Summer movies are known for a lot of things, from big action spectacles, to the biggest movie stars, to marketing blitzkriegs that become so intrinsically linked to the summer. Yet one of the most underrated elements to them is the iconic movie tie-in song. There is no shortage of iconic songs from the soundtracks to hit summer movies, from Survivor’s ‘Eye of the Tiger’ from Rocky III, Jon Bon Jovi’s ‘Blaze of Glory’ from Young Guns II, Coolio’s ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ from Dangerous Minds, and Seal’s ‘Kiss From a Rose’ from Batman Forever, just to name a few.

Will Smith used to give audiences a big summer movie like Men in Black and Wild Wild West for Fourth of July weekend as well as a title song to enjoy. Counting Crow’s landed an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for their hit summer song ‘Accidently in Love’ from Shrek 2. The latest is Lady Gaga’s Top Gun: Maverick song, ‘Hold My Hand,’ very much paying homage to the 1986 film which opened in the summer, introducing audiences to two iconic original songs, Kenny Loggins ‘Danger Zone’ and Berlin’s ‘Take My Breath Away.’

A good summer movie song can become instantly iconic, being a yearly listen or a time capsule of a certain summer memory. While the tie-in movie song has been less of a trend in recent years, studios still continue to try, yet few have crossed over into becoming a mainstream hit. Hollywood nonetheless keeps hiring some of the best artists to contribute original songs for their summer films, and here are some of the best that might have flown under the radar but would make great additions to any summer playlist for BBQs, road trips, or parties.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

9 ‘It’s On Again’ by Alicia Keys and Kendrick Lamar (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)

     Sony Pictures 

The Spider-Man movies have a rich soundtrack history, starting with Chad Kroeger’s ‘Hero’ from Spider-Man which became a global hit, and Spider-Man 2, featuring both ‘Vindicated’ by Dashboard Confessional and ‘Ordinary’ by Train. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse featured hit new singles in the form of Post Malone’s ‘Sunflower’ and Blackway and Black Caviar’s ‘What’s Up Danger.’ Yet one that sadly gets overlooked is ‘It’s On Again’ from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, by Alicia Keys and Kendrick Lamar.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Featured in the end credits, the song’s lyrics describe the trials and tribulation of being a hero, and much like the film it has an upbeat tempo and fast energy, yet with a foreboding sense to it (matching the film’s set-up for the Sinister Six movie that never came to be). The song’s association with the film likely hurt it, as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was quickly forgotten about in favor of a reboot in the MCU that became Spider-Man: Homecoming.

8 ‘Ashes’ by Celine Dion (Deadpool 2)

     Marvel Entertainment

Celine Dion sang one of the quintessential movie tie-in songs, Titanic’s ‘My Heart Will Go On,’ so any movie that lands her vocals is certainly one for the books. In a bold move, the producers of Deadpool 2 got Dion to sing the film’s original song ‘Ashes’ which plays over the opening credits; it’s a funny homage to other action movie ballads like ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’ from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the cover of ‘I Wil Always Love You’ from The Bodyguard.

Dion allows for a clever subversion, as the singers’ music is a major contrast to the hyper-violent, R-rated, and very male centric fanbase of the Deadpool films. Yet the lyrics of the song still highlight the film’s thematic arc of Wade Wilson trying to pick himself up from his major loss. So it is both a satire but also a sincere embrace of the pop ballad, a contradiction very much like Deadpool himself, who is cynical yet sentimental.

7 ‘True To Your Heart’ by 98 Degrees and Stevie Wonder (Mulan)

     Walt Disney Pictures

1998 featured two summer movies with tie-in songs with odd pairings: the first was ‘Come with Me’ for Godzilla featuring Puff Daddy and Jimmy Page, and the better one was ‘True to Your Heart’ from Mulan, pairing new coming R&B band 98 Degrees with music icon Stevie Wonder. During Disney’s 90s-era renaissance, the end credit song tended to be a pop cover of one of the film’s signature songs, and while Mulan does feature Christina Aguilera’s cover of ‘Reflection,’ it is ‘True to Your Heart’ that kicks off the credits. While at the time many said the style did not fit the tone of Mulan, the lyrics perfectly match the themes of the movie and give the audience the celebratory sound the film deserved when it ended.

6 ‘To Be Human’ by Sia featuring Labrinth (Wonder Woman)

     Warner Bros. Pictures

Wonder Woman was arguably the biggest movie of the summer in 2017, as it grossed $409.3 million domestically and became a cultural sensation at a moment when people needed it. At times the film felt less like a superhero movie and more like an old-time adventure film, big and bombastic with an epic scope and a real sentimentality to it that had a moving love story at its center. It’s fitting, then, that the film features a touching pop song, titled ‘To Be Human’ by Sia featuring Labrinth, that feels like a sweeping love ballad. It captures both the power of Wonder Woman, but also the tender heart of the character that has made her an icon for generations.

5 ‘Set Me Free’ by Velvet Revolver (Hulk)

     Universal Pictures

Ang Lee’s Hulk is a dark meditation on trauma, abuse, and a slow burn movie that audiences were not happy with when it opened in 2003. Given the nature of the character and other comic book movies at the time, many expected a high scale action movie, and to be fair the film did sell that image with many ads featuring the rock and roll original song ‘Set Me Free.’ Following the success of Chad Kroger’s ‘Hero’ for Spider-Man the Evanescence song ‘Bring Me To Life’ in Daredevil, Hulk was considered to also need a tie-in song with some alternative undercurrents.

Producers found it with the band Velvet Revolver, which featured Guns N’ Roses’ Slash as the lead guitarist and Stone Temple’s Pilots Scott Weiland on lead vocals. The heavy rock song may not fit with the tone of the Hulk film (the song only plays during the end credits), yet lyrically ‘Set Me Free’ is the perfect anthem for any incarnation of the Hulk as the rock riffs, screaming lyrics, strong drum beats, and guitar licks capture the energy and raw power brewing beneath Bruce Banner, hinting at the Hulk who is waiting to break out.

4 ‘You Could Be Mine’ by Guns N Roses (Terminator 2: Judgement Day)

     Tri-Star Pictures

While this song certainly is popular (Terminator 2: Judgement Day was the highest-grossing film of 1991 after all), and Guns N’ Roses is one of the most popular bands of all time, the fact remains that ‘You Could Be Mine’ should be bigger. The song was featured in T2 in both the beginning of the film as John Connor listens to it and again during the end credits. Despite the provenance, the song never quite had the same crossover appeal as other summer movie songs and didn’t reach the high marks that many Guns N’ Roses songs did, reaching number 29 on the US Billboard 100.

However, the song is one of Guns N’ Roses’ most underrated, and instantly captures the late 80s early 90s rock and roll music scene as hair metal shifted into grunge, and ‘You Could Be Mine’ fits the action-packed nature of the two robots at war in the film. The song’s legacy in the franchise lives on, as it was later featured in Terminator: Salvation, once again listened to by John Connor.

3 ‘Sledgehammer’ by Rhianna (Star Trek Beyond)

     Paramount Pictures

One does not often associate the many great Star Trek movies and shows with a pop ballad, but in 2016 with the release of Star Trek: Beyond to help the film reach a wider audience who may not be interested in seeing a Star Trek film, Rihanna contributed an original song for the films end credits ‘Sledgehammer.’ Rihanna, a self-described Star Trek fan, gives a perfect sense of gravitas to the song that makes it sound like a classic 80s or 90s tie-in tune that would have fit with any earlier Star Trek entry.

The music video, which was filmed with IMAX cameras, was directed by Runaways filmmaker Floria Sigismondi and is also a callback to big lavish music videos for these tie in songs. It features Rihanna on an alien planet very reminiscent of what one audience would have seen in the original Star Trek series. Star Trek Beyond was the lowest-grossing film of the recent entries, meaning many people did not get the chance to hear the powerful, soaring song that brings the listener on a journey much like the Starship Enterprise.

2 ‘Summer Feeling’ by Lennon Stella ft. Charlie Puth (Scoob!)

The newest song on the list, ‘Summer Feeling’ was released with the animated film Scoob!, which skipped theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic and instead premiered on PVOD on May 15, 2020. The song, by Lennon Stella and featuring Charlie Puth, plays twice in the movie: during the opening scene and again in the end credits. The song’s upbeat pop tempo combined with lyrics that reference Venice Beach and ice cream captures a youthful summer evening spent with friends, appropriate for both the Scooby-Doo franchise and for being a standalone song about summer. ‘Summer Feeling’ is the perfect addition to any summer playlist that sounds quintessentially like the time of year.

1 ‘Live to Rise’ by Soundgarden (The Avengers)

     Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

The Avengers, the highest-grossing movie of 2012 (with one of the best opening weekends at the box office of all time), redefined the superhero genre, but oddly enough, the lead original song for is barely remembered by general audiences. Many would be hard-pressed to remember The Avengers has an original song for it despite playing in the end credits, with many audiences likely listening to it while waiting for the great after-credit scene with shawarma. It was even sung by a highly popular band, Soundgarden. ‘Live to Rise’ was Soundgarden’s first new song since they reunited for 2010’s ‘Black Rain’.

Released a couple of weeks before the film’s theatrical debut to promote the film, the song was made free on iTunes for a week. ‘Live to Rise’ is in many ways the perfect summer movie tie-in song; while lyrically it doesn’t quite fit The Avengers, tonally it does as it captures the angsty mood that many of the Marvel Comics heroes were born from in the 1960s. It feels like a traditional end credits song that stands alone as a great rock song from one of the best and most influential rock bands of the late 20th century; it just also happens to be with a major summer movie.