"Demolition" Soundtrack Lyrics

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"Demolition (Music From The Motion Picture)" Soundtrack Description

Overview

How do you score a man who can’t feel his grief yet? Demolition (2016) answers with needle-drops that act like letters in the mail—personal, specific, sometimes awkwardly honest. Rather than a traditional wall-to-wall score, the soundtrack threads classic rock (Heart, Free), 60s/70s chanson and psych (Aznavour, The Chocolate Watchband), and indie folk (Sufjan Stevens, M. Ward, My Morning Jacket) through scenes of literal and emotional teardown.

The selections mirror Davis’s strange calm after his wife’s death: a Chopin nocturne opens with composed stillness; later, “Crazy on You” detonates the trailer, while Lou Doillon’s “Where To Start” and Sufjan’s “To Be Alone With You” soften human connection back into the story. The album arrived alongside the film’s U.S. release, packaged by ABKCO as a Various Artists compilation. (Trusted source: ABKCO.)

Questions & Answers

Is there an official soundtrack album?

Yes. Demolition (Music From The Motion Picture) was released in April 2016 as a compilation (ABKCO); it’s on major streaming services.

Who supervised the music?

Susan Jacobs served as music supervisor, continuing Jean-Marc Vallée’s source-music-first philosophy.

Does the film use original score?

Mostly source songs and licensed cues; a few brief instrumental pieces and classical recordings appear, but there’s no traditional composer-led score album.

What song plays in the official trailer?

Heart’s “Crazy on You.”

What opens the film?

Chopin’s “Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2” in the Arthur Rubinstein performance.

What’s the end-credits song?

“Warmest Regards” by Half Moon Run.

Which scene uses Sufjan Stevens?

“To Be Alone With You” underscores an intimate massage/cuddle interlude between Davis and Julia in memory/flash.

Notes & Trivia

• ABKCO packaged the album with classics (Heart, Free, Eric Burdon & The Animals) alongside indie staples (My Morning Jacket, Sufjan Stevens, M. Ward). (Trusted source: ABKCO.)
• Jean-Marc Vallée famously constructs character playlists and favors diegetic/source music over commissioned scores.
• Music supervisor Susan Jacobs—later of Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects—helped secure key needle-drops.
• “Crazy on You” is trailer-featured and appears in the film’s music mix; its guitar burst mirrors Davis’s impulsive spirals.
• Half Moon Run’s “Warmest Regards” closes the film over the end credits.

Genres & Themes

Indie folk/alt (Sufjan, M. Ward, My Morning Jacket) = inner monologue; these tracks feel handwritten, like Davis’s letters to the vending-machine company.

Classic rock & proto-metal (Heart, Free) = release valves; when the plot needs catharsis or momentum, guitars do the heavy lifting.

Chanson & retro psych (Charles Aznavour, The Chocolate Watchband) = memory and melancholy; they tint flashbacks and odd calm with a vintage glaze.

Tracks & Scenes

“Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9 No. 2” — Frédéric Chopin (Arthur Rubinstein)
Where it plays: Opening moments, setting a poised, almost anesthetized calm.
Why it matters: Elegant order before the crash—grief arrives to a room that still looks tidy.

“Crazy on You” — Heart
Where it plays: Featured in the official trailer and used within the film’s rock palette.
Why it matters: A controlled detonation; its acoustic-to-electric surge mirrors Davis’s switch-flips from composure to chaos.

“To Be Alone With You” — Sufjan Stevens
Where it plays: Julia gives Davis a massage and cuddles with him (memory/intimate beat).
Why it matters: Whisper-close vocals make the past feel reachable…and cruelly out of reach.

“Touch Me I’m Going to Scream, Pt. 2” — My Morning Jacket
Where it plays: Used as a drifting, motorik pulse during Davis’s late-night resets.
Why it matters: Hypnotic repetition matches dissociation; you can move and still feel stuck.

“Where To Start” — Lou Doillon
Where it plays: Quiet regrouping after emotional misfires; Davis edges back toward connection.
Why it matters: Title equals thesis—he can’t rebuild until he figures out step one.

“When I Was Young” — Eric Burdon & The Animals
Where it plays: Reflective montage that frames lost time and numb present.
Why it matters: A lyric about burned innocence underlines Davis’s late awakening.

“It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” — The Chocolate Watchband
Where it plays: Transitional scenes where Davis commits to letting go.
Why it matters: A jangly, era-skewed cover that says goodbye without ceremony.

“Mr. Big (Live at Sunderland, 1970)” — Free
Where it plays: Garage release; Davis and a companion dance/goof amidst tools and debris.
Why it matters: Swagger becomes therapy—loud amps, lighter heart.

“B Movie” — Gil Scott-Heron
Where it plays: Needle-drop commentary beat; Davis’s letters and rants hit a cynical groove.
Why it matters: Spoken-word bite reframes his detachment as a diagnosis.

“La Bohème” — Charles Aznavour
Where it plays: Romanticized memory sequence; snapshots of life before the fracture.
Why it matters: Rose-tinted nostalgia, then the color drains.

“Watch the Show” — M. Ward
Where it plays: Media/TV intercuts and interior drift.
Why it matters: The title nudges Davis’s spectator problem—he watches his life instead of living it.

“Warmest Regards” — Half Moon Run
Where it plays: End credits.
Why it matters: A gentle exhale; not “fixed,” but finally feeling.

Scene placements cross-checked against publicly available song/scene indices and the film’s soundtrack listings. (Trusted sources: IMDb Soundtracks; MoviesOST.)

Music–Story Links

Vallée’s trick is simple: make characters hear what we hear. When Davis writes confessional letters, intimate songs (Sufjan, Doillon) turn the camera inward. When he swings a sledgehammer or dances in a wrecked garage, classic rock takes the wheel and lets his body speak what his mouth won’t. Even the trailer’s “Crazy on You” telegraphs the film’s rhythm: acoustic introspection detonating into electric release.

How It Was Made

Supervision & approach. Music supervisor Susan Jacobs partnered with Jean-Marc Vallée, who prefers building playlists and weaving source music into scenes rather than commissioning a traditional score. The few classical/library cues (Chopin; chamber recordings) act like found objects instead of themes.

Album assembly. ABKCO curated the retail release, balancing legacy artists (Heart, Free, Eric Burdon & The Animals) with contemporary indie voices (My Morning Jacket, Sufjan Stevens, M. Ward). The sequencing mirrors the film’s arc from numb stasis to messy motion.

Reception & Quotes

Coverage highlighted the crate-digger taste and the way songs carry character beats; outlets flagged the mix of “classics with MMJ, M. Ward and Sufjan.”

“I don’t use original music… only source music.” — Jean-Marc Vallée, interview

“A pretty great soundtrack… My Morning Jacket, M. Ward, Sufjan Stevens… plus Heart and Free.” — IndieWire

“Chopin to Heart to Half Moon Run—unexpected, but it clicks.” — Album/retail notes

Additional Info

• The Apple Music/Spotify edition runs 15 tracks; some film-used cues (e.g., Chopin, Half Moon Run) sit outside the retail set or on alternate listings.
• “Crazy on You” is a trailer signature and appears in several regional promos.
• Lou Doillon’s “Where To Start” and Aznavour’s “La Bohème” do heavy lifting for memory textures.
• Gil Scott-Heron’s “B Movie” is credited onscreen among source tracks.
• The film opened TIFF 2015; the U.S. theatrical release landed April 8, 2016, with the soundtrack promoted in step. (Trusted source: Wikipedia.)

Technical Info

• Title: Demolition (Music From The Motion Picture)
• Year: 2016 (film released U.S. April 8, 2016)
• Type: Movie soundtrack (Various Artists compilation; primarily source music)
• Music supervision: Susan Jacobs
• Key featured artists: Heart; Free; Eric Burdon & The Animals; Sufjan Stevens; My Morning Jacket; M. Ward; Lou Doillon; Charles Aznavour; The Chocolate Watchband; Half Moon Run; Gil Scott-Heron
• Label: ABKCO Music & Records (retail compilation)
• Availability: Streaming on Apple Music and Spotify; retail details listed by ABKCO/Discogs
• Notable placements: Opening (Chopin Nocturne); Trailer (“Crazy on You”); Garage dance (“Mr. Big”); Intimate memory (“To Be Alone With You”); End credits (“Warmest Regards”)

Canonical Entities & Relations

Entity	Relation	Entity
Demolition (2016, Movie)	features	Demolition (Music From The Motion Picture) (Album)
ABKCO Music & Records	released	Demolition (Music From The Motion Picture)
Susan Jacobs	music supervisor for	Demolition (film)
Heart — “Crazy on You”	featured in	Official trailer / film
Sufjan Stevens — “To Be Alone With You”	underscores	Intimate memory scene
Free — “Mr. Big (Live 1970)”	plays during	Garage dance/release
Half Moon Run — “Warmest Regards”	plays over	End credits
Frédéric Chopin / Arthur Rubinstein	heard in	Opening sequence

Sources: ABKCO; IMDb Soundtracks; MoviesOST; Apple Music; Spotify; Wikipedia (film release context).

Very interesting way of seeing things. The opinion that due to loss of a close person you can be sad is very precarious. Melancholy is only one of the methods that our society can offer you. But you may choose completely different one. As the hero of this film. He has chosen the complete physical destruction of everything that reminded him of his past. Beginning from the microwave, ending with his house. That is why this film named so. In doing so, he is helped by a kid – the son of his new friend, who is depicted by Naomi Watts. Box office of this film is more than modest at the date of writing this review (just over USD 1 million), but in the wide running only a couple days have passed, so anything is possible. The main character has decided to act irrationally – he does not sell things and the house in which a sad past lives, but destroys them, decomposing them on details, parting them on spares or even breaks with a hammer. A film about grief and about its overcoming, worthy of festivals (in fact, it was quickly shoot for the festival in Toronto, many months before its official premiere). Musical accompaniment is the same unexpected, like the film. Here we may find rock (Mr. Big) and Indie (a song by My Morning Jacket or The Chocolate Watchband). Unexpectedly we can even hear the classics of French showbiz Charles Aznavour, who performed uplifting La Bohème, which is a heritage of Mankind. It has longing, hope, and love, as this film does. On the other hand, To Be Alone With You is a piece with pretty depressing lyrics. Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays main hero, became famous from film Brokeback Mountain, in which he starred with prematurely departed from us Heath Ledger. Most likely, this film will not repeat the success of the mentioned, but lyrics of its songs are inspiring and soothing.

November, 04th 2025

Find more about "Demolition" movie on IMDb and Wikipedia

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