by Jason Suzuki
Every film to feature Buddy Holly and the Crickets' "Everyday." Played simultaneously with the song, the respective clips from each film only appear during the moment of the song as it is used in each film. We see the common usage of the song is juxtaposition. Holly's song has come to represent comfort, happiness, nostalgia, etc. Its use to during scenes of Halloween and sinister acts such as baking drugs into a cake is for irony, recalling similar soundtrack incorporations in the work of Anger or Scorsese. A few of the film's utilize it for an instant indicator of love. But even then, these are off-kilter romances, "Everyday" gives them a nostalgic romantic vibe easily recognizable in the viewer.
The song's use in Earth to Echo is arguably the most interesting of the lot. It only takes from the song's instrumental break. Perhaps this is to some sort of magical effect as the song gets processed through some filters in its use, romance nor nostalgia is being evoked and the lack of the recognizable lyrics means its use is not for irony.
Only a few films use the whole song: Mischief, The Locusts, and We Need to Talk About Kevin. The only one of these three to use it non-diegetically is Kevin.
List of films used:
-Mischief (Mel Damski, 1985)
-Stand By Me (Rob Reiner, 1986)
-Gummo (Harmony Korine, 1997)
-The Locusts (John Patrick Kelley, 1997)
-Big Fish (Tim Burton, 2003)
-Love Happens (Brandon Camp, 2009)
-Mr. Nobody (Jaco Van Dormael, 2009)
-We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
-Big Bad Wolves (Aharon Keshales/Navot Papushado, 2013)
-Earth to Echo (Dave Green, 2014)