Ranking All The Songs from The About Time Soundtrack
About Time is as sincerely sentimental as anything you’d expect from director Richard Curtis, with just enough humor to cut through the treacle. If you’re looking for the kind of comfy, cozy film that will touch your heart without taxing your brain, consider it compulsory viewing, The soundtrack is just as enjoyable, particularly if you have a penchant for love songs. Here’s how we rank all the songs from the About Time soundtrack.
16. How Long Will I Love You – Jon Boden, Sam Sweeney & Ben Coleman
Depending on your age (or maybe just your taste in music), you’ll either know How Long Will I Love You from The Waterboys’ 1990 album, Room to Roam, or from Ellie Goulding’s 2013 album Halcyon Days. On the other hand, if you’re a film buff, you might know it instead from Jon Boden, Sam Sweeney and Ben Coleman’s cover on the About Time soundtrack.
15. Mid Air – Paul Buchanan
Paul Buchanan is best known for his work with The Blue Nile, but in 2012, he ventured out alone for his debut solo album Mid Air, the title track of which makes a hauntingly lovely addition to the About Time soundtrack.
14. The About Time Theme – Nick Laird-Clowes
Nick Laird-Clowes served as both composer and music consultant on About Time, producing wonderful moments such as the gorgeous About Time Theme.
13. Il Mondo – Jimmy Fontana
The Engish version of Il Mondo has been covered by dozens of artists over the years, including Gianni Morandi, Milva, Il Volo, The Ray Charles Singers, The Bachelors and Engelbert Humperdinck, but it was the original version by Jimmy Fontana that made it onto the About Time soundtrack.
12. When I Fall In Love – Barbar Gough, Sagat Guirey, Andy Hamill & Tim Herniman
Jeri Southern was the first artist to record When I Fall In Love all the way back in 1952. Dozens of acts have sung it since, including Nat King Cole, Celine Dion, Rick Astley, and Etta James. On the About Time soundtrack, we get to enjoy singer and actress Barbar Gough’s sultry interpretation.
11. At the River – Groove Armada
Back when Groove Armada first released At the River in 1997, they only issued 500 copies. Fortunately, everyone who missed out on it the first time around had the chance to hear it when it appeared on the group’s debut album Northern Star and then again on their second album, Vertigo.
10. Golborne Road – Nick Laird-Clowes
About Time wouldn’t be the same without Nick Laird-Clowes’ score, and here we get an extra special helping of it in the form of Golborne Road.
9. All the Things She Said – t.A.T.u.
A lot of things about Russian duo t.A.T.u. turned out to be smoke and mirrors, but there’s nothing fake about the massive success of All the Things She Said, which topped the charts in Australia, Austria, France, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the UK, as well as making t.A.T.u. the first Russian act to ever have a top 40 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100.
8. Spiegel im Spiegel – Arvo Pärt
The About Time soundtrack is just the latest in a long line of films and TV shows to feature Arvo Pärt’s emotionally impactful Spiegel im Spiegel. Since 1978, it’s shown up in In Praise of Love, Swept Away, Burning Man, Gravity, and Novitiate, among others.
7. The Luckiest – Ben Folds
In 2001, Ben Folds released his first solo album after leaving Ben Folds Five, Rockin’ the Suburbs. The album, which All Music described as “a good, solid record that captures Ben Folds at his most engaging, and that’s more than enough,” was incredibly well-received… as was the instrumental version of The Luckiest when it showed up 12 years later on the About Time soundtrack.
6. How Long Will I Love You? – Ellie Goulding
Richard Curtis seems to have a bit of a passion for How Long Will I Love You? Not only does a cover by Jon Boden, Sam Sweeney & Ben Coleman make it into About Time, but we also get to enjoy Ellie Goulding’s version from her 2013 album Halcyon Days.
5. Into My Arms – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Melancholic optimism sounds like a contradiction in terms, until you realize it’s a description of a Nick Cave song -Into My Arms to be exact – at which point, it suddenly makes perfect sense.
4. Push the Button – Sugababes
Widely considered one of the sexiest, cleverest pop tunes to come out of the early 2000s, Push the Button took the Sugababes all the way to number 1 in the UK in 2005, not to mention into the top 10 of most of Europe.
3. Gold in them Hills – Ron Sexsmith
Ron Sexsmith’s 2002 album, Cobblestone Runway, was a runway triumph, artfully combining electronic arrangements and studio artifice with all the usual warmth we’d expect from the singer. There’s not a bad song among the bunch, with Gold in them Hills ranking as a particular highlight.
2. Back To Black – Amy Winehouse
The heartbreakingly autobiographical Back to Black gave Amy Winehouse the second-highest charting position of her career in 2007 when it reach number 8 on the UK Singles Chart.
1. Friday I’m In Love – The Cure
Robert Smith has described Friday I’m In Love as “a throw your hands in the air, let’s get happy kind of record” and “a very naïve, happy type of pop song”… which it might be, except that, this being the Cure, it also comes with plenty of gothic vibes on the side.
