Trainspotting<\/i>\u2019s soundtrack epitomized \u201cthe pleasure of it,\u201d allowing Boyle to make a film that was not a moral cautionary tale but more a work of subversion in the vein of Kubrick\u2019s A Clockwork Orange<\/i>. At the same time, the pitch-perfect use of each song in the film gave rising stars in the UK\u2019s Britpop music scene a bigger boost, and older acts a new life. Perhaps the biggest example of the latter is:<\/span><\/p>\n Bill Bria<\/a> lives in New York City, avoids heroin.<\/em><\/p>\nTrack 1: \u201cLust for Life,\u201d Iggy Pop<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Lust_for_Life.jpg\")
<\/a>In the \u201890s, punk pioneer Iggy Pop was already considered Old Rock Royalty, as evidenced in the film when teenage Diane (Kelly McDonald) carelessly mispronounces his name. In tribute to his greatness (and his importance to the main characters, carrying over their love from Irvine Welsh\u2019s source novel), Boyle gives \u201cLust For Life\u201d the royal treatment, letting Hunt Sales\u2019 drums bash away over the opening, energetic shot of Renton and the gang being pursued by authorities. The song continues over the following montage of the group shooting up at Mother Superior\u2019s den, providing a bright, upbeat counterpoint to the proceedings. With the lyrics (co-penned by David Bowie) referencing famous author and known drug addict William S. Burroughs\u2019 novel The Ticket That Exploded<\/i>, \u201cLust For Life\u201d makes for a perfect marriage of song and material.<\/span><\/p>\nTrack 2: \u201cDeep Blue Day,\u201d Brian Eno<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>The scene involving Renton attempting to recover drug suppositories from \u201cthe worst toilet in Scotland\u201d is still hard to watch, with Kave Quinn\u2019s production design being near gag inducing. Suddenly, once Renton is (surreally, hallucinatorially) inside the toilet, Boyle shows us a gorgeous freshwater landscape, and soothes the audience with Eno\u2019s dreamy synths. The juxtaposition of visuals and music against the scene is even more brutally defined here, making the sequence one brilliantly sick joke.<\/span><\/p>\nTrack 3: \u201cTrainspotting,\u201d Primal Scream<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Famous at the time for their \u201860s-influenced style, Britpop-adjacent act Primal Scream perform a title track of sorts. Its usage in the film is kept subtle, underscoring Renton and Sick Boy\u2019s park excursion, where Renton casually shoots a dog with a BB rifle that causes it to attack its sleeping owner. Underneath the pulsing drone of the song is a discordant note, a threat ready to awaken.<\/span><\/p>\nTrack 4: \u201cAtomic,\u201d Sleeper<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>It\u2019s unclear why the production couldn\u2019t use the 1979 original by Blondie\u2014perhaps the licensing costs were too much. Nevertheless, Britpop also-rans Sleeper do a serviceable cover version here. It complements the montage of Renton, Tommy, and Spud all trying (and mostly failing) to get laid, along with underlining the collaboration between Boyle\u2019s love of the current U.K. music scene and the pop hits of the \u201870s.<\/span><\/p>\nTrack 5: \u201cTemptation,\u201d New Order<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Manchester-based dance pop act New Order gained international fame with “Blue Monday” but have always been hometown heroes in the U.K. Their “Temptation” barely features in the finished film, but is notably sung by Kelly Macdonald’s Diane during her morning after shower, and on Renton’s bed during his cold-turkey trip. It’s a sly nod to Diane’s underage status, compromising Renton\u2019s infatuation with her.<\/span><\/p>\nTrack 6: \u201cNightclubbing,\u201d Iggy Pop<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Michigan’s own James Newell Osterberg, Jr. turns up again, this time with a poison-pill response to his earlier usage in the film. “Nightclubbing” is in and of itself a juxtaposition song, putting ostensibly fun party-time lyrics against a plodding, droning death march of a beat. With that, Boyle’s work is already done, and the beat shuffles on through a montage wherein one of the group’s formerly clean friends, Tommy, decides to do heroin. <\/span><\/p>\nTrack 7: \u201cSing,\u201d Blur<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>The only truly mournful song on the soundtrack comes courtesy of quintessential Brit band Blur, taken from their first album, recorded during their shoegazing phase. It’s a Pink Floyd-esque psychedelic throwback ballad, brilliantly used by Boyle during a montage of Renton and crew stealing from various sources to get money for more skag. During the montage we’re shown the context of the opening of the film, and what once seemed like a joyous bit of young rebellion is now revealed as a pathetic escape attempt, where Renton’s laugh after being nearly run over is less defiant and more insane. <\/span><\/p>\nTrack 8: \u201cPerfect Day,\u201d Lou Reed<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>The centerpiece of Boyle’s strategy to juxtapose hallucinatory and disturbing visuals with beautiful music comes with this 1972 waltz from Velvet Underground frontman Lou Reed. It works on two levels, one being that Renton almost dying from a drug overdose definitely does not constitute a “perfect day,\u201d and yet from his point of view, it does. It chillingly conveys the feeling of being uncaring on an uncontrollable chemical level, allowing the chaos of reality to float by as easy as Reed’s strings, piano, and honeyed vocals do.<\/span><\/p>\nTrack 9: \u201cMile End,\u201d Pulp<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Pulp had existed as a band since the ’80s but didn’t find their niche until the release of their album Different Class<\/i>, which occurred right before Trainspotting<\/i>‘s production. As a result, they were asked to contribute a song for the film, and offered this shopping-center jingle ode to terrible living conditions within London slums. Its use in the film is a bit on the nose, when Renton’s living situation in London is less than ideal, but it’s no less welcome.<\/span><\/p>\nTrack 10: \u201cFor What You Dream Of,\u201d Bedrock\/KYO<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>A big fan of house and trance music, Boyle puts the duo Bedrock’s pulsating beats into a London club scene, which is to be expected. Perhaps not so expected, however, is Renton’s voiceover assertion that in the far future “there won’t be any men or women,\u201d brushing away the importance of gender while pal Begbie has an intensely homophobic encounter just outside the club.<\/span><\/p>\nTrack 11: \u201c2:1,\u201d Elastica<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Underrated female-led grunge-punk Britpop group Elastica’s contribution to the film nicely highlights Renton’s paranoia as he is tormented by his friends, who literally invade his new life in London and take over his apartment. Justine Frischmann and Donna Matthews\u2019 intertwining vocals turn the screw ever further as the song grooves toward an uncertain end.<\/span><\/p>\nTrack 12: \u201cA Final Hit,\u201d Leftfield<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Boyle first married his cinematic visuals to Leftfield’s distinctive house sound during the opening titles of Shallow Grave<\/i>, and the collaboration was fruitful enough to inspire Boyle to use another track from the progressive house duo for this film. “A Final Hit” was one of only two songs specifically written for the film, and it shows. Its drunk, dark synths play perfectly under the scene where Renton must test the quality of the heroin he and his gang are about to deal. The scene plays as an ironic counterpoint to the nightmarish montage seen minutes earlier where Renton forcibly kicks heroin cold turkey, featuring one of the few songs in the film that\u2019s not on the original soundtrack album, an Underworld track called \u201cDark And Long (Dark Train).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nTrack 13: \u201cBorn Slippy [Nuxx],\u201d Underworld<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>A B-side to the techno band’s entirely different 1995 single (titled simply “Born Slippy”), “Born Slippy [Nuxx]” was intended as a lark, a goofy addition to a single release. Used by Boyle for the climactic scenes of Trainspotting<\/i>, the song completely superseded its A-side in every way. The shouted vocals over a dreamy synth hit, when combined with the scene of Renton deciding to steal thousands of dollars from his friends, helps create a palpable tension. That tension is thrillingly, intoxicatingly released when the song gives way to booming percussion, relentlessly plowing forward, seemingly propelling Renton on with his theft. It’s a perfect marriage of sound and visual, tying the song to Trainspotting <\/i>as thoroughly as Dick Dale’s “Misrilou” is tied to Pulp Fiction<\/i>. <\/span><\/p>\nTrack 14: \u201cCloset Romantic,\u201d Damon Albarn<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Arguably the figureheads of the Britpop movement, Blur were at the height of popularity in England in 1996. As such, a contribution to a Britpop-heavy soundtrack like Trainspotting<\/i> wasn’t going to surprise anyone. Nevertheless, Blur frontman Damon Albarn’s “Closet Romantic” is significant for being the only other piece of music specifically composed for the film, and Albarn’s sickly-sweet Casio keyboard waltz captures the movie’s playful spirit well. In a final bit of cheek, the song (and thus, the movie) ends with Albarn dryly intoning the names of every Sean Connery-starring James Bond film, lending a sly bit of satire, as Renton surely sees his actions as Connery-like. Albarn\u2019s list of Bond films ends with Never Say Never Again, <\/i>a final grace note to the last scene where Renton claims to be \u201cgoing straight\u201d and leaving heroin behind, all while his eerily smiling face fills the frame until it\u2019s out of focus. It\u2019s a perfect end to a perfect soundtrack, being pretty, upbeat, and clever, with a dark underbelly, just like the film it accompanies.<\/span><\/p>\n
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