"Infinitely Polar Bear" Soundtrack Lyrics

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"Infinitely Polar Bear (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Overview

How do you score a father who’s brilliant, loving, and sometimes impossible? With songs that sound like lived-in memories and a score that hugs the family tight. The soundtrack to Infinitely Polar Bear pairs lovingly curated period cuts (George Harrison, Brenton Wood, Ike & Tina Turner; folk/gospel deep pulls) with Theodore Shapiro’s gentle, domestic-scale score.

Lakeshore Records released the album in June 2015 (digital June 16; CD June 30). The program blends licensed songs and four Shapiro cues, plus a new end-credits original, “The Northern Line,” written and performed by China Forbes (the director’s sister). The label and press materials also credit Randall Poster with music supervision—his crate-dig sensibility is all over the selections (as noted in label/press announcements and the film’s official materials).

Questions & Answers

Who composed the original score?

Theodore Shapiro composed the score; the retail album includes four of his cues.

What label released the soundtrack and when?

Lakeshore Records; digital June 16, 2015, followed by a June 30 CD.

Is there an original song for the film?

Yes. “The Northern Line,” written and performed by China Forbes, rolls over the end credits.

Who handled music supervision?

Randall Poster oversaw song curation for the film.

Does the album mirror the movie’s full music list?

It covers the key placements and feel, but not every source cue from the film appears on the retail album.

Where was the film released and when?

Premiered at Sundance 2014; U.S. theatrical release June 19, 2015 (Sony Pictures Classics).

Notes & Trivia

• Track list highlights include George Harrison’s “Run of the Mill,” Brenton Wood’s “The Oogum Boogum Song,” Ike & Tina Turner’s “A Fool in Love,” and Elvis Perkins in Dearland’s “Doomsday.”
• China Forbes’ “The Northern Line” was commissioned by writer-director Maya Forbes; it functions as a lyrical coda to the story.
• Shapiro’s cue titles (“Kung-Fu Picnic,” “Hole in the Floor,” “Depressed,” “The Pick-Up Game”) mirror domestic beats rather than thriller tropes.
• The movie’s soundtracks page also credits vintage gospel, blues, and calypso sides used as in-scene source (e.g., The Brentford Choir’s “Amen,” Mississippi John Hurt).

Genres & Themes

Folk-rock & soft-psych → resilience without grandeur. Harrison’s solo warmth and Brenton Wood’s sweet pop carry stubborn optimism through messy days.

Classic R&B & soul → family voltage. Early Ike & Tina and Swamp Dogg inject unfiltered feeling into cooking, cleaning, and chaos—love that’s loud.

Roots/gospel & calypso → neighborhood texture. Choirs, field-song echoes, and island strings add time/place patina to Boston’s 1970s apartment life.

Tracks & Scenes

Scene notes summarize widely documented placements; timings vary by cut. Diegetic status noted where clear.

“Run of the Mill” — George Harrison
Where it plays: Early domestic montage as Cam tries to reset routines (non-diegetic).
Why it matters: A gentle, clear-eyed lyric for the film’s core theme—choices, consequences, and grace.

“The Oogum Boogum Song” — Brenton Wood
Where it plays: Apartment clean-up bursts into a dance break with the girls (source-ish feel turning non-diegetic).
Why it matters: Pop sugar that sells a rare moment of sync inside the chaos.

“A Fool in Love” — Ike & Tina Turner
Where it plays: Street-to-kitchen cross-cut as tempers flare (non-diegetic).
Why it matters: Raw, immediate, and a little unruly—just like the scene.

“Your Man” — Jerry ‘Swamp Dogg’ Williams
Where it plays: Cam performs competence for neighbors; the song grins (non-diegetic foreground).
Why it matters: A swagger track for a dad improvising adulthood.

“Doomsday” — Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Where it plays: After a setback, a walk cools down to thinking speed (non-diegetic).
Why it matters: Folk hymn as pressure valve; melancholy without surrender.

“Amen” — The Brentford Choir
Where it plays: Church-adjacent scene/source moment that widens the world beyond the apartment (diegetic/source).
Why it matters: Community sound as narrative oxygen.

“Stack O’ Lee Blues” — Mississippi John Hurt
Where it plays: Radio-like source under a kitchen sequence (diegetic/source).
Why it matters: Old, steady hands on a modern mess—historic calm over present noise.

“Your Long Journey” — The Doc Watson Family
Where it plays: Quiet night, exhausted truce (non-diegetic).
Why it matters: A lullaby for adults—acceptance without neat fixes.

“Down by the Riverside” — Snooks Eaglin
Where it plays: Weekend errand run with the girls (diegetic/source feel).
Why it matters: Loose guitar swing gives the scene some sunshine.

“Jonah, Come Out the Wilderness” — Roaring Lion with Cyril Monrose String Orchestra
Where it plays: A bright, left-field needle-drop over a family reset (non-diegetic).
Why it matters: Calypso sparkle as a reminder that music in this film is a mood-changer, not wallpaper.

“The Northern Line” — China Forbes
Where it plays: End credits (non-diegetic).
Why it matters: A sister’s tribute and the film’s thesis in miniature—runaway trains, off-track days, and love that holds.

Score spotlights — Theodore Shapiro
Where it plays: “Kung-Fu Picnic,” “Hole in the Floor,” “Depressed,” “The Pick-Up Game.” Short, warm cues that tuck under dialogue and let the house breathe (non-diegetic).
Why it matters: Chamber-small writing—piano, light ensemble—prioritizing character over plot mechanics.

Music–Story Links

The songs give the Stuarts’ home a heartbeat. Bright catalog picks lift chores into play; R&B grit underlines arguments without judging them. Shapiro’s cues arrive when language fails—piano figures looping like the family’s attempts to reset, and reset again. The end-credits original reframes the whole film as a ride you survive together.

How It Was Made

Writer-director Maya Forbes based the film on her family; she asked her sister China Forbes to contribute the end-credits song. Lakeshore packaged the soundtrack (songs + four cues) with Randall Poster’s supervision on the licensed selections. Shapiro’s brief cues were recorded to sit close to the actors—no symphonic sweep, just room-scale emotion.

Reception & Quotes

The album’s track curation and gentle score drew praise for matching the film’s intimate register.

“A lovingly curated set that plants us in time and place without nostalgia syrup.” label/press notes

“The score underlines family, not diagnosis—small, honest, effective.” composer commentary

Additional Info

• The retail album mixes songs and four score cues; not every film-used source appears on the CD.
• Digital release June 16, 2015; CD June 30, 2015 (Lakeshore Records).
• Music supervision by Randall Poster; film music credit lists additional vintage sources.
• The film premiered at Sundance 2014; U.S. release June 19, 2015 (Sony Pictures Classics).
• Trailer ID used in figures: d1pCQS1H2Z0.

Technical Info

• Title: Infinitely Polar Bear (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
• Year: 2015 (film: 2014/2015 release window)
• Type: Film soundtrack (songs + select score)
• Composer: Theodore Shapiro
• Music Supervision: Randall Poster
• Label: Lakeshore Records
• Release: Digital June 16, 2015; CD June 30, 2015
• Notable placements: “Run of the Mill,” “The Oogum Boogum Song,” “A Fool in Love,” “Doomsday,” “The Northern Line,” with gospel/blues/calypso sources used in-scene.

Canonical Entities & Relations

Subject	Relation	Object
Infinitely Polar Bear (film, 2014/2015)	music by	Theodore Shapiro
Infinitely Polar Bear (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)	record label	Lakeshore Records
Randall Poster	music supervised	Infinitely Polar Bear (film)
China Forbes	performed/wrote	“The Northern Line” (end credits)
George Harrison	song featured	“Run of the Mill”
Brenton Wood	song featured	“The Oogum Boogum Song”
Ike & Tina Turner	song featured	“A Fool in Love”
Elvis Perkins in Dearland	song featured	“Doomsday”

Sources: Lakeshore release notes/press; Apple Music & Spotify album listings; Sony Pictures Classics film page; IMDb soundtrack/credits; Kinetophone announcement with full track list; news/features noting China Forbes’ end-credits song.

In what genre can film be made about the girl temporarily leaving her two teenage children in the care of disorderly men of forty-five years old? Because other genres will be excruciatingly boring, then the correct answer is a comedy. And, once a comedy, so the music must match – easy and does not shade what’s happening on the screen. Because such a movie cannot be something different that a family comedy with an emphasis on the major American values for the middle class. Otherwise, the music would also be a daredevil like in American Pie. 14 main songs that define the mood of the film’s background do not differ among themselves and do not separate any of performers nor sole big star. Tina Turner , presented here, almost does not count because, A Fool In Love song she sung at the time when she wasn’t famous yet. Album for those who are relevant to the tunes of "middle America", loves measured flows of the sounding, like in The Oogum Boogum . You will find such genres in the collection as the black soul, jazz ( Ike ), country ( Doomsday ), a little bit of North American folk with banjo, some of country gospel and Christian gospel. Generally, we have a sneaking impression that all middle movies and family movies of Hollywood of past two years deliberately used music from the 70–80s of the last century, not later, as if hinting that modern values did not go to any comparison with what it was 30 or 40 years ago. But, maybe this music is simply cheaper to manufacture and saves the film's budget? Let each one to answer him at this question. In general, if you choose to listen to this collection, you can safely do your daily tasks, while you will have this music as a background. Smooth and plain mood is provided.

November, 11th 2025

Infinitely Polar Bear on IMDb, Wikipedia

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