There is perhaps no one who loves the independent music scene more than the humble directors of coming-of-age films. Maybe it’s because of the feelings that adolescence brings to light: wanting something new, trying to differentiate yourself from everyone else and being “unique”, and telling your parents that your music is better than the stuff they listen to (even though it’s often copying themes from their favorite tracks). For this reason, I thought that it would be interesting to take a deeper dive into the soundtracks of popular coming-of-age films and seeing what I came back up with. So, jump in the back of your friend’s pickup truck, turn up the dial, and make sure to put on some deodorant, as we look at the music that main characters listen to.
Juno (played by Elliot Page) is the story of a teenage girl grappling with the realities of an unplanned pregnancy. She comes from a blended conservative family with a dad who just wants the best for her and a stepmom who is originally off-putting but ends up becoming one of the best characters within the film. While there is an overall feeling of a little bit of the film being a little bit “preachy” due to most of the characters being pro-life, it does a great job at representing the struggle of an unplanned pregnancy and is definitely worth the watch. The soundtrack can really be summed up in one word: “quaint”. This isn’t to say that it is dry, it’s more to say that this soundtrack is made up of the independent music of yesteryear, even for its time. This can be seen right from the beginning during the cartoonish intro after our first look at Juno, the title character of the film.
The first song featured in the movie is Barry Louis Polisar’s, All I Want is You, a catchy little folk tune that repeats the phrase that gives the song its name. It’s a cutesy track that has an unforgettable harmonica motif throughout that I guarantee you’ll be humming to yourself for about an hour after first listening to it. As aforementioned, this song is present while Juno is walking and the driving guitar work and steady rhythm will incorporate nicely into your next cross-town or cross-campus walk.
Next, we get the first of many songs by Kimya Dawson. This rendition of My Rollercoaster is just some vocal percussion over some quick rhythm guitar and serves as a nice interlude to what we hear next: The Kinks’ 1965 release, A Well Respected Man. Here, we meet the main romantic interest played by none other than coming-of-age movie darling, Michael Cera. As he suits up for a run with the rest of the cross-country team, The Kinks’ support him with the perfect backing track for his character. I say this because A Well Respected Man is somewhat of a satirical take on the notion of a well respected man in their day. Cera’s character is not “well respected” at all. In fact, he isn’t really respected throughout the entire movie by Juno, her parents, or her friends. This track is a welcome inclusion to this listener, as I feel this is The Kinks’ at their best. Choppy vocal delivery, tight percussion, and a walking bass line make this another one you’ll want to include in your 60’s playlist.
Up the Spout by Mateo Messina is the next song that we hear in the film, a simple instrumental with doubled-up acoustic guitars. This song serves as a motif for any big change within the movie. For example, when Juno first finds out that she is pregnant. Out of context though, it’s nothing too astonishing. Up the Spout is followed by another Kimya Dawson song, Tire Swing. Here we see Juno at one of her lowest points after she has broken up with her love interest in the film. Tire Swing complements this well, as the lyrics center around the singer taking down pictures of their old partner and how they are trying to move on and tell themselves that it’s okay to be single no matter how much that initial sting might hurt. The chorus is sung in a round, much like a children’s song, which provides the song with a youthful feel that captures young love well.
Belle And Sebastian’s Piazza, New York Catcher is what follows. This track plays on baseball terminology to convey a somewhat unrequited or unwanted relationship. The namesake of the song is Mike Piazza, a Hall-of-Fame catcher for the New York Mets who was rumored to be gay in the early 2000’s, to which he said, “If I was gay, I’d be gay all the way”. This makes sense, as the narrator of the song is searching for a confirmation from their love interest, but they never get “all the way” into a committed relationship.
We once again return to Kimya Dawson with the uptempo Loose Lips, which cements her as one of my sleeper picks for greatest non-Rap artist rapper of all time. While this song is the furthest thing away from Rap, the complex rhyme-scheme and the allusions to pop culture can’t be denied. Within the movie’s context though, it serves as another bridge song between big decisions. Here, it is when Juno is thinking of giving her unborn child up for adoption. This song marks a bit of a transition, as it is one of the last acoustic songs of the album, as the back half is filled with the music of Mark, one half of the couple who is interested in adopting Juno’s child once it’s born.
It’s worth mentioning that I am actively trying not to give any spoilers to the movie that this soundtrack calls home. However, all I have to say is that if it isn’t evident by his taste in music, Mark is a piece of s—. We start with the first song he plays for Juno when they meet. Superstar by Sonic Youth is a sonically interesting song, as it is apparent that it was recorded on a tape, and has a constant whirring of a tape machine in the background. It also features some light synths, guitar, and whispery vocals that give it the aesthetic of what a kidnapper would play for their victim once they had them in their clutches. The song is almost physically revolting, but it fits perfectly within the context of the movie.
Oh, thank god we’re done with that one. Kimya Dawson makes her fourth appearance with a short instrumental called Sleep. As with most instrumentals for this soundtrack, it isn’t anything too special, just a little interlude before the next song, that being Belle and Sebastian’s Expectations. This song describes in painstaking detail the amount of pressure that is put on people, especially females, who are labeled as “outcasts”, much like Juno in this film. It includes being bullied by other kids, being called a prude, and getting higher levels of attention from perverted authority figures. This all culminates with the subject of the song getting used to being used by the world. The song does shine a little light, stating that one day our protagonist will see that she was right all along to want to remain an outcast and stay true to herself despite the constant teasing and unwanted attention.
One of my personal favorite’s of this soundtrack is next: All the Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople. Unfortunately this song is tainted once again with the piece of human trash known as Mark. All the Young Dudes is a 70’s power ballad reminiscent of bands like Badfinger. The opening guitar riff glides over the backing instruments and Ian Hunter’s vocals enthusiastically power through the swelling strings during the chorus. If you’re a sucker for choruses that feature the backing band yelling throughout, you’re in for a real treat.
To round out the last part of the soundtrack, we get a couple more tracks from Kimya Dawson, So Nice So Smart and Tree Hugger, the former of which is about the often weird and blurred line of lovers and friends and issues with commitment in that situation. The latter is a lot like a children’s song, and details always wanting something different. We also get a tear-inducing track by Cat Power entitled Sea of Love, and I’m Sticking with You by The Velvet Underground. I personally could take or leave I’m Sticking with You as I find that the front half is grating and the back half is decent at best. The final song listed in the soundtrack is Antsy Pants’ I am A Vampire which is a cute song by Kimya Dawson and her children under a different stage name.
The penultimate song is the most memorable in my mind and is repeated by Elliott Page and Michael Cera at the end of the movie. The track is Anyone Else But You, originally sung by The Moldy Peaches. Is this song cheesy? Yes. Does it also make me want to go find my significant other and cry while we sing this together? Absolutely. The song feels extremely personal and closes out the movie in the best way possible. One of my favorite lines is “We sure are cute for two ugly people”, which I think is absolutely beautiful given the fact that both of our main characters are in high school and don’t know the people they will eventually become.
Juno has a very solid folk-centric soundtrack with a little bit of mid-90’s alternative and classic rock. In its entirety, I believe it fits the movie very well despite some tracks being a little on the weaker side of listenability for this author. Big kudos should continue to be given to Kimya Dawson for carrying much of this soundtrack.
While this article did take me a little while to finally get done, I enjoyed writing it, and I hope my audience got a good laugh or two out of it. I want to give an extra special shoutout to my sister, Stacey Horton, who designed the title card for this article (with a little bit of monetary motive). Her design page can be found by clicking her name within this article. If you have ideas for some coming-of-age film soundtracks for us to review in the future, feel free to leave a comment so we can enjoy more. Thank you.
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