This entry is a bit of a random one: there are a couple of songs that are really good but which have the misfortune of ending up in absolutely terrible films. Films generally love to jazz their cred up a bit by commissioning songs from hot indie/alternative/pop artists, but these deserve the prize of having caused hundreds of fans around the world to experience a psychological crisis and to cry out in utter exasperation, ‘I WISH YOU DIDN’T WRITE THIS SONG FOR THE FILM, BUT IF IT WASN’T FOR THE FILM YOU WOULDN’T HAVE WRITTEN THIS SONG!’ And now, for the list of culprits.
1. ‘Breath of Life’ – Florence + the Machine (Snow White and the Huntsman, 2012)
Earth-shattering drums, Florence’s heavenly voice and all-round drama: it’s everything you expect from an F+tM song and more, but damn, the movie sucked. Kristen Stewart couldn’t even be bothered with her accent and Thor was Scottish. And I’m not even going to talk about the rest of the film – the plot, the pacing, the other characters, whatever. I sat through the film just so I could hear ‘Breath of Life’ over the end credits, and it only barely made it worth it.
2. ‘Decode’ – Paramore (Twilight, 2008)
I love Paramore. I have a poster of them, and I own two of their albums, one in physical copy and one through iTunes. That’s being a fan by today’s music-pirating, Spotify-streaming standards. But on a serious note, I really do think Paramore are one of the best rock bands ever, and that makes me even more frustrated to hear this awesome song and realise that it’s about a sparkling vampire that brought centuries of brilliant, multi-faceted Gothic and horror literature to its knees. Anne Rice save us all.
3. ‘Roslyn’ – Bon Iver & St. Vincent (The Twilight Saga: New Moon, 2009)
Yes, it’s Twilight again, but this time it’s The Pouting and Smouldering Returns: Part II of the Book & Film Series That Really Should’ve Ended after the First Instalment. I absolutely adore Bon Iver and St Vincent’s ‘Cheerleader’ was awesome (and the video utterly creeped me out), but … well, I’ve already talked about the series, so see #2. I rest my case.
That’s three I can think of right now. Let us know yours by leaving a comment!
METAKOUSTIK 
There’s a perfectly fine Bryan Adams song called “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”. It won a Grammy in 1991 and was #1 for 16 weeks. But it was commissioned for the end credits of “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves”, a movie so bad you expect to hear a bowman from the Middle Ages say “Duuude, where’s my castle?”
A medieval bowman saying ‘Duuude, where’s my castle?’ sounds like my idea of a great film … time to check that out :p