Movie Bonus Song

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

A Movie Bonus Song must be:

  1. Featured in a film adaptation of a musical (and not be a Cut Song)
  2. Written specifically for the film version, not carried over from the stage production or originating elsewhere (which excludes "From This Moment On" from Kiss Me Kate, and "When All Is Said And Done" from Mamma Mia!!)
  3. Written by at least one of the original songwriters (which excludes songs such as "The Continental" from The Gay Divorcee, "You're The One That I Want" from Grease and "I Will Always Love You" from The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas)

Since Oscars are only given to songs written for the film, this is often accused of being Oscar Bait, though the practice of writing Movie Bonus Songs dates back to the first generation of movie musicals, before the Original Song category existed. In recent times, the Movie Bonus Song may sometimes be an Award Bait Song, but the two are generally distinct tropes.

Liable to become Ret Canon in future stage productions, if the movie version was successful.

Examples of Movie Bonus Song include:
  • "Why Am I So Romantic?" from Animal Crackers.
  • "Let's Go to the Movies", "We Got Annie" (based on a Cut Song), and "Sign" from the film version of Annie. There's also an odd case in "Dumb Dog/Sandy", which recycled the melody of a song from composer Charles Strouse's flop A Broadway Musical.
  • If The Band Wagon is considered as an adaptation of the 1931 revue of that name (which also featured Fred Astaire and several songs used in the movie), "That's Entertainment" would qualify as a Movie Bonus Song.
  • "Do It Yourself" from Bells Are Ringing.
  • "You're Lucky," "Wish I May" and "Alive and Kicking" from Best Foot Forward.
  • "The Greeks Have No Word For It" and "Who Are You" from The Boys From Syracuse.
  • The 1963 film version of Bye Bye Birdie added a title song to the musical. The 1995 TV remake had this and several more Movie Bonus Songs.
  • "Mein Herr," "Maybe This Time" and "Money, Money" from Cabaret.
  • "I Move On" from Chicago.
  • "Surprise, Surprise" and "Let Me Dance For You" from A Chorus Line.
  • "When My Dreams Come True" from The Cocoanuts appears to be the Ur Example.
  • "There's Something About An Empty Chair" from Damn Yankees. (Jerry Ross suffered Author Existence Failure before this song was written.)
  • "Love You I Do," "Patience," "Perfect World" and "Listen" from Dreamgirls.
  • "You Must Love Me" from Evita.
  • "Funny Girl" from Funny Girl.
  • "You've Got What Gets Me" from the 1932 film version of Girl Crazy—though the song is nearly as obscure as the movie, it's the only Movie Bonus Song ever written by George and Ira Gershwin.
  • "Beautiful City" from Godspell.
  • "Pet Me, Poppa," "Adelaide" and "A Woman In Love" from Guys and Dolls.
  • "Ladies' Choice" and "Come So Far (Got So Far to Go)" from Hairspray.
  • "Just Leave Everything To Me" and "Love Is Only Love" from Hello, Dolly!.
  • "I Wish It Could Be Otherwise" from Li'l Abner.
  • The film version of A Little Night Music has "Love Takes Time" (mostly "Night Waltz" with new lyrics) and "The Glamorous Life" (same title but almost entirely rewritten as a Fredrika solo).
  • "Some Fun Now" (which only barely counts - it's heavily based on the cut song "Ya Never Know") and "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space" from Little Shop of Horrors.
  • "Loving You" from Mame.
  • "Being In Love" from The Music Man directly replaced "My White Knight," though the middle section (actually a remnant of a Cut Song) was unchanged.
  • Three of 'em in Nine": "Cinema Italiano" (a solo for Stephanie), "Guarda la Luna" (replacing the titular song; based on the "Waltz For Nine" instrumental), and "Take It All" (replacing "Be On Your Own").
  • "Love with All the Trimmings" and "Go to Sleep" from On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.
  • "Prehistoric Man," "Main Street," "You're Awful," "On The Town," "Count On Me" and "That's All There Is, Folks" from On the Town. MGM teamed writers Comden and Green with Roger Edens to replace most of Bernstein's songs so their publisher could own most of the score.
  • "Don't Look Now" from One Touch of Venus, which is actually just "Foolish Heart" with new lyrics. ("West Wind" from the original show was similarly converted into "My Week," but then cut from the movie. There would have been more Movie Bonus Songs if not for dreadful amounts of Executive Meddling which drove Kurt Weill from the production.)
  • "The First Thing You Know," "A Million Miles Away Behind The Door," "The Gospel Of No Name City," "Best Things" and "Gold Fever" from Paint Your Wagon. All of these were written by Alan Jay Lerner to music by André Previn. Frederick Loewe was not involved.
  • "You'll Find Your Happiness in Rio" (written for the stage version but cut) and "There's Nothing Like a Show on Broadway" from the 2005 film version of The Producers.
  • "Lovely To Look At" and "I Won't Dance" from Roberta. (The latter was a substantial rewrite of a song written for the obscure London musical Three Sisters.)
  • "I Have The Room Above Her," "Gallivantin' Around" and "Ah Still Suits Me" from the 1936 film version of Show Boat.
  • "Fated To Be Mated" and "The Ritz Roll And Rock" from Silk Stockings.
  • "I Have Confidence" and "Something Good" from The Sound of Music. (Written by Rodgers alone, due to Hammerstein's Author Existence Failure.)
  • "More Than Just A Friend," "Never Say No To A Man," "Willing And Eager," "This Isn't Heaven" and "The Little Things In Texas" from the 1962 version of State Fair—a remake of the 1945 movie musical, not an adaptation of a Broadway show. (These songs were also written by Rodgers after Hammerstein's death.)
  • "My Personal Property," "It's a Nice Face," and a new title song in Sweet Charity.
  • "What Does He Look Like (That Boy Of Mine)?" from Irving Berlin's This Is the Army. The stage show had featured an all-male cast, but the movie needed a number for a Glamorous Wartime Singer, in this case Frances Langford.
  • "You're Nearer" from Too Many Girls, though it was inserted into the show's post-Broadway tour before the movie was released.
  • "He's My Friend" from The Unsinkable Molly Brown.
  • "My Baby Just Cares For Me" was one of several from Whoopee!.
  • "Then We Are Decided" from the 1973 film version of Jesus Christ Superstar.
  • Notably averted in "Mamma Mia!". Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson were asked to write an original song for the film and blankly refused.
  • "Learn to be Lonely" from The Phantom of the Opera. The Phantom was meant to sing another song with the same melody, called "No One Would Listen", but that scene was cut from the film. You can find it on the DVD though. So this is a case of both Movie Bonus Song and Cut Song. Or something.
  • "When the Tigers Broke Free" from The Wall.
  • A few of them in the 1975 film version of Tommy: "Bernie's Holiday Camp", "Extra Extra" (set to the tune of "Miracle Cure"), "Champagne", "Mother and Son", and "TV Studio".
    • Although not Movie Bonuses, a few new songs are included in the musical: "We've Won", "I Believe My Own Eyes", and "Sally's Question".
  • The film version of Les Miserables will be doing this with a new song called "Suddenly", written by Claude-Michel Schonberg.
  • "Grease", "You're the One That I Want" and "Hopelessly Devoted to You", all from Grease.
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