"Sausage Party" Soundtrack Lyrics
Cartoon • 2016
Track Listing
Sausage Party Cast
Meat Loaf
Wham
Eric Carmen
Spandau Ballet
JR JR
The Isley Brothers
Three Dog Night
“Sausage Party (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes
Overview
How devout can a grocery-store musical number be before it turns filthy? The answer arrives in Sausage Party (2016) with an opening hymn that’s equal parts Disney send-up and supermarket theology. The soundtrack is a deliberate collision: original songs and score written in the grand tradition, smashed against pop needle-drops that weaponize nostalgia. The arc is clear — arrival → revelation → revolt → ecstasy — and the music drives every swerve.
Composer–songwriters Alan Menken and Christopher Lennertz provide the sacred/profane backbone: choral pomp, sweeping strings, Broadway modulation — then sudden pivots into crunchy action cues. Around that, the compilation threads radio titans (Wham!, The Isley Brothers, Three Dog Night, Meat Loaf) so the film can flip from reverent to ridiculous in a cut.
Distinctive flavor: the “animated musical” toolkit played at R-rated volume. The album’s showpiece, “The Great Beyond,” sells sincere belief with heavenly harmony — only to be undercut by lyrics too rude for aisle six. According to label and album notes, the soundtrack dropped a week before the U.S. release, bundling the Menken/Lennertz cues with crowd-pleasing catalog tracks.
Genres & themes by phase. Parody-choral & Broadway swell — faith and fatalism. Orchestral chase music — panic and plot. 80s/90s pop-soul — irony and character punchlines. Gospel-funk and dad-rock — crowd energy, end-credits catharsis.
How It Was Made
Song & score. “The Great Beyond” (music by Menken; lyrics by Glenn Slater with Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter, and Ariel Shaffir) functions as a bona fide opening number — key-change and all. Lennertz led the score sessions in London, with the orchestra recorded at Abbey Road for extra shine. The cue stack toggles between Menken’s grand, mock-pious gestures and Lennertz’s kinetic, percussive action writing — a tag-team approach that lets the comedy breathe.
Music supervision. The film leans on needle-drops as jokes with perfect timing — Wham!’s sugar rush, Meat Loaf’s power-ballad cameo, a classic-is-classic Isley Brothers cut, and a late sing-along turn from Three Dog Night. Clearance choices skew instantly recognizable so the punchlines land the second the first bar hits.
Tracks & Scenes
“The Great Beyond” — Sausage Party Cast (music: Alan Menken; lyrics: Glenn Slater et al.)
Where it plays: Opening titles on July 4th weekend. Every product in the store sings a devotional to the shoppers and their promised paradise beyond the automatic doors. It’s staged like an animated Broadway prologue: choral stacks, key change, ecstatic button. Diegetic-as-their-belief, mixed like a show tune.
Why it matters: Establishes the film’s theology and its joke: faith articulated through a perfect, earnest musical number.
“I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” — Meat Loaf
Where it plays: A groan-worthy visual pun: a character who is literally Meat Loaf belts the Jim Steinman/Meat Loaf anthem in a supermarket tableau. The cut functions as a comedic curtain-raiser for the film’s “song-as-gag” vocabulary.
Why it matters: Announces the movie’s love of weaponized radio classics — and the level of shamelessness involved.
“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” — Wham!
Where it plays: A gleeful mid-film burst over movement through the store; bright synths and handclaps turn shelves into a dance floor as our heroes ricochet between dangers. Non-diegetic, but the cut edits to the hook.
Why it matters: Pure dopamine. It reframes peril as party and keeps the pace fizzy.
“It’s Your Thing” — The Isley Brothers
Where it plays: Swagger beat for a side-mission: the groove struts while characters make a play that’s more attitude than plan. The bassline sets up a wisecrack and a smash cut.
Why it matters: Old-school cool that gives the food a little soul.
“Joy to the World” — Three Dog Night
Where it plays: A cathartic needle-drop near the finale and/or into the credits, the sing-along chorus landing after the film’s wildest set-piece. The room shakes; the joke doubles as celebration.
Why it matters: Post-mayhem palate cleanser — a grin you can hum.
“Our Heroes / He’s Coming / Finale” — Alan Menken & Christopher Lennertz
Where it plays: The orchestral spine for the third act: marching strings, comedic stingers, mock-epic brass. These cues stitch the action between pop drops and stage the last-round showdown like a blockbuster.
Why it matters: Score proves essential — it keeps the chaos legible and grand.
“True” — Spandau Ballet
Where it plays: A soft-focus slow-dance needle-drop used as a knowingly cheesy counterpoint in a tender-gone-awkward moment.
Why it matters: Irony in four chords — a sentimental sheen that the movie immediately undercuts.
“Hungry Eyes” — Eric Carmen
Where it plays: A wink to 80s-romance grammar during an improbable food flirtation; sax and synths make the gag land.
Why it matters: Parody through arrangement — you hear the joke before you clock the lyric.
Music–Story Links
- Belief as melody: “The Great Beyond” gives the food a religion; later cues quote its harmony to show faith cracking.
- Needle-drops as punchlines: Meat Loaf’s cameo and Wham!’s sugar rush function as edits in the joke, not wallpaper.
- Score as scaffolding: Menken/Lennertz action cues frame the chases so the pop songs can hit with maximum contrast.
- Communal release: The finale shifts from orchestral mock-epic to sing-along — chaos resolves into chorus.
Reception & Quotes
Critics called the film “offensive on purpose” and singled out the opening number as the key to the tone: play it straight, then twist the knife. The soundtrack release packaged that approach — one broadway-grade opener, a run of muscular score cues, and needle-drops chosen for instant-recognition comedy — and kept the film’s energy alive at home.
“The R-rated animated musical you didn’t know you needed.” film music coverage
“Menken pomp + Lennertz propulsion = jokes that land on the downbeat.” industry session report
Notes & Trivia
- “The Great Beyond” was written by Menken & Slater with contributions from the screenwriters — a rare ensemble-lyric credit on a studio comedy song.
- The score was recorded in London; orchestra sessions took place at Abbey Road.
- The official album folds in era-spanning cuts (Wham!, Isley Brothers, Three Dog Night) alongside the score.
- An extended “Around the World” reprise of the opener appears on the album as a closing gag.
Interesting Facts
- Label & drop date: Issued August 5, 2016 by Madison Gate Records under exclusive license to Sony Music Masterworks.
- Running shape: ~25 tracks in most digital editions; ~45–46 minutes.
- Power-ballad pun: Meat Loaf literally sings Meat Loaf — arguably the most on-the-nose sync of the decade.
- Radio sugar: “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” turns corridor chaos into a music-video sprint.
- Cue craftsmanship: The orchestral “Finale” quotes the opening hymn before detonating into action — parody technique done with real musical chops.
Technical Info
- Title: Sausage Party (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
- Year: 2016 (film & album)
- Type: Feature film soundtrack (original song + score + licensed tracks)
- Composers / Songwriters: Alan Menken (songs/score), Christopher Lennertz (score); “The Great Beyond” lyrics by Glenn Slater with Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter & Ariel Shaffir
- Music Supervision: Gabe Hilfer (feature)
- Label / release: Madison Gate Records; distributed by Sony Music Masterworks — released Aug 5, 2016 (digital/streaming)
- Selected placements: “The Great Beyond” (opening hymn); “I’d Do Anything for Love” (Meat Loaf gag); “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (escape/transition); “It’s Your Thing” (swagger beat); “Joy to the World” (finale/credits)
- Availability: Streaming on major services; also issued on CD/vinyl in select territories.
Questions & Answers
- Who wrote the big opening song?
- Alan Menken composed “The Great Beyond,” with lyrics by Glenn Slater plus contributions from the film’s writers.
- Who scored the film?
- Alan Menken and Christopher Lennertz; Lennertz led the London sessions for the action/comedy cues.
- Is the soundtrack just songs, or is the score included?
- Both — the album mixes the opener and multiple score cues with well-known needle-drops.
- What’s the most memorable needle-drop?
- Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love” — performed by a character who is literally meatloaf — with Wham! and Three Dog Night close behind.
- Where can I hear it?
- On Spotify/Apple Music under the official album; look for the 2016 Madison Gate/Sony Music Masterworks release.
Canonical Entities & Relations
| Subject | Relation | Object |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Menken | composed / co-scored | Original songs & score for Sausage Party |
| Christopher Lennertz | co-scored | Orchestral score; led London sessions |
| Glenn Slater | co-wrote lyrics | “The Great Beyond” |
| Seth Rogen; Evan Goldberg; Kyle Hunter; Ariel Shaffir | additional lyrics | “The Great Beyond” |
| Gabe Hilfer | music supervised | Feature film needle-drops & clearances |
| Madison Gate Records / Sony Music Masterworks | released | Official soundtrack album (2016) |
| Meat Loaf | performed | “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)” |
| Wham! | performed | “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” |
| The Isley Brothers | performed | “It’s Your Thing” |
| Three Dog Night | performed | “Joy to the World” |
Sources: album listings and label notes; composer session reports; film credits; soundtrack databases; streaming service pages; official trailers.
This film is like a horror-thriller for vegetables and other kinds of food. Seeing this, you really start to regret eating all this wonderful sausages, potatoes, cheese and the other nutritious stuff. They all trigger some unexplainable warmth. Maybe, it is because of animation. Not the one, which makes things move on the screen. We talk about anima notion – i.e. granting the qualities of living creatures to soulless objects of nature, like rocks, trees, plants. Or food, as in this case. And this causes the viewer to percept all the food protagonists of this motion picture as living creatures and to feel some sympathy to them and even – to feel their pain a little. Especially when the potato was rudely cleared off the skin and was sent to the boiling water. Or as baby carrots were crushed with human teeth while being eaten. Pestilential thing! At east, in this special way, as it was submitted on the screen. The quality of visualization in this animated film differs with absence of details. This saves a lots of time to render the final image but makes the look of everything like made of gum. And thus, vividly untrue. But it is okay – for the film like this, it may be the best solution though. As for soundtrack, everything is pretty clear – a few songs, very positive mood (like It's Your Thing by The Isley Brothers) and most part of tunes are of rock genre (Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen or Chant No 1 by Spandau Ballet). Most vivid are lyrics of extremely famous thing Wake Me up Before You Go-Go by Wham, and this song is the most entertaining amongst all at the same time. JR JR music band are masters of visual entertaining, which is easily and witty combined with not boring lyrics.November, 26th 2025
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