Musical Montage: Aimee Mann “Save Me”
Inspiring the script for Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 epic Magnolia, Aimee Mann’s music is featured throughout the movie, including the Oscar-nominated “Save Me”. After the success of Boogie Nights, Anderson was told by New Line Cinema that he could do whatever he wanted and he set out to create a movie that put, “an epic spin on topics that don’t necessarily get the epic treatment” with an all-star cast that included Tom Cruise, Phillip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and William H. Macy. Anderson listened to Mann’s first two solo albums and demos from her then-upcoming album Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo and has also said that the movie is basically an adaptation of her music, with certain songs inspiring characters and plots. For the movie, the most recognizable soundtrack is probably “Wise Up”, which plays in the middle of the movie and features a scene with every main character singing along to it but “Save Me” is the track that closed out the movie and garnered an Oscar nomination. “Save Me” lost to Phil Collin’s “You’ll Be in My Heart” from Disney’s Tarzan. “Save Me” also got a music video directed by Anderson himself and was actually shot at the end of shooting days of the film, with most of the cast remaining behind to appear in the video, which inserts Mann into different scenes from the movie. Check it out below.