Commenter Amy predicted last week that I’d feature ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ at some point during this countdown.
She was close. Same movie, same setting, same two characters onscreen. But the song from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction that sticks with me most isn’t Dusty Springfield’s classic, but a Neil Diamond cover by an obscure 90s alt-rock band.
‘Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon’ – Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction is chock full of memorable music moments: Chuck Berry’s ‘You Never Can Tell’ during the twist contest; Al Green’s ‘Let’s Stay Together’ during Butch and Marcellus’ bar conversation; Dick Dale’s ‘Misirlou’ and Kool & the Gang’s ‘Jungle Boogie’ mashed up during the opening credits; and yes, ‘Son of a Preacher Man.’
But ‘Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon’ is the one that best encapsulates this ground-breaking film for me. The scene follows a “date” between Mia Wallace, wife of the dreaded Marcellus, and Vincent Vega, his henchman. They’ve hit it off beautifully and are dangerously close to making a very big mistake.
While Vincent retreats to the bathroom to talk himself out of going any further with Mia, she heads to the reel-to-reel (of all things!), plays this song, and dances. Tarantino’s camera dances with her, gliding around the room, losing her behind a column, then finding her again. It’s a seduction, not of Vincent but of the audience.
Meanwhile, John Travolta delivers a killer monologue in a beautifully composed shot in the bathroom.
It’s all fun and games until Mia discovers a baggie of heroin in Vince’s pocket and, mistaking it for cocaine, snorts it and overdoses. A perfect blend of passion, humor and horror. Classic Tarantino.
Girl, you’ll be a woman soon
I love you so much, can’t count all the ways
I’ve died for you girl and all they can say is
“He’s not your kind”
They never get tired of putting me down
And I’ll never know when I come around
What I’m gonna find
Don’t let them make up your mind
Don’t you know
[Chorus]
Girl, you’ll be a woman soon
Please, come take my hand
Girl, you’ll be a woman soon
Soon, you’ll need a man
[Verse 2]
I’ve been misunderstood for all of my life
But what they’re saying girl it cuts like a knife
“The boy’s no good”
Well I’ve finally found what I’m a looking for
But if they get their chance they’ll end it for sure
Surely would
Baby I’ve done all I could
Now it’s up to you
[Chorus x2]
Meet Me In Montauk 
Another great pick and another movie I haven’t seen in years (decades), but need to remedy that.
Love this movie and the music, nice to see Travolta again before he went nuts with religion
Warm. Warmer. Disco. You almost can’t have one of these scenes without the other, so here is the other:
Figured you had to share something from Quentin, who uses music to such spectacular effect (though it’s probably best we not talk about his use of “Stuck in the Middle with You”) – Love this film, and it’s Tarantino’s use of music that makes me love it as much as I do.