"Accepted" Soundtrack Lyrics

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"Accepted (2006)" Soundtrack: Description.

Background & Setup

How this soundtrack hits

“Accepted” is that mid-2000s candy-coated rebellion where a kid who can sell anything (even a fake college) learns you can invent your own curriculum if you’re brave—or bored—enough. The movie’s backbone isn’t lectures, it’s songs: crunching indie anthems, a rogue’s gallery of alt-rock, and a cheeky score that never takes itself too seriously. Composer David Schommer stitches the chaos together, while needle-drops from Pixies, Modest Mouse, The Hives, Le Tigre, and more fling sparks like a Zippo at a dorm party.

The release we actually got

The official CD, put out in 2006, rolled in under the banner of Shout! Factory, a compact blast of 11–14 tracks depending on the listing you’re looking at. That slightly slippery tracklist (blame different territories and metadata quirks) still revolves around the same core: big-name alt and a few Schommer cues that wink at classic themes with a DIY grin.

Track Highlights

“U-Mass” — Pixies

There’s a reason this opener lurches like a bar-band bulldozer: it frames campus life as noisy, dumb, and completely alive. When the fake-real college starts breathing, “U-Mass” feels like the rallying cry for people who couldn’t pass a brochure test but still want in. Official tracklist confirms it right up top.

“Gravity Rides Everything” — Modest Mouse

Soft-edged and fatalistic, it’s the morning-after to the film’s late-night bravado. The song’s lazy carousel motion fits Bartleby’s slide from scam to purpose; you can almost see the paint drying on South Harmon’s stolen signage.

“The Hives — Declare Guerre Nucléaire”

Ninety-five seconds of flint and gasoline. It’s the soundtrack equivalent of Hoyt sneering from across the quad, except the song cheers for the misfits. A blink-and-you-miss-it jolt that lets the film punch above its weight.

“TKO” — Le Tigre

This one struts. It’s all elbows and glitter, the exact energy of S.H.I.T. announcing itself with zero permission slips. You hear it and suddenly the campus feels co-ed in ideas, not just enrollment. Track is on the official release; the attitude’s on every frame.

“Where Do I Begin” — The Chemical Brothers feat. Beth Orton

The film pauses here—well, as much as “Accepted” ever pauses. Orton’s voice turns the hustle into a confession: it’s fun to make a fake school; it’s harder to grow up. Having this on the CD gives the compilation a pulse, not just a playlist.

“Holiday” — Weezer

Ah yes, the sonic thesis: blow off the rules, start a band, repaint the Dean’s parking spot while you’re at it. As a late cut on certain listings, it lands like end-credits sunscreen.

Schommer’s cues: “Sherman’s Way,” “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” & that cheeky “Eleanor Rigby”

The score isn’t ornamental; it’s the glue keeping the prank from collapsing. “Sherman’s Way” tag-teames nerd-panic and loyalty. The re-imagined “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” is a sly nod to campus canon, and “Eleanor Rigby” is played like a wink—lonely people, sure, but also: lonely weirdos building a home. All present on the disc variants.

Production Stories

Composer at the helm

David Schommer wrote the original score, and his fingerprints are everywhere the jokes need a heartbeat. It’s a debut feature for director Steve Pink, and the choice of a composer who plays comfortably with genre pastiche helps the comedy swing instead of sag.

Label, packaging, tiny mysteries

The soundtrack landed via Shout! Factory in August 2006, right alongside release week buzz. Depending on which distributor listing you peek at, the metadata credits wobble—par for mid-2000s cataloging—but the songs are intact where it counts.

Plot & Character Ties

Quick sketch of the movie, because context matters

Bartleby Gaines—rejection-letter royalty—builds the South Harmon Institute of Technology to fool his parents, then watches it become a magnet for every kid the system shrugged off. Justin Long leads; Blake Lively, Jonah Hill, Lewis Black, and Anthony Heald round it out. The more the con breathes, the more the music becomes the school’s real curriculum: get loud, get weird, get seen.

Cast roll call

• Justin Long — Bartleby “B” Gaines
• Jonah Hill — Sherman Schrader III
• Blake Lively — Monica Moreland
• Lewis Black — Dr. Ben Lewis
• Anthony Heald — Dean Richard Van Horne
• Columbus Short — Darryl “Hands” Holloway
• Maria Thayer — Rory Thayer
• Travis Van Winkle — Hoyt Ambrose
• Diora Baird — Kiki
• Robin Lord Taylor — Abernathy
• Joe Hursley — Maurice (his real band, The Ringers, pops up on the OST—nice touch)

Scene-song chemistry

• Campus chaos montages eat Pixies and Modest Mouse riffs for breakfast; the guitar grit keeps the scam feeling almost noble.
• Whenever scheming gives way to feeling—Bartleby actually caring about the students—those Chemical Brothers textures float in like a conscience with headphones.
• The Hives handle the fraternity crash-ups, all elbows and ego; it’s less hero music, more “get out of my way.”
• Schommer’s “Sherman’s Way” is basically the soundtrack to swallowing pride and doing the right thing. Or trying, badly, then trying again.

Musical Styles & Themes

Indie rock as student body

The album behaves like the school it scores: open enrollment. Alt-rock, electro downtempo, scrappy score cues—there’s no admissions essay, just vibes. If the movie argues you should design your own major, the soundtrack backs it by letting punkish blasts sit next to beat-driven introspection without apologizing for the playlist chaos. That friction is the point.

Recurring motifs

• Defiance: clipped, fast tracks—The Hives, Le Tigre—translate “no” into motion.
• Found family: warmer, looping textures (Beth Orton’s vocal, Schommer’s lighter cues) suggest a campus built from permission rather than fear.
• Meta-nostalgia: “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” sneaks in as a smirking handshake with the canon of school movies, but filtered through a 2006 lens—cover as commentary.

Reviews & Social Proof

How the film landed at the time

It opened August 18, 2006, punching into the U.S. top five with just over $10 million on week one, finishing at about $38.5 million worldwide. Critics? Mixed—call it a shoulder-shrug with a grin—while audiences graded it A- minus in exit polls. Those numbers square with how the movie feels in memory: not a prestige piece, more a comfort watch that out-kicks its coverage thanks to the music.

Pull-quotes that stuck to the wall

“More than enough going to the positive.”Sara Michelle Fetters

“Plays like ‘Animal House’ extra-lite… decent indecent fun.”Ty Burr

“Even the characters are saying at the beginning, ‘This is crazy.’”Richard Roeper

Tech Specs & Credits

• Film release: August 18, 2006
• Director: Steve Pink
• Score: David Schommer
• Soundtrack label (CD): Shout! Factory
• Runtime: 92–93 minutes (theatrical listings vary)
• Box Office (opening): ~$10.0M (U.S.)
• Worldwide total: ~$38.5M
• Notable tracks on official CD: Pixies “U-Mass,” Modest Mouse “Gravity Rides Everything,” The Hives “Declare Guerre Nucléaire,” Le Tigre “TKO,” Chemical Brothers feat. Beth Orton “Where Do I Begin,” Weezer “Holiday,” plus Schommer cues.

Why it still plays

Short version

Because it sounds like risk. The selections are messy in a human way—less curated-playlist perfection, more thumb-smashed mixtape—and that’s exactly what the story argues for. If you grew up in the era, these songs smell like late-summer asphalt; if you didn’t, they make a convincing case for skipping class to start something.

FAQ

Who composed the original score for “Accepted”?

David Schommer handled the score, with several cues on the commercial release.

What label released the 2006 soundtrack CD?

Shout! Factory issued the commercial CD in August 2006.

Is “U-Mass” by Pixies actually on the album?

Yes, it’s the opener on the official tracklist.

Did the movie do well at the box office?

Respectably. It debuted in the U.S. top five with around $10 million and finished near $38.5 million worldwide.

Are there alternate or missing songs not on the CD?

As with many 2000s soundtracks, some cues pop up in the film but not on every retail listing; the core set—Pixies, Modest Mouse, The Hives, Le Tigre, Chemical Brothers/Orton, Weezer, Schommer—anchors all versions.

Is the film based on a true story?

No. It’s an original comedy concept, the feature directorial debut of Steve Pink.

September, 18th 2025

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