Hollywood is notoriously lazy when it comes to musical shorthand. Rather than taking a risk on an obscure track, studio executives consistently lean on the same handful of iconic songs to instantly manipulate an audience’s emotions. These ubiquitous recordings have appeared in hundreds of films, serving as universal audio cues for everything from arriving in a new city to crashing a motorcycle.
#1: Creedence Clearwater Revival — “Fortunate Son”
Hollywood’s absolute, mandatory default button to instantly signal that a film has entered the Vietnam War era. The moment those opening guitar chords ring out over a cinematic landscape, you are guaranteed to see a fleet of military helicopters flying low over a tropical jungle canopy. It has become an inescapable, highly predictable historical marker.
