02. Grandaddy “A.M 180” & John Murphy “In the House – In a Heartbeat” Theme from “28 Days Later”
It’s no secret that Danny Boyle wanted orchestral rockers Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s doomsday-laden apocalyptic music for his end-of-times virus/outbreak/zombie thriller “28 Days Later.” Boyle wanted to use their tracks throughout the entire film, “For me, the soundtrack to ‘28 Days Later’ was Godspeed. The whole film was cut to Godspeed in my head,” he said in a 2002 interview. It quickly became clear to Boyle after he contacted the anti-commercial, deeply anti-corporate band that using their music in the film was going to be out of the question. “They were helpful, and very clear about how unlikely it was that they would give us permission to use [their music.]” Instead, Boyle got composer to create a score, that when you think about it hews very close to the crescendoing Godspeed sound. Perhaps Godspeed turning them down was a blessing (though the band eventually relented and let Boyle use one track, “East Hastings”) as Murphy’s score is now iconic and “In the House – In a Heartbeat” has been appropriated in various trailers (“I Know Who Killed Me,” “Death Sentence,” “Beowulf”) and even other films (“Kick-Ass“). It’s also been covered by British Death Metal band The Rotted, used in trailers for post-apocalyptic videos games and it’s become the theme to express the end is nigh. True to form, Godspeed wouldn’t allow Boyle or Fox Searchlight to include their song on the eventual “28 Days Later” official soundtrack.
However, much more lighthearted and a complete 180 contrast to all the gloomy, fiery apocalypse music in the film is the goofy yet sublime track “AM 180” by the indie rock band Grandaddy, greeting a sequence where our survivors are rummaging through an abandoned supermarket. It’s a moment of levity in a movie defined by oppressive gloominess and apocalyptic despair, highlighting Boyle’s ability to change the meaning of a scene (and a song) by its contextual placement. With the Granddaddy song, Boyle taps into that sliver of possibility that accompanies any end of the world scenario – the thought of, wouldn’t it be cool to have everything to yourself? This sequence is also placed strategically before the second half of the movie gets going, which is an almost oppressively bleak descent into the darkness of the zombie apocalypse (and maybe, more frighteningly even, the human soul).