500 Days of Summer Soundtrack Review

August 12, 2009

500 Days of Summer Soundtrack Review

The (500) Days of Summer soundtrack has been the the perfect antidote to the less-than-perfect summer weather that I and many other folks seem to be have been experiencing.

I've been listening to the soundtrack on my Blackberry and much of it is danceable, spirit-lifting, and fun.

The film is a post-modern love story of Tom, a greeting card copywriter(!) and hopeless romantic who is blindsided after his girlfriend Summer dumps him. Tom takes us back, reminiscing through various stages of their 500 days together trying to puzzle out how things things went wrong. His reflections ultimately lead him to rediscover his true passions in life.

The full track listing is below:

1.A Story of Boy Meets Girl - Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen

2. Us - Regina Spektor

3. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths

4. Bad Kids - Black Lips

5. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want - The Smiths

6. There Goes The Fear - Doves

7. You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates

8. Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap

9. Quelqu'un M'a Dit - Carla Bruni

10. Mushaboom - Feist

11. Hero - Regina Spektor

12. Bookends - Simon & Garfunkel

13. Vagabond - Wolfmother

14. She's Got You High - Mumm-Ra

15. Here Comes Your Man - Meaghan Smith

16. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want - She & Him

(500) Days of Summer has been described as a "quasi-indie" movie and I suppose that's fair as the soundtrack is a good balance of well-known indie tunes sprinkled with some new(er) "hipster" tracks that I was anxious to hear. There are three songs that are either performed by the Smiths or in the case of Please, Please (Let Me Get What I Want) covered by "She and Him," a band fronted by Zooey Deschanel and M.Ward.

Deschanel sounds much like one would imagine she would--kind of sweet and definitely charming. She does a very credible job of the one tune she contributes to the (500) Days Of Summer Soundtrack.

I'm not really big into labels--I just know what I enjoy listening to and this soundtrack is packed with great tunes. Some of my faves include the old, but aging incredibly well and terrifically suited to this film,“You Make My Dreams” by Hall & Oates’, First Lady of France Carla Bruni's, Quelqu'un M'a Dit, the timeless classic, Bookends, by Simon and Garfunkel, Here Comes Your Man by Meaghan Smith, Mushaboom by Feist and of course, the already-mentioned Smith's tunes.