Have you ever been watching something and suddenly hear a song so good that you can’t get it out of your head for the next week? Or maybe you’ve played a video game with a soundtrack that seems to pull you right into the world? 

Arguably, the music is one of the most important parts of any film or television series. The soundtrack can either make or break the entire thing. A lot of thought goes into what and when songs will play. The point of having music in film and TV is to enhance your viewing experience. It also is one of the things that makes particular scenes that much more memorable. Any fan of Brooklyn 99 would be able to recognise the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want it That Way” just from that one scene, just as Grey’s Anatomy fans wouldn’t be able to help tearing up whenever “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol comes on.

Could you imagine the iconic baseball scene from Twilight without "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse? What about Guardians of the Galaxy without its ‘80s soundtrack? Imagine playing a game with no background music—for example, trying to defeat Dark Beast Ganon in the final battle of Breath of the Wild without the epic soundtrack playing—the experience would be significantly less exciting. Trying to envision your favourite shows without their accompanying music highlights the commonly overlooked fact that music makes TV. 

Now to a look at some of my favourite film, TV, and game soundtracks across different genres to prove just how important the right music is at the right moments (Warning: Contains spoilers for The End of Evangelion and Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc).

1) “Komm, Susser Tod” by Arianne - The End of Evangelion

“Komm, Susser Tod” (“Come, Sweet Death”) plays during a pivotal moment in The End of Evangelion, wherein the main character Shinji has just initiated the end of the world. The seven-minute-long scene shows many deaths of characters as “Human Instrumentality” happens, meaning everybody becomes merged into one, all existing within a shared reality. The use of “Komm, Susser Tod” is, in my opinion, an excellent way to convey the thoughts and feelings of Shinji as he sees this new reality unfolding. The song itself is a lyrical, word-for-word explanation of Shinji's feelings towards everything, and why he chose Instrumentality. Another thing that makes the use of “Komm, Susser Tod” so impactful is the irony of it. What sounds like a happy song with an upbeat melody is actually quite sad, being that it plays during one of the most infamously depressing parts of the Evangelion series. The misleading tone makes for an interesting contrast and makes an already amazing scene even better.

2) “Thousand Knocks” by Masafumi Takada - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

The Danganronpa franchise has no shortage of gruesome moments, and the scene where “Thousand Knocks” plays is one of them. For those unfamiliar, Danganronpa is a game about a group of students who think they’ve been invited to attend an elite school, but have actually become unwitting participants in a deadly killing game. The students are forced to kill each other in order to escape, but the catch is that they’re only allowed to leave if they successfully murder another classmate and are unexposed in a trial, otherwise the murderer will be brutally executed. The first to be executed is Leon Kuwata, with “Thousand Knocks” playing hauntingly throughout the scene. This is the song that truly sets the tone for the series and it leaves a lasting impact. Overall, a good way to open a horror/mystery game. 

3) “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin - Thor: Ragnarok

The use of music in all Marvel movies is exceptional, but the one scene that stood out to me was in Thor: Ragnarok during the coolest battle sequences of the film. It was simply an awesome choice of song which made the entire scene.

So, those are my picks for best soundtrack. All of these scenes wouldn’t be the same without the music that accompanies them, making them proof of the importance of music.

Lily Scutt

Lily is a student at Algonquin College. She enjoys writing and playing video games, and she loves animals.