Pardon the way that I stare, there's nothing else to compare, the sight of you leaves me weak, there are no words left to speak

When I quoted the song 'Galway Girl' in my Blog about Ireland last week I discovered that it was used in the movie 'P.S. I Love You'. I have to confess that I have not seen this film but will probably now try to watch it just to hear the song again and to see it's context within the movie.

Given my love of music and movies, this made me think about my favourite scenes using songs in movies so here is my Top 10

1. "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" .....'The Deer Hunter'....favourite scene from my favourite movie featuring one of my favourite songs. Ticks all the boxes. I drank Rolling Rock for years because they drank it in this movie

2. "Secret Garden"....'Jerry Maguire'.......you had me at hello, Brucie

3. "Right Back Where We Started From"...'Slap Shot'....this pounding track from Maxine Nightingale was perfect for the road trips of the Charlestown Chiefs Ice Hockey team

4. "You Never Can Tell"...'Pulp Fiction'...Tarantino rarely disappoints with his soundtracks and Travolta and Thurman dancing to Chuck Berry was one of his best

5. "The Blower's Daughter"....'Closer'....even though the film starred Julia Roberts and Natalie Portman the Damien Rice song was still the highlight

6. "Afternoon Delight"...'Anchorman'....any excuse to throw in some random 'Anchorman' quotes
   "Boy, that escalated quickly...."
   "There were horses, and a man on fire, and I killed a guy with a trident"
   "And I'm Ron Burgundy. Go f*** yourself San Diego"
    Brilliant, but I digress!

7. "If There Is Something"...'Flashbacks Of A Fool'.....atmospheric Roxy Music track used to full effect in this underrated Daniel Craig movie

8. "It's Gonna Take A Miracle"...'A Home At The End Of The World'..a strange little movie starring Colin Farrell and Robin Wright but featuring a stunning soundtrack including Dylan, Cohen, Dusty Springfield, Jefferson Airplane, Steve Winwood and Patti Smith. However these are all usurped by the haunting vocal talents of Laura Nyro.

9. "Come With Me"...'Godzilla'....monster track for a monster movie performed by Puff Daddy and Jimmy Page sampling Led Zeppelin's Kashmir

10. "Sounds Of Silence".....'The Graduate'......Paul Simon and Dustin Hoffman at their very best

But for every Yin there is a Yang so here are my Top 10 Worst Movie Songs

1. "My Heart Will Go On"....'Titanic'.....and like the movie the song did go on and on and on

2. "She's Like The Wind"....'Dirty Dancing'....average actor writes and sings really bad song in a really bad movie

3. "Danger Zone"...'Top Gun'...."Revvin' up your engine, listen to her howlin' roar, metal under tension, beggin' you to touch and go". Indeed, Kenny, indeed!

4. "Unchained Melody"...'Ghost'....how to take a fine song and ruin it for all time. I have never felt the same way about my potter's wheel again either.

5. "Everything I Do etc"...'Robin Hood etc'...see comments for number 1

6. "I Just Called To Say I Love You"...'Woman In Red'....I am a huge fan of Stevie Wonder but even I could not excuse this abomination

7. "I Believe I Can Fly"...'Space Jam'...Yes and Michael Jordan believes he can play Basketball with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam and Foghorn Leghorn. I remember taking my youngest son to the movies to see this. I will never get that 88 minutes back.

8. "Wind Beneath My Wings"...'Beaches'...No, I promise you I didn't cry watching this movie, I had a cold at the time. It goes on the list.

9. "Up Where We Belong"...'An Officer And A Gentleman'....How could you Joe?

10. "All For Love"...'The Three Musketeers'....who needs Athos, Portos and Aramis when you have Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting

Sometimes Hollywood is so stuck for ideas that they base a whole movie around a song. Here are my Top 10 Movies Named After Songs

1. My Girl (1991)...named after The Temptations song it does have a couple of redeeming points, namely Jamie Lee Curtis and the fact that Macaulay Culkin dies in it.

2. Stand By Me (1986)...named after the Ben E. King song and based on a Stephen King story

3. California Dreamin' (2007)...strange little film set in Romania during the war in Kosovo and named after the 1960s hit by The Mamas and the Papas

4. Pretty Woman (1990)....the movie that catapulted Julia Roberts to fame named after the song by the late, great Roy Orbison

5. Pretty In Pink (1986)...archetypal 80s movie named after the song by The Psychedelic Furs

6. When A Man Loves A Woman (1994)...disturbing movie starring Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan named after the wonderful Percy Sledge song

7. The Crying Game (1992)...named after the 60s hit by Dave Berry. The ultimate 'twist' movie and I don't mean it's about Chubby Checker

8. Sweet Home Alabama (2002)...Reese Witherspoon does what Reese Witherspoon does in a movie named after the 1974 Lynyrd Skynyrd song

9. Jersey Girl (2004)...Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler star in the movie named after the excellent Tom Waits song covered superbly by Springsteen

10. Romeo and Juliet (1996)...Baz Luhrmann's tale of star crossed lovers which I believe is named after the 1980 song by Dire Straits

I read about another couple currently in production. One is based on the true story of Rodney King and will be named after The Clash song 'I Fought The Law And The Law Won'. The other is a sequel to the movie 'The Prisoner Of Zenda' where our hero is incarcerated once again. This is to be named after the Elvis Presley hit 'Return To Zenda'

Right ! That's me! I am off to open a bottle of Rolling Rock and watch The Deer Hunter once again.
All together now "Ba da ba da ba da da ba..........."