Marvel usually nails its movie soundtracks, especially James Gunn with Guardians of the Galaxy so I thought it’d be fun to try to take a stab at the soundtrack for Vol. 3. We know literally nothing about the plot of the movie though which is a tough start. And after Infinity War – spoiler alert! – only Rocket and Nebula are alive apparently.
It’s been reported that Gunn has been narrowing down the playlist for Guardians 3, and he tweeted that he’s down to 181 songs. Truthfully, it was tough for me narrowing it down too, so I feel his pain. While working on Vol. 2 he said he felt “a little pressure” due to the positive response to the first film’s soundtrack but said he likes the second one better. He called it “more diverse” than the first one, with “some really incredibly famous songs and then some songs that people have never heard.” Which I found was the hardest part of doing this. How do I include a song that no one else has heard? How deep do I have to go in my music library? And is it worth it to include a song that I consider “deep” or “rare” just for the sake of it? It’s probably not a popular song for a reason.
Another huge issue I struggled with was the decade(s) of music to include. Songs from Volume 1 ranged from 1967 – 1979, and songs from Volume 2 ranged from 1962 – 1978. So you’d think 60s and 70s is a no brainer. However, at the end of Guardians 2, Quill gets a Zune which was a portable media player from the mid to late ’00s that contains 300 songs! Is there “new” music on this from say the ’80s, ’90s and ’00s? Dammit IDK! That’s too much music to sift through to come up with 12-14 songs for a soundtrack. Kind of banking on Gunn not going that route, but I have a feeling he might.
Both Vol. 1 and 2 start with fire songs. While 1 might have the better song, the opening scene in Guardians 2 matched up with “Mr. Blue Sky” can’t be beat. That’s what I was going for here. I feel like a KC song is definitely coming so why not this one? Could be a really fun intro.
The Passenger – Iggy Pop (1977)
Gunn wants diverse, well diverse he’s gunna get. Iggy Pop is allegedly the “Godfather of Punk” and I don’t think that genre has been covered yet. Plus, Gunn likes David Bowie and apparently this song was inspired by Iggy Pop touring with him. Guitar riff in this is top notch
What Is Hip? – Tower of Power (1973)
I feel like these movies are perfectly suited for funk music and TOP is super funky. I would have liked to include “You’re Still A Young Man” as that’s such a good song, but it just wasn’t fitting with the way I saw this going.
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap – AC/DC (1976)
Classic rock that could sync perfectly with some kind of Ravagers scene. Perhaps Sly Stallone, Ving Rhames and others return?
Help Me Make It Through The Night – Sammi Smith (1970)
Ok, admittedly a shot in the dark (like every other song), but a country song has to be in this one. Truthfully, I thought “Southern Nights” came out of nowhere in 2, but it was a really good fit. Love that song. I like so many other versions of this song better, but her version isn’t bad.
Town Called Malice – The Jam (1982)
This would fulfill his British pop quota and is certainly fun enough to be in the movie.
Fire and Rain – James Taylor (1970)
Jimmy Gunn obviously knows his movie soundtracks which is why he took two songs from arguably the best soundtrack in history, Remember the Titans, so I imagine he’ll go back to the well. But it can’t be “Peace Train” because he’s already used Cat Stevens. And as much as I’d like it to be “Act Naturally” it won’t be that either. So it’s going to be ol’ Jimmy Taylor. Yes, it’s slow and has a tragic backstory, but I can see this being used in some kind of montage, possible even a fight scene.
Jump (For My Love) – The Pointer Sisters (1983)
The “newest” song on this soundtrack could show some romantic undertones in the film. Can also totally envision a character dancing to this à la the Prime Minister.
Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel – Tavares (1976)
Probably the funnest song I’m including which I don’t really want to compare to “I Want You Back” from 1 or “Brandy” from 2, but this just might have a huge impact on the overall story line of the movie.
He Aint Heavy He’s My Brother – The Hollies (1969)
Maybe it’s a Quill/Rocket/Drax/Groot thing? Don’t mean to be too dramatic, but does one of them die? They do say that they’re a family after all. Bring your tissues.
We’ll Meet Again – Vera Lynn (1939)
Talk about a song out of nowhere. Perhaps this Zune had songs from way back? Either way, I’ve always loved this song as a closing scene of a show or movie. Does one character leave the group? Do the Guardians disband?? Will we see another Guardians movie??? Someone is meeting someone again.
A Place In The Sun – Stevie Wonder (1966)
This one is my end credits song and I’ve always felt it’s a bit of an unknown Stevie song. I’d like to have included “Yeah Man” for end credits as well because we know Quill loves Sam Cooke but I really don’t know if Gunn would duplicate an artist.
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Okay so I know there’s a handful of slower songs, but maybe this movie is a little moodier or darker than the others. While I’m not in love with it as a whole, I know I had an idea in my head of why each song could be included. Whether that be just some random scene I envision, my guess on how the plot might go, or even my pure enjoyment of the song. I did, though, make a larger playlist of songs that I chose from. You can check that out below. It might not be 181 like James Gunn had, but it’s a good amount that I narrowed down to 12.
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[…] on this song when I was writing my GOTG3 soundtrack post. I really felt TOP could be included in Volume 3, but was between two songs. In listening to them, […]
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