“Don’t you, forget about me, don’t don’t don’t don’t, don’t you, forget about me.” After reading this, most people are probably singing the song “Don’t You (Forget about Me)” in their head, and thinking of the movie “The Breakfast Club.” That’s because songs like that have helped enhance movies since the beginning of cinema, and have turned viewing a movie into an emotional experience. Not only do movies make these songs infamous, but sometimes these songs make the movies just as big in today’s society. Let’s take a look at why we can’t forget about such a big part of today’s society.

There are two kinds of iconic movie soundtracks—the original movie scores and the songs independent of the movie that movie makers gain the rights for. While songs independent of the movie are great, movie scores also make a huge impact on the movies. Imagine trying to watch “Star Wars” or “The Lord of the Rings” without music. The plot lines are still great, but a lot of the experience has been taken away. Whether the songs are something as iconic as the “Rocky” theme or just background music for an intense scene, these scores bring so much more emotion into the movie. Throughout all of cinema, scores have always been a part of the reason that I have always loved film.

Independent songs have also always brought a lot to the table as well though. The aforementioned “Don’t You (Forget about Me)” has always been associated with Judd Nelson (main actor in Breakfast Club) walking across the football field throwing up his hand. But there have also been many times where songs weren’t expected to be iconic as they became. For example, in “Rocky III”, directors planned to use “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen for the main fight song, but they were unable to obtain the rights. Because of this, they had to resort to their second option—“Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor. Nowadays, that wouldn’t seem like such a bad trade, but back then, the directors didn’t know whether it would work out or not.

Music didn’t only shape movies in the 1970’s and 80’s though. Now, a lot of artists are finding success making music for movies. In some recent years, artists like The Weeknd (“50 Shades of Grey”) have had a lot of help achieving their current success by creating music for movie soundtracks, and artists like Eminem (“Southpaw”) have had a lot of additional success making songs for soundtracks. In addition to artists, directors like Sam Mendes (director of the 007 movies) have been working to utilize music to help enhance their movies, and create recognition for songs in their movies such as “Skyfall” by Adele.

In retrospect, music has had a huge impact in film over the last 50 years. There have been scores that have forever stayed with us like “Star Wars,” and songs that bring back emotions from watching movies such as “Don’t You (Forget about Me)”. So next time you watch a movie, make sure to not forget about the music, the unsung hero of film.