hit for Prince following the # 1 smash Batdance, but Partyman is definitely better than Batdance. Also, after showing this movie to my friend Josh for the first time ever back in 2007 he immediately became a huge fan of both the movie and this song. It’s one of Josh’s jams now.
05. House on Fire by Arkarna (Batman & Robin 1997)
This song is one of the catchiest songs off the Batman & Robin soundtrack and it’s a total bop. I know it’s a bop because when my husband first heard this song in the car on my Batman mix he loved it immediately. My husband knows a bop when he hears one. This song was also randomly featured in an episode of one of my all-time favorite shows Friends. It’s in an episode from early in season 4 during the Joey/Chandler/Kathy love traingle arc when they all go to a club together. This song plays in the background as Joey and Kathy try to hook Chandler up with another girl, but he shuts it down because he has feelings for Kathy.
04. Face to Face by Siouxsie & The Banshees (Batman Returns 1992)
Written by Danny Elfman in conjunction with Siouxsie and the Banshees, this became a top 10 alternative rock hit in the summer of 1992 and it’s the last classic single by Siouxsie and the Banshees. The song captures the complex emotions of the Batman and Catwoman relationship beautifully and I love the parts of the song when the strings swell and she sings “You’ll never know.” It’s romantic, dark, complex and soaring in places and the song soundtracks the very best scene in the entire movie. The songs plays in the background when Bruce and Selina dance together at the masquerade ball and discover that they are Batman and Catwoman, much to their shock and dismay. It’s a surprisingly adult and complex scene for a Superhero film and one that knocks me out every time I watch Batman Returns. The song plays again during the closing credits and I used to watch and rewind those credits to hear the song before I got it on a mix CD a friend made for me in high school. Oh the days before Youtube and Spotify!
03. The End is the Beginning of the End by The Smashing Pumpkins (Batman & Robin 1997)
The Smashing Pumpkins had originally caught my attention with Tonight Tonight in 1996 but The End is the Beginning of the End is when I became a fan because this came out right after I got into the Spice Girls, which is when I became a dedicated music fan. I had Spice on cassette tape but I bought this soundtrack on CD, which was my first CD ever. I bought it at the Warner Brothers store in Ceasar’s Palace when I was visiting Las Vegas with my family that summer. I think this is still one of the Smashing Pumpkins best songs, but just like Lazy Eye by the Goo Goo Dolls it’s forgotten now despite being a top 10 alternative rock hit that summer. It was also heavily rotated on MTV that summer too where I also tapped the music video and watched it over and over again. The End is the Beginning of the End is not on any of The Smashing Pumpkins official albums or greatest hits CD compilations and the song is currently not on Spotify which bums me out! I really love this song and it’s probably in my top 3 songs ever by The Smashing Pumpkins.
02. Kiss from a Rose by Seal (Batman Forever 1995)
Kiss from a Rose was originally released as a single in 1994 off Seal’s second self-titled album, but it flopped! Luckily Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher loved the song and decided to add it to the film, which in turn rescued the song and made it a huge international smash one year later in the summer of 1995. People give Joel Schumacher a lot of flak for his Batman films and most of it is well deserved, but I gotta give him credit for saving Kiss From a Rose, because it truly is one of the best songs of the 90s. For that alone I will give Joel Schumacher props. The production on Kiss from a Rose is very sweeping and cinematic and it does feel like a perfect love songs for someone as tortured as Bruce Wayne. While the Batman films churned out a lot of successful hit songs between 1989-1997, this seems to be the only hit song that has really endured on radio and stuck in the public imagination beyond the 90s. Everyone still knows and loves Kiss From a Rose and everyone also knows it goes to a Batman film, even if half of them can’t name which Batman film it goes to in 2020.
01. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me , Kill Me by U2 (Batman Forever 1995)
This isn’t just my favorite my favorite pop/rock song to a Batman film, this is my favorite alternative rock song of all time! For a long time it was my favorite song ever and it still might be, but Gay Pop may have unseated it recently. Nonetheless I still love Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, which along with Stone Temple Pilots, was a pivotal song in helping me to become a huge alternative rock fan, especially for 90s alternative, in late 2001. That opening riff is memorable as soon as it crashes into the speakers and the key change that occurs during the chorus is one of the most electrifying and goosebump inducing moments in all of music for me! The strings used throughout the song also help make it feel grander and more cinematic and I love the way the song dissolves into chaos at the end before giving way to just the strings alone. The amount of mix tapes, mix CDs, Ipod playlists and Spotify playlists this has been attached to for me is endless. I’ve seen U2 twice in concert and while they were great, I am still slightly let down that they never performed this song when I saw them live. I would pay 100 dollars just to see them perform this song alone. My parents also know how much I loved this song too and my Mom surprised me at my wedding by not only having the DJ play the song but also had everyone wearing Batman masks! It was magical and I totally screamed like a girl and ran onto the dance floor once I realized what was happening. No matter how many times I hear this song I never ever get tired of it. While some U2 songs have worn out their welcome for me (especially their songs after 1997) this one remains one of the most important, foundational and influential songs for my own personal taste in music. If you don’t like this song I don’t know if we can be friends anymore!
