"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" Soundtrack Lyrics

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"The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack & Score)" – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Review

What if a soundtrack were a mixtape someone made just for you — and it happened to score your entire freshman year? That’s the trick of The Perks of Being a Wallflower: the music feels handwritten. Stephen Chbosky’s coming-of-age drama builds its feelings out of 70s/80s/90s cuts, and Alan Silvestri—nope, not here—Michael Brook threads it with intimate, low-light score cues. Songs carry memory; score carries breath. Together, they tell Charlie’s story without shouting.

The needle-drops work like confessions: the Smiths for the ache you can’t name, Dexys for the night you finally dance, Bowie for the drive that turns into a prayer. Chbosky and music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas curate with mixtape logic — side A is discovery and friendship, side B is grief and healing. It’s nostalgia used as narrative, not wallpaper.

Genres & themes in phases: jangle & post-punk — new friends, new doors; alt/college rock — private melancholy and letters to self; 80s dance-pop — courage by accident; classic art-rock — transcendence in a tunnel; chamber-ambient score — the afterglow and the reckoning. The album doesn’t just remember adolescence; it documents it.

How It Was Made

Writer-director Stephen Chbosky and music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas traded playlists to shape the film — essentially a back-and-forth mixtape that became the official soundtrack. Atlantic Records released the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (various artists) in September 2012; Lakeshore followed with Michael Brook’s score album later that month. Chbosky famously swapped the novel’s tunnel song (“Landslide”) for David Bowie’s “Heroes,” a change he credits to Patsavas’s pitch for something “driving” and “epic.”

Tracks & Scenes

“Could It Be Another Change” (The Samples)

Where it plays:

Early in the film as we meet Charlie’s world; the song’s open-hearted lift plays like the first page of a diary. Non-diegetic; opening stretch.

Why it matters:

Sets the film’s “letter to a friend” tone — earnest, vulnerable, hopeful.

“Asleep” (The Smiths)

Where it plays:

Charlie discovers the song on a mixtape; later, he gifts Patrick a tape with it twice. It threads through private moments like a whispered admission. Diegetic (tape) that becomes non-diegetic memory.

Why it matters:

A character mirror in music — the film’s most intimate motif of sadness and solace.

“Come On Eileen” (Dexys Midnight Runners)

Where it plays:

Homecoming dance. Sam and Patrick fly to the floor with a choreographed burst; Charlie hesitates, then sprints to join — his first big yes. Non-diegetic dance floor source.

Why it matters:

Permission to belong. A wedding-proof banger becomes the film’s courage cue.

“Temptation” (New Order)

Where it plays:

A party-into-night montage and later needle-drops; synth pulses as friendships braid tighter. Non-diegetic texture.

Why it matters:

90s adolescence scored by 80s afterglow — desire, risk, and city lights.

“Teen Age Riot” (Sonic Youth)

Where it plays:

Used in the film’s tapestry of indie discovery; volume up, windows down — the kids feel bigger than their hallways. Non-diegetic lift.

Why it matters:

Feedback as freedom — noisy, defiant, strangely tender.

“Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops” (Cocteau Twins)

Where it plays:

Glassy, weightless montage shading into the story’s gentler breaths. Non-diegetic.

Why it matters:

Dream-pop as safe room — a hush between storms.

“Low” (Cracker)

Where it plays:

Background in hangout beats; slacker drawl fits the party chatter. Non-diegetic.

Why it matters:

Grounds the era without nudging too hard — pure 90s air.

“Dear God” (XTC)

Where it plays:

Cuts through a reflective sequence; the lyric frames Charlie’s letters with bolder questions. Non-diegetic.

Why it matters:

Philosophy at volume — adolescent theology via jangling guitars.

“The Time Warp” & “Sweet Transvestite” (from The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Where it plays:

At the midnight screening, Sam and friends perform the participatory numbers in costume; Charlie joins, and the audience shouts the steps. Diegetic (theater playback & live performance).

Why it matters:

Chosen family, literally on stage — performance as belonging.

“Heroes” (David Bowie)

Where it plays:

The tunnel scene: Sam stands in the pickup bed, wind in her hair, Pittsburgh’s Fort Pitt Tunnel glowing ahead; Charlie narrates, “We are infinite.” Non-diegetic.

Why it matters:

An epic swap from the novel’s “Landslide.” It turns a private rite into a communal anthem — the film’s defining moment.

Score highlight — “Charlie’s Last Letter” (Michael Brook)

Where it plays:

Near the end, when the letters, memories, and revelations settle into something like peace. Non-diegetic score cue.

Why it matters:

Brook gives the mixtape a heartbeat — hushed strings, room to breathe.

Also heard (not all on the album):

• “Here” — Pavement (film use; not on OST)
• “Don’t Dream It’s Over” — Crowded House (film use; not on OST)
• “Pretend We’re Dead” — L7 (film use; not on OST)
• Trailer needle-drop: “It’s Time” — Imagine Dragons (trailer only)

Notes & Trivia

• Chbosky chose Bowie’s “Heroes” for the tunnel even though the novel names Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” — a cinematic, tempo-driven swap.
• Music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas co-compiled the album with Chbosky; the soundtrack really was their “mix tape back and forth.”
• Atlantic handled the songs album; Lakeshore issued Michael Brook’s concise score release.
• Rocky Horror sequences anchor the film’s “found family” motif and showcase the cast’s live performance energy.
• The soundtrack landed on multiple “best of 2012/decade” lists and charted on Billboard’s Top Soundtracks.

Reception & Quotes

The compilation drew raves for authenticity and for how precisely the songs map onto teenage memory; critics also praised Brook’s understated score.

“Mixtape-like intimacy… echoes the connections between the film’s characters.” — AllMusic

“Carefully curated… hits the necessary emotional cues without overselling them.” — IndieWire

“One of the decade’s standout soundtracks.” — Screen Rant

Availability: The 12-track Atlantic soundtrack (various artists) and the Lakeshore score album are widely available on streaming/download; vinyl and CD reissues of the songs album circulate.

Interesting Facts

• Book vs. film: The novel’s tunnel song is “Landslide”; the movie’s is Bowie’s “Heroes.” Both are about bravery, from different angles.
• Diegetic magic: “Asleep” enters as a cassette and becomes a character motif — a rare diegetic-to-theme move.
• Dance floor canon: Chbosky calls “Come On Eileen” one of the all-time guaranteed dance songs — so the scene had to be that joyous.
• Trailer vs. film: The trailer’s Imagine Dragons cue (“It’s Time”) is not on the OST — textbook marketing swap.
• Mixtape fingerprints: Several film-used songs don’t appear on the official album (Pavement, Crowded House, L7), keeping the OST tight.

Technical Info

• Title: The Perks of Being a Wallflower — Original Soundtrack & Score
• Year: 2012
• Type: Film (coming-of-age/romance) — soundtrack compilation (Atlantic) + score (Lakeshore)
• Composer: Michael Brook (score album)
• Music supervision: Alexandra Patsavas (album co-compiler)
• Selected notable placements: “Heroes” (tunnel); “Come On Eileen” (homecoming dance); “Asleep” (mixtape motif); “Temptation”; “Teen Age Riot”; Rocky Horror numbers
• Release context: Songs album streeted Sept. 11, 2012; score album Sept. 25, 2012
• Labels: Atlantic Records (soundtrack); Lakeshore Records (score)
• Charts/Lists: U.S. Top Soundtracks (Billboard) / multiple year-end and decade lists

Key Contributors

Entity	Relation
Stephen Chbosky	Writer–director; co-compiler of soundtrack
Alexandra Patsavas	Music Supervisor; co-compiler of soundtrack
Michael Brook	Composer — original score (Lakeshore release)
Jennifer Nash	Music editor — contributed selections
Atlantic Records	Released songs album
Lakeshore Records	Released score album
Mr. Mudd Productions	Production company
Summit Entertainment (Lionsgate)	Distributor
Logan Lerman; Emma Watson; Ezra Miller	Lead cast (Charlie; Sam; Patrick)

Questions & Answers

Who picked the songs?

Stephen Chbosky and music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas — they literally traded a mixtape back and forth while editing.

What’s the tunnel song in the movie?

David Bowie’s “Heroes.” In the novel, the tunnel song is Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide.”

Is “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons on the album?

No — it’s used in the trailer, not on the OST.

Does the film use The Rocky Horror Picture Show music?

Yes — midnight-screening sequences feature participatory numbers like “Time Warp” and “Sweet Transvestite.”

Where can I find the score?

Lakeshore Records released Michael Brook’s Original Motion Picture Score as a separate album.

Sources: Atlantic/Lakeshore album pages; Wikipedia (film & soundtrack); Apple Music & Spotify listings; Screen Rant song-by-song; Vanity Fair Q&A with Chbosky on “Heroes”; IMDb Soundtracks; coverage of Rocky Horror cues and participatory context; critical roundups (AllMusic, IndieWire) and year/decade lists.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about average people, who are not distinguished from the crowd, who lives within own shells and even the circle of their communication can be named shelled. They are depicted by young but extremely talented Logan Lerman and Emma “Hermione Granger” Watson. The latter is much more successful in TV works and films of all the young actors’ batch from Harry Potter series. Well, at least, her movies are commercially successful (every one of them), unlike Daniel Radcliffe’s works, who is considered over-estimated adolescent of our times. The only really loud name is David Bowie in the soundtrack with his Heroes – the thing tremendously suitable for the motion picture’s essence, where the whole thing is boiled down to the point that our screen heroes may be average, but they aren’t gray nor dull. Their hearts are vividly eager to adventures, love and temptation of all kind of what life offers us. And it is shown in some trailers to this thing of 2012. The distribution company – Summit Entertainment – distributes many heart-touching stories about adolescents who are meeting the world. You should remember one of the best youngsters’ films of 2010th – Paper Towns – although, it was not distributed by Summit, it is the same bright and in-line with what they offer. Why are we making parallels – ‘cause these films use the same idea of early life years and soundtrack full of newcomers, like The Smiths or XTC here. Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners is gay thing, under which it is so nice to be festive. And Cocteau Twins’ ‘Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops is a piece for a calm 1+1 dancing with smooth vocals, having unpretentious lyrics. Tugboat has very easy lines in their lyrics, which are so moody as the Sacred Spirit’s ‘Yeha-Noha’ (find it on YouTube).

November, 29th 2025

Learn more about 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower': Internet Movie Database, Wikipedia

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