"The Foreigner" Soundtrack Lyrics

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"The Foreigner (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Overview

What happens when a revenge thriller trades bombast for cold pulse? The Foreigner answers with a score that thinks before it strikes — electronic, clenched, and deliberate.

Cliff Martinez’s music shadows Quan (Jackie Chan), a grieving father whose patience calcifies into purpose. Instead of big themes, the soundtrack favors pressure: sub-bass heartbeats, metallic ticks, and long tones that hover like fog over London and Belfast. During cat-and-mouse stretches, cues act like tripwires; when violence erupts, percussion snaps into focus, then recedes just as quickly. The album functions as a psychological map of obsession and guilt — the sound of a man refusing to be seen until it’s too late.

Distinctiveness comes from restraint. Martinez builds tension with friction — synths scraped thin, beats that feel hand-loaded. The few source songs (a cool-blue Stan Getz bossa nova; an Americana-soul cut by Jimmy Lumpkin & The Revival) puncture the grey with human warmth, while marketing music leans on swaggering hip-hop for the trailers. It’s all contrast by design.

Genres & themes in phases: electronic suspense — calculation and grief; industrial action scoring — improvised tactics, ruthless focus; bossa nova jazz — memory and domestic stillness; alt-roots rock — everyday yearning; hip-hop trailer energy — selling the threat.

How It Was Made

Director Martin Campbell tapped Cliff Martinez (a longtime architect of glacial, high-tension textures) for a first-principles action score. The brief: build anxiety, not anthems. Martinez responded with a mostly electronic toolkit — pulsing sequences, distressed percussion, and glinting pads — then carved set-piece cues (“Wired to Blow,” “He Jumped Off the Roof”) to track the film’s booby-traps and ambushes. Editorially, the music often plays under dialogue and surveillance beats, tightening screws rather than telegraphing emotion.

On the song side, rights clearances were lean: a Stan Getz recording of Jobim/Buarque’s “Retrato em Branco e Preto” provides a classic, cool-jazz counterweight; Jimmy Lumpkin & The Revival’s “My Name Is Love” supplies a modern, soulful texture. Marketing used an outside hip-hop track to cut trailers, while China received a special promotional duet by Jackie Chan and Liu Tao, “普通人 (Ordinary Person).”

Tracks & Scenes

“I Wouldn’t Count on It” (Cliff Martinez)

Where it plays:

Used for slow-burn, investigative pressure — the cue rides underneath stakeouts and double-dealing conversations, where allegiances shift sentence by sentence. The texture is all icy sustain and muted throb; it lengthens scenes rather than rushing them.

Why it matters:

Defines the film’s sonic thesis: patience as menace. The cue is an album calling card and a clear window into Martinez’s minimalist approach.

“Wired to Blow” (Cliff Martinez)

Where it plays:

In bomb-threat sequences, the music becomes rhythmic and repetitive — a ratcheting pattern that tracks the arming of devices and the tightening of the net. You feel the countdown without ever hearing one.

Why it matters:

It’s the score’s action language: low-voiced synths and percussive jolts that punch in and out like Quan’s traps.

“Daughter’s Room (OMPS Edit)” (Cliff Martinez)

Where it plays:

A grief-centric interior moment, nearly still. Sparse harmony and a clean, glassy timbre sit with Quan’s loss in the aftermath — a rare breath amid pursuit.

Why it matters:

The album’s most openly beautiful cue; a tiny light that makes the surrounding darkness read darker.

“He Jumped Off the Roof” (Cliff Martinez)

Where it plays:

During a chase and escape beat: chattering percussion and attack-decay hits match improvised urban movement — down stairwells, across rooftops, through blind corners — then drop out to let impacts land dry.

Why it matters:

Shows Martinez can do propulsion without overstatement — it accelerates the frame while keeping the film’s cool temperature.

“Retrato em Branco e Preto” (Stan Getz)

Where it plays:

Heard in-film as source music: the mellow bossa nova tenor sax and gentle swing provide a domestic counterpoint to the thriller mechanics (briefly, in a quiet, conversational setting).

Why it matters:

The cool jazz warmth reframes Quan the human — not just the hunter — and nods to classic, urbane soundtrack colors.

“My Name Is Love” (Jimmy Lumpkin & The Revival)

Where it plays:

Appears per credits as a contemporary roots-soul needle-drop associated with the film’s licensed songs (heard around transition/end-title context depending on cut).

Why it matters:

Injects organic, Americana grain — a “daylight” texture after so much neon-noir electronics.

Trailer — “Saturdays = Celebration” (Big K.R.I.T. feat. Jamie N Commons)

Where it plays:

Used in theatrical/digital trailers: swaggering drums, hand-claps, and raspy vocals over action montage cuts (interrogations, detonations, standoffs).

Why it matters:

Marketing tone choice — louder and rowdier than the film’s interior score — to broadcast urgency and reach outside the core thriller audience.

China Promo — “普通人 (Ordinary Person)” (Jackie Chan & Liu Tao)

Where it plays:

A promotional song and MV for the Chinese campaign; a reflective pop ballad juxtaposed with footage of Quan’s family life and resolve.

Why it matters:

Regional emphasis on empathy and everyday resilience — literally, “ordinary people” — aligning with the character’s moral center.

Notes & Trivia

• Cliff Martinez approached this as a tension score — electronics first — his toolset from Drive re-forged for a grimmer, procedural world.
• The official album dropped the same day as the US theatrical release, which helped the cues circulate quickly on streaming.
• Vinyl collectors got a limited, numbered pressing on colored 180g vinyl.
• Only a couple of licensed songs appear in the film itself — most of the musical storytelling is Martinez’s.
• China’s campaign uniquely centered a duet MV by the star himself (Jackie Chan) with Liu Tao.

Reception & Quotes

Critics generally liked the film’s lean, muscular sound — some praised the mood; others missed big melodies. A few representative bites:

“A dark, grungy, heavy-duty electronic action score… with some beautiful soundscapes.” Movie-Wave

“Highly stereotypical action music… repetitive and catchy in terrorist-threat scenes.” Set the Tape

“Tight, character-driven electronic score… perfectly complements the sad, gripping story.” The Action Elite

Availability: The album was released digitally and on CD (Sony/ STX) on October 13, 2017, and later on limited vinyl.

Interesting Facts

• Minimal themes: Martinez sidelines hummable motifs in favor of texture and pulse.
• Diegetic contrast: A single jazz standard softens an otherwise metallic sound world.
• Regional song strategy: China’s promo song humanizes Quan; Western trailers go harder and louder.
• Album sequencing: The OMPS edits trim film cues into tighter, standalone listens.
• Critical outlier: Even fans noted the album’s severity; “Daughter’s Room” is the consensus beauty shot.

Technical Info

• Title: The Foreigner (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
• Year: 2017
• Type: Film score (with limited licensed songs)
• Composer: Cliff Martinez
• Music supervision: Jason Markey (album supervision/music supervisor credit)
• Selected notable placements: “Wired to Blow” (bomb-threat sequences); “Daughter’s Room” (grief interior); “Retrato em Branco e Preto” (source jazz); “My Name Is Love” (licensed needle-drop)
• Release context: US theatrical — October 13, 2017; album released the same day (digital/CD); later limited vinyl pressing
• Label/album status: STX Recordings under exclusive license to Sony Music (Sony Classical); 15 tracks; ~46 minutes
• Availability/Charts: Streaming (Spotify/Apple Music/YouTube); specialty vinyl limited to 1000-copy runs for collectors

Key Contributors

Entity	Relation	Notes
Cliff Martinez	Composer → The Foreigner (Score)	Electronic tension score
Jason Markey	Music Supervisor / Album Producer	Supervised soundtrack release
Martin Campbell	Director → The Foreigner	Action-thriller framing
David Marconi	Screenwriter → The Foreigner	Adapted from Stephen Leather
STX Entertainment	US Distributor → Film	Theatrical release
Sony Classical / STX Recordings	Record Label → Album	Digital/CD release
Stan Getz	Performer → “Retrato em Branco e Preto”	Source jazz recording
Jimmy Lumpkin & The Revival	Performer → “My Name Is Love”	Licensed song
Jackie Chan & Liu Tao	Performers → “普通人 (Ordinary Person)”	China promo duet

Questions & Answers

Who composed the score for The Foreigner?

Cliff Martinez — a synth-centric thriller score built on pulse and texture.

Are there notable non-score songs in the film?

Yes. Stan Getz’s recording of “Retrato em Branco e Preto” appears as source music, and Jimmy Lumpkin & The Revival’s “My Name Is Love” is licensed in the film’s official song credits.

What song is used in the trailers?

Marketing commonly used Big K.R.I.T.’s “Saturdays = Celebration” (feat. Jamie N Commons) over action-heavy cuts.

Was there a Chinese promotional theme?

Yes — “普通人 (Ordinary Person),” a duet by Jackie Chan and Liu Tao, released with an official MV for the China campaign.

Where can I hear the album?

It’s available on major streamers (e.g., Spotify/Apple Music) and had a limited vinyl run in addition to digital/CD.

Sources: Wikipedia; IndieWire; AllMusic; Apple Music; Movie-Wave; Set the Tape; The Action Elite; Discogs; Soundtrakd (formerly Soundtrack.net); IMDb credits; YouTube trailer and MV listings; Jackie Chan official blog.

Do you often face soundtracks containing only one song? Well, in the future, things will change but as of October 6, 2017, this soundtrack is exactly such. It incorporates ‘Saturdays = Celebration’ song performed by Big K.R.I.T. It is from their 2014’s album of hip-hop and rap style named Cadillactica. In its lyrics, they tell about a heavy fate of a man who’s seeking for better. The refrain and some other lyrics are used in both official trailers to that film existing at the moment. The song contains only two couplets but it is full of tension, gloomy thoughts and the absence of hopes for the better future. The film is an action thriller and tells about the confrontation between two men, Quan (depicted by Jackie Chan), who lost his daughter in the terrorist attack and the government of the UK personified by Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan), who was a terrorist himself in the past but now cooperates with the government. The spirit of this action movie is very intense, the same as every single movie with the participation of Jackie Chan. He plays the humble person almost always, and this time is not an exception. Pierce Brosnan has stuck in the one-image roles and this time he plays one either: a professional handsome killer with killing connections. He was one of the best James Bonds if someone still remembers and since then, cannot go out of the Bondiana-like image of a hero. This film has no rating yet established by all authoritative experts, but it has already overwhelmed its budget costs and gained extra one week before the grand opening in the US. China viewers estimated the film that high and there is nothing to worry about is gross collections inside of box office – they must be of significant importance.

November, 28th 2025

Find more on Internet Movie Database and Rotten Tomatoes

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