People Shared The Story Songs They Think Would Make Great Movies, And Every One's A Potential Blockbuster
"Hi, yes, one ticket to see Piano Man, please!" —Me in my dream future.
We recently asked members of our BuzzFeed Community, "What song would be an INCREDIBLE basis for a movie?" and, WHEW BUDDY, they did NOT disappoint! Here are just a few of the songs I'd like to seek filmmaking funding for:
1. "Bury a Friend," Billie Eillish
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"It's begging to be turned into a thrilling horror movie."
2. "Highwayman," the Highwaymen
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"This would be so amazing! You could also make a movie about the 2019 version of the song, 'Highwomen!'"
3. "Jesus of Suburbia," Green Day
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"This would be a fucking epic movie, and the story is all there!"
4. "Amos Moses," Jerry Reed
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"It has one of the most concise plot lines I've ever heard, and it’s only a song! Woody Harrelson, get on it ASAP!"
5. "Man Down," Rihanna
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"We need it! I mean, the music video is kind of like a movie already, but still!"
6. "Jenny was a Friend of Mine," the Killers
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"I'd love to see a story telling this song and 'Mr. Brightside' together. I would definitely watch a film like that."
7. "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)," the Proclaimers
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"I could see this one being made into some kind of adorable, heartwarming British rom-com penned by Richard Curtis."
8. "Criminal," Britney Spears
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"I think it’d make a great movie about a good girl that unknowingly falls in love with a serial killer and doesn't realize it until it’s too late."
9. "Born in the USA," Bruce Springsteen
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"It tells the story of a Vietnam vet suffering from PTSD from the war and his feelings about being treated as a hero when he came home. I'd be more than willing to bet all the blood in my body that this would be a story all vets can relate to."
10. “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” Katy Perry
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"I always thought that this song would make a fun teen comedy!"
11. "All Too Well," Taylor Swift
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"That song is just a masterpiece. A movie plays in my head every single time I hear it. There has never been a song that hit me as hard as this one does. Anyone that’s gone through a bad breakup can relate heavily to this."
12. "Fancy," Reba McEntire
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"There’s a lot to work with and the film would cover lots of deep topics like poverty and prostitution, but it's really a story of survival. It’s a good song, but I think there is poignancy in the things it could cover as a film, as well!"
13. "Fast Car," Tracy Chapman
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"I love listening to the song not just for her incredible voice, but also the heartbreaking story the lyrics tell. For a song, it tells such an in-depth tale and I think a movie based on the song would be a hit!"
14. “Travelin' Soldier,” Dixie Chicks
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"The song shows the impacts of young love, and the detrimental effects of the Vietnam War on lives and love."
—zeaj
15. "Little Green," Joni Mitchell
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"The song is about how when she signed the adoption papers for her daughter, she was a poor artist who wasn’t in a place to raise a child. She wrote it shortly after she signed the papers. Later one of her roommates from school sold the story to the tabloids. Then, afterwards, she reunites with her daughter in 1997 when she is in her early thirties. Beautiful song, beautiful story."
16. "The Ledge," the Replacements
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"What led that young man to go out on the ledge and ultimately take his life, while people were pleading with him not to jump? Could be filmed in a flashback sequence, to show just what the guy went through."
17. "Symphony of Destruction," Megadeth
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"This would be an awesome name for a paranoid fiction movie about a random guy being in control of a country and everything goes to shit."
18. "From the Dining Table," Harry Styles
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"I feel like it would be really good to see how the day (and night) played out before he woke up, and how he's waiting for somebody to call him back and say that they're sorry too. It'd be a pretty sad movie, but I think it'd be incredible!"
19. "Somethin' Bad," Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood
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"The music video was basically a trailer for the best motion picture that never happened. Would 100% watch it if it were real!"
20. "Hotel California," the Eagles
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"This song has been waiting to be an awesome horror/thriller; the story and the setting is already completely laid out!"
21. "Genius Next Door," Regina Spektor
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"There's a lot of speculation on the meaning, but it includes: a mysterious lake, suicidal overtones, a teenage genius who doesn’t fit in, a town who views death in the lake as the usual, possibly trying to achieve orgasm by drowning, but hoping to live to tell the tale. There’s A LOT that could be going on."
22. And finally: "Piano Man," Billy Joel
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"What was the old man like when he wore a younger man’s clothes? Will John the bartender ever get to be a movie star? Will the waitress get elected? Did Paul ever find a wife? Is Davy still in the Navy?!"
Now it's your turn! Name a song that you'd like to see transformed into a film, and a little about WHY you think it'd be great, in the comments below for a chance to be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post or video!
Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.