Concluding a look at my favorite movie music scenes of 2025…
Before I get to my final musical selection, I want to shout out a few honorable mentions.
One is the Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra performing during a South Bronx Puerto Rican Day celebration in Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest. The vibrant parade is cross-cut with the delivery of ransom money on an overhead subway train in one of that film’s best scenes (here’s a small taste).
Another is the anachronistic use of 80s music in the 50s-set Marty Supreme. I particularly liked a montage set to The Korgis’ ‘Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime.’
And a very late entry to this list (from a movie I saw just three days ago) is Craig Brewer’s Song Sung Blue, which has a half dozen musical set pieces that make excellent use of Neil Diamond’s catalog. I would have included the movie here had I not gotten to it so late, but I’m going to do it one better and plan a Neil Diamond deep (or shallow) dive in the coming months.
But my final slot goes to a movie I caught up with quite late, well after it became the global obsession of children and adults alike. Yes, I’m referring to KPop Demon Hunters.
This is the one true musical on my list (though Sinners and The Ballad of Wallis Island come close). It’s also one of only three new musicals I saw all last year, along with The Testament of Ann Lee and Wicked: For Good. Not exactly a thriving genre these days.
KPop Demon Hunters, though, is completely worthy of its massive success. It’s a smart, stylish, funny, and touching film with important themes and a slamming soundtrack. I watched it as homework, intent on seeing all the Oscar-nominated movies, and was surprised to end up loving it.
Today’s scene selection doesn’t feature smash hit ‘Golden,’ nor one of the infectious Saja Boys tracks. I went with the film’s stirring climax in which Rumi, lead singer of HUNTR/X, bares her soul to win back the souls of everybody else.
Nothing but the truth now
Nothing but the proof of what I am
The worst of what I came from, patterns I’m ashamed of
Things that even I don’t understand
I tried to fix it, I tried to fight it
My head was twisted, my heart divided
My lies all collided
I don’t know why I didn’t trust you to be on my side
[Chorus: Rumi, Zoey, Mira]
I broke into a million pieces, and I can’t go back
But now I’m seeing all the beauty in the broken glass
The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony
My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like
Why did I cover up the colors stuck inside my head?
I should’ve let the jagged edges meet the light instead
Show me what’s underneath, I’ll find your harmony
The song we couldn’t write, this is what it sounds like
[Verse 2: Rumi]
We’re shattering the silence, we’re rising, defiant
Shouting in the quiet, “You’re not alone”
We listened to the demons, we let them get between us
But none of us are out here on our own
So we were cowards, so we were liars
So we’re not heroes, we’re still survivors
The dreamers, the fighters, no lying, I’m tired
But dive in the fire, and I’ll be right here by your side
[Chorus: Rumi]
We broke into a million pieces, and we can’t go back
But now we’re seeing all the beauty in the broken glass
The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony
My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like
Why did we cover up the colors stuck inside our head?
Get up and let the jagged edges meet the light instead
Show me what’s underneath, I’ll find your harmony
Fearless and undefined, this is what it sounds like
[Bridge: All]
(Oh, hey) This is what it sounds like
(Oh, oh, oh) Hey, hey
This is what it sounds like
(Oh, oh, oh) Hey, hey
This is what it sounds like
(Oh, oh, oh) Hey, hey
Oh, this is what it—, this is what it—
This is what it sounds like
[Chorus: Rumi]
We broke into a million pieces, and we can’t go back
But now I’m seeing all the beauty in the broken glass
The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony
My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like
Why did we cover up the colors stuck inside our head?
Get up and let the jagged edges meet the light instead
Show me what’s underneath, I’ll find your harmony
Fearless and undefined, this is what it sounds like
[Outro: Rumi]
My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like
Fearless and undefined, this is what it sounds like
Truth after all this time, our voices all combined
When darkness meets the light, this is what it sounds like
Meet Me In Montauk 