"Easy Virtue" Soundtrack Lyrics

"Easy Virtue (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" Soundtrack Description

Overview

A 1930s country house comedy scored with Coward and Porter should feel proper. So why do we hear “Car Wash” and “Sex Bomb” — in 1920s dance-band drag — gliding through the ballroom? That deliberate clash is the point of Easy Virtue: past and present grinding against each other, and the music rubbing that friction until it sparks.

Producer–composer Marius de Vries builds a soundtrack where gramophone patina blooms into modern stereo, where Noël Coward standards sit beside cheeky period-covers of late-20th-century hits. Cast members sing (Jessica Biel, Ben Barnes, Colin Firth), the house orchestra swings, and the cues constantly comment on class, desire, and hypocrisy. (Release details: Apple Music. Credits background: Sony Pictures Classics press kit.)

Questions & Answers

Is there an official soundtrack album?

Yes. Easy Virtue (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) was released in 2008 on Decca; The Easy Virtue Orchestra is credited throughout.

Who composed the original score and who supervised the music?

Marius de Vries composed/produced; music supervision credited to Tris Penna and Michelle de Vries.

Do cast members sing on the album?

Yes. Jessica Biel (“Mad About the Boy”), Ben Barnes (“A Room with a View”), and—on the end-title cover—Biel, Barnes, and Colin Firth join Andy Caine.

What’s the tango in the big dance scene?

An Argentine-flavored original cue often identified as “Easy Virtue Tango,” used for Larita and Jim’s show-stopping floor dance at the house party.

Which modern songs were reimagined in 1920s style?

Notably “Car Wash,” “Sex Bomb,” and a closing-credits take on “When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going.”

Does “Mad About the Boy” appear over credits?

Yes — Biel’s rendition is used in the film’s credits suite, alongside the ensemble end-title number.

Notes & Trivia

• Jessica Biel’s “Mad About the Boy” was cleared after checking Noël Coward’s estate guidance about male recordings; a woman had to sing it in this context. (Interview source: Vulture.)
• The end credits jump to a 1920s faux-jazz cover of Billy Ocean’s “When the Going Gets Tough…,” sung by Biel, Barnes, Firth, and Andy Caine.
• “Sex Bomb” and “Car Wash” are sly anachronisms — arranged to sound like 20s/30s ballroom numbers to mirror the story’s culture clash.
• Several cues begin as if from a gramophone in-scene, then swell into full 5.1 mix — a conscious editorial choice.
• The Easy Virtue Orchestra was assembled specifically for the film session dates.

Genres & Themes

Cabaret & salon jazz — Coward/Porter repertoire underlines brittle wit and coded barbs at the dinner table; surface polish against inner mess.

Dance-band swing & tango — foxtrots and a sultry tango push the party scenes from etiquette to provocation, charting alliances as partners change.

Period-styled pop covers — “Car Wash,” “Sex Bomb,” and “When the Going Gets Tough…” become jazz-age pastiche: nostalgia meets modern appetite, just like Larita crashing into the Whittakers’ rituals.

Tracks & Scenes

"Mad About the Boy" — Jessica Biel
Scene: Heard in the film’s credits suite; Biel’s clear-eyed delivery caps Larita’s arc with irony and poise. Non-diegetic; credits context.
Why it matters: A Coward torch song reframed by the film’s American heroine — desire voiced on her terms.

"When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" — Ensemble (Biel, Barnes, Firth, Andy Caine)
Scene: End-title number; a knowingly anachronistic 1920s-style cover over the closing credits. Non-diegetic; full ensemble.
Why it matters: A wink at survival — everyone’s been bloodied by the social games, but the rhythm goes on.

"Easy Virtue Tango" — The Easy Virtue Orchestra
Scene: Larita and Jim (Colin Firth) seize the floor when John refuses to dance at the house party late in the film; diegetic band leading to spotlight moment.
Why it matters: Their tango is defiance in motion — a public realignment of loyalties that humiliates the old order and frees Larita.

"Car Wash" — The Easy Virtue Orchestra (period arrangement)
Scene: Used as cheeky source/transition music around household bustle and social prep; the lyric idea of work and machinery undercuts aristocratic languor. Semi-diegetic feel (needle-drop that “opens up”).
Why it matters: Industrial modernity hums beneath the estate’s decline; the song choice makes that subtext audible.

"Sex Bomb" — The Easy Virtue Orchestra (period arrangement)
Scene: Played over a racy driving beat with engine revs and raised eyebrows — a car-borne flourish that matches Larita’s provocations. Starts as source, swells to mix.
Why it matters: Desire, speed, and scandal — the track telegraphs why this American bride detonates the drawing room.

"A Room with a View" — Ben Barnes with The Easy Virtue Orchestra
Scene: A tender croon placed to romanticize John’s ideals early on; parlor atmosphere, diegetic performance feel.
Why it matters: His boyish fantasy of love is musicalized — and later punctured by reality.

"You Do Something to Me" — The Easy Virtue Orchestra (feat. Sean Palmer)
Scene: Slow-dance ambiance at a gathering; polite rhythms masking sharp glances. Diegetic band.
Why it matters: Porter’s sophistication underscores how attraction in this world travels as much by subtext as by touch.

"Mad Dogs and Englishmen" — The Easy Virtue Orchestra (feat. Andy Caine)
Scene: Lightly satiric cue threaded through lawn-party sequences.
Why it matters: Coward’s colonial jibe mirrors the family’s proud obliviousness — smiling through rot.

Music–Story Links

Larita’s sound is modern: the sly pastiche numbers mark her as change embodied — a needle dropping on old grooves with new content. When John retreats, music shifts back to repertory comforts; when Jim steps forward, the tango lets scandal breathe as style. Coward’s songs sharpen dialogue beats (compliments that cut), while the end-title cover answers the film’s thesis: when the going gets tough, the survivors reinvent the tune.

How It Was Made

Stephan Elliott and Marius de Vries chose a hybrid path: period repertoire, cast vocals, and modern songs re-recorded as vintage dance-band pieces. They recorded cues to feel like they start on an on-screen gramophone before expanding into full surround — a playful editorial conceit. The Easy Virtue Orchestra was assembled for the sessions; supervision is credited to Tris Penna and Michelle de Vries. (Production note and credits: Sony Pictures Classics press kit.)

Reception & Quotes

Reaction split. Many praised the performances and musical verve; some critics found the anachronisms “distracting,” others thought they fit the satire. (Context: Wikipedia’s reception digest; regional reviews.)

“We are going to record a handful of very contemporary tracks, and re-record them as period.” Stephan Elliott, press kit

“I defy anybody to leave… without their feet tapping.” Production notes, press kit

“‘Car Wash’ hits a peculiar and decidedly un-Jazz-Age note.” The Austin Chronicle

Additional Info

• Album title appears as both Easy Virtue (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) and Easy Virtue – Music From the Film on services (Decca/Universal listings).
• Colin Firth’s vocal cameo arrives on the end-title cover alongside Biel and Barnes.
• De Vries’s original cues (“Easy Virtue Tango,” “In the Library,” interstitials) stitch dialogue into dance-floor pacing.
• Porter and Coward catalog choices avoid full duplication of any one stage show; selections function as character commentary.
• Availability: widely on major DSPs; original CD pressings circulate via Decca/Universal catalog channels.

Technical Info

• Title: Easy Virtue (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
• Year: 2008 (UK release; US rollout 2009 for the film)
• Type: Film soundtrack (songs + score)
• Composer/Producer: Marius de Vries
• Music Supervision: Tris Penna; Michelle de Vries
• Primary Performers: The Easy Virtue Orchestra; vocals by Jessica Biel, Ben Barnes; end-title ensemble incl. Colin Firth & Andy Caine
• Label/Album status: Decca Music Group Limited; retail/digital release (approx. 18 tracks)
• Notable placements: “Easy Virtue Tango” (house-party dance); “Mad About the Boy” (credits suite); “When the Going Gets Tough…” (closing credits); “Car Wash” & “Sex Bomb” (period covers used within party/drive sequences)
• Release context: Film premiered 2008; soundtrack issued to coincide with UK release window

Canonical Entities & Relations

Sources: Sony Pictures Classics press kit; Apple Music; Discogs; Wikipedia; Vulture (New York Magazine); The Austin Chronicle; Ringostrack.

November, 09th 2025