Admit it, when this song gets fired up on the old jukebox you get to tapping your toes and moving about to the rhythm. It’s pretty normal considering that Jerry Lee Lewis’s sound has always been slightly infectious when it comes on. You just can’t help but dance to the music and feel a touch of the good old days when things seemed simpler and music was just meant to be fun. That seems to be the general idea in any film the song is featured in as well. The good feeling that is granted when it comes on is fairly universal and easy to understand.
Even in films that aren’t meant to be positive this song still seems to light up the moment.
5. Needful Things
I couldn’t find the exact clip that showcases the song, but the guy in the letterman’s jacket in this clip is the focus of the song. When he puts on the jacket in Leland Gaunt’s shop he’s instantly transported back to the days of his youth when he had more hair, more energy, and a lot more promise to his life. Great Balls of Fire can be heard in the background as he rips and roars along with his buddies without a care in the world.
4. Funny About Love
Once again I couldn’t really find the clip that has the song, but it is in the film. Gene Wilder was a funny, funny man that seemed to embody this song at times simply because he was that kind of loose and crazy guy that could do or say anything and get people to love him. I can’t seem to remember where this song comes in this film, but I do know it’s in there and like always it’s a fun moment.
3. Stand By Me
The song is set to a very fun but troublesome scene in this film. Ace and the boys are playing mailbox baseball as Jerry Lee Lewis is belting out his tune, having a good old time and doing their best to act like the hoodlums everyone thinks they are. Of course Ace is the ultimate jerk like always and Eyeball is the willing stooge that makes idle comments that Ace doesn’t care for. It’s a classic scene in a classic film in a scene that’s supposed to be good-natured but feels more tense than anything.
2. American Hot Wax
Set to film, this concert presents a wide variety of super talents and iconic music that helped to make the pop culture what it is today. Rock and roll has been a continually-growing entity that has yet to die out and yet had such simple roots that many people thought it was a fad that would eventually go away. It’s nice to know that so many people can be so wrong about something at times.
1. Great Balls of Fire
Come on now. You had to know this movie would make the cut. It’s not cheating and it’s not an easy dodge, it’s the best representation of the song on the list and the only one that could have possibly reached the top. While it definitely goes over with music enthusiasts it kind of stretches the truth a little in the life of Jerry Lee Lewis. Still, it’s a classic that seems to have been largely overlooked but never forgotten.
Great Balls of Fire is one of the absolute best songs ever composed and remains so even in memory today. So whenever you hear it come on don’t fight the need to just get up and dance.
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