Exceptional soundtracks can make good movies great. They can also take on a life of their own, becoming a greater highlight than their respective films. In this series, I’m selecting some of my favorite soundtrack songs. While quite a few are well-known recordings, I’m also including a few that have flown under the radar over the years.

The Times Square soundtrack is filled with new wave classics and sleepers. It captures a colorful era in time through a colorful collection of songs. While I’ve never seen the movie, I’ve been drawn to the soundtrack. The inclusion of “Life During Wartime” shows a dimension of new wave that Talking Heads helped create, one that was equally reliant on song structure and instrumentation.

Talking Heads was always characterized by incorporating unusual combinations into the muisc. In “Life During Wartime”, they gave us a party music vibe, but also an art rock mentality at the same time. The short musical accents were countered by Weymouth’s steady, repetitive bass line. And at the helm, David Byrne went from smooth, melodic delivery to spastic outbursts. It was a musical crossroads of sorts, making it a perfect complement to the film about the crossroads of the world.

“This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around.”