The Big Lebowski - Soundtrack

Soundtrack

The original score was composed by Carter Burwell, a veteran of all the Coen Brothers' films. While the Coens were writing the screenplay they had Kenny Rogers' "Just Dropped In (to See What Condition My Condition Was in)", the Gipsy Kings' cover of "Hotel California", and several Creedence Clearwater Revival songs in mind. They asked T-Bone Burnett to pick songs for the soundtrack of the film. They knew that they wanted different genres of music from different times but, as Joel remembers, "T-Bone even came up with some far-out Henry Mancini and Yma Sumac". Burnett was able to secure the rights to the songs by Kenny Rogers and the Gipsy Kings and also added tracks by Captain Beefheart, Moondog and the rights to a relatively obscure Bob Dylan song called "The Man in Me". However, he had a tough time securing the rights to Townes Van Zandt's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers", which plays over the film's closing credits. Former Stones manager Allen Klein owned the rights to the song and wanted $150,000 for it. Burnett convinced Klein to watch an early cut of the film and remembers, "It got to the part where the Dude says, 'I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man!' Klein stands up and says, 'That's it, you can have the song!' That was beautiful". Burnett was going to be credited on the film as "Music Supervisor" but asked his credit to be "Music Archivist" because he "hated the notion of being a supervisor; I wouldn't want anyone to think of me as management".

For Joel, "the original music, as with other elements of the movie, had to echo the retro sounds of the Sixties and early Seventies". Music defines each character. For example, "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" by Bob Nolan was chosen for the Stranger at the time the Coens wrote the screenplay, as was "Lujon" by Henry Mancini for Jackie Treehorn. "The German nihilists are accompanied by techno-pop and Jeff Bridges by Creedence. So there's a musical signature for each of them", remarked Ethan in an interview.

1. "The Man in Me" – written and performed by Bob Dylan (1970)
2. "Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles" – written and performed by Captain Beefheart (1972)
3. "My Mood Swings" – written by Elvis Costello and Cait O'Riordan; performed by Costello (1998)
4. "Ataypura" – written by Moises Vivanco; performed by Yma Sumac (1950)
5. "Traffic Boom" – written and performed by Piero Piccioni (1998)
6. "I Got It Bad & That Ain't Good" – written by Duke Ellington and Paul Francis Webster; performed by Nina Simone (1962)
7. "Stamping Ground" – written and performed by Moondog (1970)
8. "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" – written by Mickey Newbury; performed by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition (1968)
9. "Walking Song" – written and performed by Meredith Monk (1998)
10. "Glück das mir verblieb" from Die tote Stadt – written and conducted by Erich Wolfgang Korngold; performed by Ilona Steingruber, Anton Dermota and the Austrian State Radio Orchestra (1949)
11. "Lujon" – written and performed by Henry Mancini (1959)
12. "Hotel California" – written by Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Don Felder; performed by The Gipsy Kings (1988)
13. "Technopop (Wie Glauben)" – written and performed by Carter Burwell. (1998) The character Uli Kunkel was in the German electronic band Autobahn, a homage to the band Kraftwerk. The album cover of their record Nagelbett (nail bed) is a parody of the Kraftwerk album cover for The Man-Machine and the group name Autobahn shares the name of a Kraftwerk song and album. In the lyrics the phrase "We believe in nothing" is repeated with electronic distortion. This is a reference to Autobahn's nihilism in the film.
14. "Dead Flowers" – written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards; performed by Townes van Zandt (1993)

Other music used

• "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" – written by Bob Nolan; performed by Sons of the Pioneers
• "Requiem in D Minor: Introitus and Lacrimosa" – written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; performed by The Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir
• "Run Through the Jungle" – written by John Fogerty; performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival
• "Lookin' Out My Back Door" – written by John Fogerty; performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival
• "Behave Yourself" – written by Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Jr. and Lewie Steinberg; performed by Booker T. & the MG's
• "I Hate You" – written by Gary Burger, David Havlicek, Roger Johnston, Thomas E. Shaw and Larry Spangler; performed by The Monks
• "Gnomus" – composed by Modest Mussorgsky; from Pictures at an Exhibition. Arranged for orchestra by Maurice Ravel.
• "Mucha Muchacha" – written and performed by Juan García Esquivel
• "Piacere Sequence" – written and performed by Teo Usuelli
• "Standing on the Corner" – written by Frank Loesser; performed by Dean Martin
• "Tammy" – written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans; performed by Debbie Reynolds
• "Sounds of the Whale" – unknown recording of a whale song
• "Oye Como Va" – written by Tito Puente; performed by Santana
• "Peaceful Easy Feeling" – written by Jack Tempchin; performed by Eagles
• "Branded Theme Song" – written by Alan Alch and Dominic Frontiere
• "Viva Las Vegas" – written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman; performed by Big Johnson (with Bunny Lebowski) and by Shawn Colvin (closing credits).
• "Dick on a Case" – written and performed by Carter Burwell