Martin Scorsese’s soundtrack choices are one of the most popular elements of his filmmaking style. Having grown up in New York with people blasting the radio out of their apartment windows, Scorsese always knows the perfect tune to pair with each scene. Sometimes, the juxtaposition of the song against the scene is jarring — like a whimsical pop song playing over brutal violence — but it always works beautifully.
These are the greatest music moments in Scorsese’s crime epics Goodfellas and The Irishman. Also, Goodfellas deserves a couple of honorable mentions because it has so many great music moments: Donovan’s “Atlantis” playing over the murder of made man Billy Batts and the piano riff from “Layla” are both brilliantly used.
10 Goodfellas: “Rags To Riches” By Tony Bennett
The opening scene of Goodfellas jumps right into the middle of the story as Henry, Jimmy, and Tommy drive Billy Batts’ corpse out to bury in the woods. They hear bumping from the trunk of the car and realize he’s still alive. They pull over, pop open the trunk, and kill Batts for good.
As Henry’s iconic voiceover says, “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster,” the camera swoops in on his face and Tony Bennett’s “Rags to Riches” bursts onto the soundtrack.
9 The Irishman: “In The Still Of The Night” By The Five Satins
Martin Scorsese determined early in the process of figuring out how to tell the story of The Irishman on-screen that the Five Satins’ “In the Still of the Night” would embody the rhythm of the movie.
The movie has an actual theme by Robbie Robertson, but “In the Still of the Night” is featured so prominently that it’s basically a theme. It plays over the opening scene and the end credits, as well as at the wedding scene after Jimmy Hoffa’s murder.
8 Goodfellas: “Then He Kissed Me” By The Crystals
Arguably the most iconic shot in Goodfellas is the tracking shot through the Copacabana. There’s a long line outside and Henry shows off how connected he is by going in through the service entrance and having a table brought out right in front of the stage.
Since this is the moment that Karen is seduced by the mafia lifestyle, the Crystals’ “Then He Kissed Me” is matched perfectly to the scene.
7 The Irishman: “Tuxedo Junction” By Glenn Miller And His Orchestra
The first time that Frank Sheeran meets Russell Bufalino, played by Joe Pesci, at a gas station, “Tuxedo Junction” by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra appears on the soundtrack.
Pesci surprised audiences in The Irishman with a calm, cerebral subversion of his usual hothead screen persona honed in Scorsese movies like Raging Bull and, of course, Goodfellas.
6 Goodfellas: “Sunshine Of Your Love” By Cream
As Jimmy Conway watches wig shop owner Morrie singing to himself, the opening guitar riff of Cream’s psychedelic hit “Sunshine of Your Love” pierces through Morrie’s rendition of “Danny Boy” as Jimmy decides to kill Morrie and realizes that, while he’s at it, he could just kill everyone else with a stake in the heist and keep all the loot for himself.
This eventually becomes his undoing. It’s all conveyed through one intense look paired with the perfect soundtrack and a couple of well-timed drags on a cigarette.
5 The Irishman: “The Fat Man” By Fats Domino
Fats Domino’s “The Fat Man” plays over the montage of young Frank Sheeran giving stolen meat to gangsters. “I Hear You Knockin’” by Smiley Lewis plays over part of this montage, but “The Fat Man” is paired perfectly.
Robert De Niro isn’t convincingly young enough in this scene for Bobby Cannavale to call him “kid,” but “The Fat Man” is the ideal track for this montage.
4 Goodfellas: The Frenzied Mashup In The Helicopter Sequence
During the climactic sequence in which Henry is followed by a helicopter and eventually arrested in his driveway, Scorsese creates a kinetic, frenzied energy with dizzying camerawork, choppy editing, and a series of abrupt soundtrack changes.
The mashup of songs incorporates Harry Nilsson’s “Jump Into the Fire,” Mick Jagger’s “Memo from Turner,” the Who’s “Magic Bus,” the Rolling Stones’ “Monkey Man,” George Harrison’s “What is Life,” and Muddy Waters’ “Mannish Boy.”
3 The Irishman: “Melancholy Serenade” By Jackie Gleason
Comedian Jackie Gleason’s “Melancholy Serenade,” which was used as the theme song of his TV series The Jackie Gleason Show, plays before Jimmy Hoffa’s big speech to the Teamsters.
While the version of Hoffa’s death provided by Frank Sheeran has been more or less debunked by a lot of people involved, it did present Scorsese with a chance to explore the ties between unionized labor and organized crime.
2 Goodfellas: “My Way” By Sid Vicious
Sid Vicious’ headbanging rendition of the Sinatra mega-hit ”My Way” plays over the final moments of Goodfellas as Henry Hill looks out into his bland existence as a federal witness. Joe Pesci fires a revolver at the camera in an homage to The Great Train Robbery to foreshadow the inevitable fate of everyone who gets involved in organized crime. As Henry closes the front door of his milquetoast suburban home, the sound of jail bars clattering shut can be heard.
The use of Vicious’ version of “My Way” established Scorsese’s trend of using punk versions of classic tunes to show law and order at work, later seen in the Lemonheads’ cover of “Mrs. Robinson” playing as FBI agents storm the offices of Stratton Oakmont in The Wolf of Wall Street.
1 The Irishman: “Theme From The Irishman” By Robbie Robertson
While The Irishman has plenty of licensed music on its soundtrack, it also has an original score composed by Robbie Robertson (best known as The Band’s lead guitarist and songwriter), which includes the unforgettable “Theme from The Irishman.”
The melancholic harmonica riffs of the theme play over the montage of all the gangsters getting old. What sets The Irishman apart from Scorsese’s other gangster films is that it focuses on the sad, lonely existence that awaits mobsters in their old age — if they make it to old age, that is.
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