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“Bye Bye Bye” Is Global Top 50 On Spotify: Why Are Recent Movies Bringing Back Old Songs To The Soundtrack?

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Casper Libero chapter.

With the release of Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters, the music Bye Bye Bye – from the boyband ‘NSYNC, famous in the 2000s – became a trend. Maybe this fame came because of the bubblegum chorus or the fun choreography, but the fact is everyone is listening to this song right now.

It’s not new that, movies that feature old songs to compose their soundtrack, end up going viral. Another film that had the same phenomenon was Anyone But You, in which the song “Unwrittenby Natasha Bedingfield – released in 2004 – entered the UK Top 10 for the first time in 19 years, following the success of the romantic comedy.

The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy has also done this since the first film. The production became a reference in cinema because of the excellent choice of music to compose the heroic and alien universe, typical of the MCU, mixing retro aspects with it.

Old songs, new movies

However, people wonder why the choice of bringing music from past decades into new films was made. 

One of the reasons for it is directly linked to nostalgia. In an article for the magazine Esquinas, the composer and producer, Felipe Vassão, states that each generation has a musical taste and style that they identify with since childhood. As adults, people tend to pass on their tastes to new generations, reproducing the styles that marked them in their youth.

Another possible reason to answer this question is the timeless quality of old music. This factor justifies the impact of bands such as The Beatles or Queen: in the past, the music industry was concerned with creating deep music with striking and unique melodies. 

When compared to the current music scenario, the market aims to make a profit by focusing on instant hits, giving a feeling of “empty” to songs that didn’t exist. It’s difficult to name current songs that are remarkable, as they are all fleeting and forgettable after a few months of their release. Furthermore, this “emptiness” does not generate a connection with listeners to the point of marking moments in their lives.

So, putting old songs on film soundtracks means that they will also be remembered for a long time, becoming iconic and timeless in the future. Hollywood has found a magic formula to effectively promote new films without requiring much effort.

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The article above was edited by Isabelle Bignardi and translated by Julia Tortoriello
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Eduarda Lessa

Casper Libero '27

Hey there, my name is Eduarda (but you can call me Duda), I'm 19 years old and I'm a journalism student at Cásper Libero. My manly interests are cinema, video games, music, books, art and other things related to pop culture.