The 40 Best Movie Songs, From "Ghostbusters" to "Wind Beneath My Wings"

Whether you're watching adramaor a浪漫喜剧, music always finds a way to elevate the movie-watching experience. If you're anything like us, there are just some songs that we can instantly associate with a film or scene. For example, play “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel and we instantly rememberSay Anything. And the minute we hear the opening to “Eye of the Tiger,” we're already throwing punches, Rocky-style. Here are 40 of the best movie songs that will instantly take you back to the classic films that made them famous.

Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton’s rendition of this original girl power anthem is everything.

We're not surprisedit won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1986. Plus, honorable mention goes to Kenny Loggins’s "Danger Zone" and the glistening display of testosterone that is the Maverick and Goose versus Iceman and Slider volleyball game scene.

Nobody puts Baby in the corner.

A heartwarming ballad that jump-started the friendship between Woody and Buzz (and a childhood memory we'll always remember).

Long before Kim Cattrall was Samantha inSex and the City, she was Andrew McCarthy’s fantasy woman.

This 1995 gem + Michelle Pfeiffer = a classic movie combo.

Pull. The. Cord.

When John Travolta and his gyrating hips arrive, you know the party has officially begun.

This 2002 film is not complete without the award-winning rap that started it all.

Get ready to unleash your inner princess and belt out the song just like Idina Menzel. (And we apologize in advance if you have kids who won't stop playing this classic on repeat.)

We’ll never look at a potter's wheel the same way again.

With a story so inspirational, it deserves a powerful song to match.

We'll gladly listen to this song over and over again if it means we'll get John Cusack outside our window blasting the song on his boombox.

The award-winning song fits perfectly with Audrey Hepburn's vocals and impressive guitar playing.

We’d like to keep our memories of this classic, please. Now, where do we sign up to be a part of the secret organization?

With Kendrick Lamar producing the movie's soundtrack, it was bound for greatness.

Honestly, we can't sing this song without thinking of this funny scene. (FYI, we're definitely reenacting this choreography at our next dinner party.)

A tribute to the late Paul Walker, this track really hits you in the feels.

A rom-com starring Gabrielle Union? A soundtrack we can jam to even when the movie is over? Sign us up.

Spike Lee's 1989 film found a moving theme song in this rap track.

Don't sing along. We dare you.

When Simon & Garfunkel are in charge of the whole soundtrack, it's pretty impossible to go wrong.

Not only was this the song of 2005, it also won Best Original Song at the Academy Awards.

Car rides with friends got ten times cooler after this '92 classic scene.

The powerhouse of En Vogue fits perfectly with the all-star cast of Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise.

A haunting ballad that describes the relationship of Daisy and Gatsby to a T.