Goodfellas (soundtrack)

Goodfellas Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack for the 1990 film Goodfellas, directed by Martin Scorsese, notable for its use of popular music from the various periods it portrayed. In a similar manner to American Graffiti and Scorsese's earlier Mean Streets, the songs served roughly the same purpose as a composed musical score. While an official soundtrack was released at the same time as the film, it only featured a small fraction of the songs used.

Goodfellas Music from the Motion Picture
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
ReleasedOctober 9, 1990
GenreSoundtrack
Length38:01
LabelAtlantic / WEA
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

Scorsese chose the songs for Goodfellas only if they commented on the scene or the characters "in an oblique way".[1] The only rule he adhered to with the soundtrack was to only use music which could have been heard at that time, deciding that he could use any song released before the scene in which it played took place.[2]

According to Scorsese, a lot of non-dialogue scenes were shot to playback. For example, he had "Layla" playing on the set while shooting the scene where the dead bodies are discovered in the car and the meat-truck.[2] Sometimes, the lyrics of songs were put between lines of dialogue to comment on the action.[2]

Some of the music Scorsese had written into the script while other songs he discovered during the editing phase.[3] There is no music once Henry is arrested in his driveway by the DEA, until the end credits.

Track listing

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Songs on the movie's soundtrack CD:

  1. "Rags to Riches" – Tony Bennett
  2. "Sincerely" – The Moonglows
  3. "Speedoo" – The Cadillacs
  4. "Stardust" – Billy Ward and His Dominoes
  5. "Look in My Eyes" – The Chantels
  6. "Life Is but a Dream" – The Harptones
  7. "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" – The Shangri-Las
  8. "Baby, I Love You" – Aretha Franklin
  9. "Beyond the Sea" – Bobby Darin
  10. "Sunshine of Your Love" – Cream
  11. "Mannish Boy" – Muddy Waters
  12. "Layla - Derek And The Dominos

Complete song list

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Songs used in the movie in chronological order:

References

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  1. ^ Gilbert, Matthew (September 16, 1990). "Scorsese Tackles the Mob". Boston Globe.
  2. ^ a b c Thompson, David; Ian Christie (1996). "Scorsese on Scorsese". Faber and Faber. pp. 150–161.
  3. ^ Kaplan, Jonah (2004). "Getting Made: The Making of Goodfellas". Goodfellas: Two-Disc Special Edition DVD. Warner Bros.