Ranking All the Songs from the Blow Soundtrack

You might be surprised to learn that the 2001 movie “Blow” is about the ever-increasing ability for people to get cocaine throughout the United States in the 1970s. This was largely facilitated by a cartel that was operated by Pablo Escobar. At its core, the movie is a crime drama that runs just a little more than two hours in length. It also comes with what is widely regarded as one of the best movie soundtracks that’s been completed in decades. Below are all the songs on that soundtrack, rated from worst to best. There’s also a YouTube link for each one.

13. Push & Pull (Nikka Costa)

 

In reality, this is a song that could fit a lot of different types of scenarios. The lyrics discuss someone who basically isn’t what they seem to be. The same lyrics also talk about how the individual in question is very good at presenting a particular facade that has been well-crafted, despite the fact that things are very different behind closed doors. In this particular case, the song is used to indicate that some of the people in the film appear to be practically harmless when in fact they’re only grooming people to increase their own drug trade.

12. Can’t You See (The Marshall Tucker Band)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNfurdzYZ_o

 

Like most of the songs in the film, all of these could fit a wide variety of different stories. If you take this song for the lyrics alone, it basically talks about leaving everything you know behind and going to a new location you’ve never been to before, all in hopes of leaving the old you in the past and starting a new life.

11. That Smell (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

 

This is a bit of an odd song that talks about living a lifestyle where you spend too much money and get involved with things that aren’t necessarily good for you. The lyrics specifically mention smoking and doing cocaine. They then take a turn and ask you to take an introspective look at yourself and ask yourself whether or not this is the type of life that you really want to be living.

10. Rumble (Link Wray)

 

Here, you have an instrumental song that is designed to evoke the feelings of going to battle with someone or something, even if that battle is an internal one that you have within yourself. Just as its title implies, it is a song that denotes not only preparing to fight, but actually going up against someone or something.

9. Strange Brew (Cream)

 

This is a song about doing something drastically different. The lyrics themselves mention killing whatever it is that lurks inside of you. Obviously, that can be taken in a number of different ways. In this particular context, it could mean killing everything good in the wake of addiction. However, it could also mean killing those demons that caused you to become addicted in the first place in order for something better to come along.

8. Keep It Comin’ Love (KC and the Sunshine Band)

 

The title for this one is fairly self-explanatory. Just as you might have already guessed, it’s a song that talks about not changing and keeping something the same as it already is. That could mean a lot of different things, there’s no doubt about that. In this particular case, it could mean not wanting to change in order to emerge on the other side of addiction, as that is arguably one of the most difficult things that people will probably have to do in their lives.

7. Blinded by the Light (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band)

 

Here you have a song that talks about being literally blinded by something, in this case the light. However, it’s probably not the type of white that you’re thinking of. It can also mean being blinded by something that is skewed by your own perception. Sometimes, people only see what they want to see and that means that they may be completely blind to the problems that are staring them right in the face. It often takes someone on the outside looking in to realize what’s really going on.

6. Yellow World (J GIRLS)

 

This is a rather mysterious song. It’s not one that a lot of people have heard of and once they do hear it, many people don’t really know what to make of it. The fact that it makes you feel uncertain and keeps you guessing is one of the main reasons it was included in the soundtrack. What better emotion to convey in a song about deliberately getting people addicted to cocaine and other drugs than this?

5. All The Tired Horses (Bob Dylan)

 

Bob Dylan has long been associated with an ability to use his music to convey some of the bigger sociological problems going on in the world at any given point in time. That makes this song a near-perfect fit for a film like this. Oddly enough, it’s still extremely poignant today. Chances are, it will continue to be so well into the future.

4. Glad and Sorry (Faces)

 

The lyrics in this song talk about the different types of emotions that people go through but it also points out something rather interesting. It discusses how the emotions that you think you see on someone’s face aren’t always entirely correct, especially if they’re trying to hide something that might be disturbing them in the background. In the context of the film, it’s a perfect song because it alludes to these people that seem like they were trustworthy when they are anything but.

3. Let’s Boogaloo (Willie Rosario)

 

This is another song that isn’t quite as well recognized as many of the others on the soundtrack. It’s definitely capable of moving the story forward and at the same time, it can stand on its own as a completely separate piece of work. Like so many of the other songs on the soundtrack, it’s context changes depending on your outlook. As such, it’s likely that you’ll see it in a different context while watching the film as opposed to just listening to it on its own.

2. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking (The Rolling Stones)

 

By itself, this is a song that most people associate with someone who’s trying to get your attention. That “someone” can be anything, including another person or even some responsibility that’s hanging over your head. In this case, it’s the struggle with addiction that’s doing the knocking.

1. Black Betty (Ram Jam)

 

Anyone who’s ever heard this song will tell you that the only way it’s ever going to make sense is probably going to be if you’re actually high. It has a good beat and that makes it a fan-favorite, but the lyrics aren’t terribly poignant in their own right. Nevertheless, it’s a perfect song for this film so there’s no reason that it shouldn’t be in the number one slot.