“Decode” by Paramore: Was the ‘Twilight’ soundtrack underrated?

It’s time that we, as a society, come together to admit something we’ve denied or ignored for years: The Twilight soundtrack is good. The soundtrack, which was released alongside the film in 2008, was produced by Alexandra Patsavas, who’s also known for producing the iconic soundtracks on shows like Gossip Girl and Grey’s Anatomy. 

The song “Decode” by Paramore was nominated for a Grammy in 2010. Sure, the Grammys aren’t what they once were in terms of prestige and critical weight, but it’s worth noting that this song from a teenage romance movie about vampires was nominated alongside other, possibly more “high-brow” things. 

In addition to a Grammy nomination, the Twilight soundtrack was nominated for and won an American Music Award for best soundtrack. To that we say “Good job, America! The Twilight soundtrack is good!”

Tracks

The soundtrack kicks off with “Supermassive Black Hole” by the British band Muse. It plays during the baseball scene, and was reportedly included due to Twilight author Stephenie Meyer’s love for the band. 

“Supermassive Black Hole” is followed by “Decode”, which was actually written for the movie. Hayley Williams wrote the lyrics to the song with Bella & Edward in mind, and the result is a song as angsty and over-the-top as the movie itself (in the best way). 

Remember, Twilight came out in 2008, so of course there’s a song by Linkin Park on the soundtrack. “Leave Out All the Rest” plays right before “Decode” during the movie’s credits, and was apparently also chosen because Stephenie Meyer’s music taste is shockingly similar to that of a teenager who wears too much eyeliner.

“Decode” wasn’t the only Paramore track to appear on the album. The band also wrote “I Caught Myself”, a little banger that plays in the background during Bella’s shopping trip in Port Angeles. Yet another example of the movie absolutely nailing the life of a teenager in 2008: going prom dress shopping with your friends while Paramore plays in the background.

Twilight fans will already know this, but it’s worth mentioning that Robert Pattinson added two original songs to the soundtrack. The first is “Never Think” and it plays in the background of Bella & Edward’s first date. We think the title represents the real reason Edward can’t hear Bella’s thoughts. The other song is called “Let Me Sign”, and plays during the climax of the movie.

Sequel Soundtracks

Alexandra Patsavas returned to produce the soundtrack for New Moon, which might actually even be better than the first Twilight soundtrack. After the success of the first movie and soundtrack, the New Moon soundtrack featured more original songs written for the film. 

Death Cab for Cutie wrote the lead single for the film’s soundtrack. The song was titled “Meet Me on the Equinox”. Thom Yorke wrote a song for the soundtrack as well, called “Hearing Damage”, and it is as awesome as you can imagine. 

Other contributors to the soundtrack include The Killers, who wrote “White Demon Love Song”, which plays in the credits. Plus, there’s a remix of another Muse song, because what would Twilight be without it? Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that Bon Iver and St. Vincent casually got together to make the greatest song of all time, “Rosyln”, for this soundtrack.

It’s hard to beat the first two Twilight soundtracks, but there are some songs worth mentioning from Eclipse and the Breaking Dawn soundtracks. The Black Keys, Beck, Vampire Weekend, Sia, Florence + the Machine, and St. Vincent are some notable names who contributed to the later soundtracks. 

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We don’t know about you, but after all these years it feels good to get this off our chest. What do you think of the Twilight soundtracks? Do you have a favorite? Where were you when you first watched the baseball scene? Let us know!