This Movie Could Use More "Bad to the Bone"

We have all seen movie trailers. They play before the real movies we pay to see. The goal of these trailers is to try to generate excitement about the upcoming movie. Therefore, what the producers do, is put together a compilation of clips that appear in the film, in a way that makes it look cool. Dramas will feature slow, powerful images. Thrillers will use quick cuts and fast-paced dialogue. And comedies will use all the lines that will ultimately be memorized and regurgitated by 13-year olds nationwide before the movie even comes out, so when you finally do see the movie, those lines will no longer be funny, nor even amusing.

However, the most important element of a film trailer is the use of music. There are three classic go-to songs for lazy, and embarassingly lame producers to use in their trailers. The first, is "I feel good" by James Brown, usually used for a madcap sports comedy, or something where old people act young, white men act "black" or kids do something wacky, possibly on a ragtag baseball team.

The second is "born to be wild" by Steppenwolf, often used in trailers about a group of 15-year olds who somehow manage to outsmart a group of trained Washington law enforcement officers, or movies featuring old ladies riding their motor scooters around town, in a weak attempt on the part of the producer to be "ironic."

But, the grand champion of crappy trailer music is....well if you read the title you would already know, it's "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood. Thorogood is one of the great bluesmen of our time. He had sold millions of records, played countless shows, and is still a major draw at county fairs, casinos, and anywhere else where middle-age tough guys with mustaches and denim vests gather. But no matter what Thorogood has done or will do in his career, there will be four words on his tombstone: “Bad To The Bone.” Ever since Thorogood released the song on his 1982 album of the same, “Bad To The Bone”—and its instantly recognizable, cartoonishly bluesy riff—has had a steady home in pop culture, where it remains an easy cue for lazy filmmakers and advertisers looking to convey bad to the bone-ness.

According to IMDB.com, “Bad To The Bone” first appeared in John Carpenter's killer car movie Christine in 1983. Ever since then it has shown up in more than a dozen movies and TV shows, including Talk Radio, Problem Child, Problem Child 2, Terminator 2, The Parent Trap, 3000 Miles to Graceland, Joe Dirt, and North Country. Perhaps the most notable usage of “Bad To The Bone” is in the Problem Child movies, which uses the riff as a recurring motif accentuating Junior’s various acts of hilarious mayhem. To this day, many people believe that Thorogood wrote the song about a lil' redheaded asshole. (This appears to be false.)

There is a formula to using this song, so try to follow along.

The announcer will say something like:

"Country Village is a quiet, peaceful town...the residents are used to peace and quiet, friendly games of golf, and relaxing cookouts. Until...HE arrived..."

Then the camera will start at the character's feet, so you can't quite tell how intimidatingly huge they might possibly be. Then "Bad to the Bone" kicks in. So now the viewer is like "o wow, some tough guy must be coming to town!"

Then the camera pans upward, revealing NO WAY, it's actually a little kid, a scrawny redneck, Jim Carrey in a Hawaiian shirt, or some combination of these things. Then the audience goes, "Oh, haha it turns out the person is NOT really intimidating, so it's really funny that they used that song to go along with it, haha that's ironic, LOL!" It also helps if that little kid, redneck or Carrey is wearing sunglasses or a leather jacket.

There’s a lot of competition for most “on the nose” use of “Bad To The Bone”—it’s pretty much impossible to be subtle or clever with a song so awesomely ridiculous—but if only one filmmaker can take home the “Bad To The Bone” obviousness award, then it has to be James Cameron, who used the song in Terminator 2 for an early scene where Arnold Schwarzenegger beats up some bikers for their leather gear. Wow, a scene with motorcycles and a badass action hero set to “Bad To The Bone”? Fantastic.

You'll notice that this note did not attempt to list any information about myself or anyone else. Nor did I ask you to provide that information. And that my friends, is bad to the bone.


Peace Love and Understanding