Chick Flicks

Would the world’s most romantic movies be nearly as moving without the songs that swell at just the right moment? Can you even think of Titanic without hearing Céline Dion and the eternal strains of “My Heart Will Go On” soaring up from the depths? Is the everlasting love story that is Ghost as searingly spiritual without the timeless tones of the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” echoing throughout time and space? The ability to capture these stories in song, with all their glorious highs and aching lows, is what our Chick Flicks Basics is all about, from dreamgirl Beyoncé and her fiery, fabulous “Listen” to the burning, last-stand plea that is Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds.”

The reel world of Chick Flicks unspools in Next Steps.

A great movie is only partly about what happens in the theater — the feeling we get after the credits roll and we’re back once more in the harsh light of day is what makes or breaks a movie romance, and how a certain song calls up that feeling is what makes a Chick Flick tune click, whether it’s the bittersweet rush of Barbra’s Streisand’s all-timer “The Way We Were,” or the free-and-easy breakout of Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose.” And while Irene Cara embodies the urge to live forever with the classic track “Fame,” new-school crooner Michael Bublé stokes a retro flame on the intimate slow-burn sensation of “Kissing a Fool.”

Cut to Deep Cuts for more Chick Flick greats.

Sometimes a Chick Flick theme takes on a life of its own — witness “Wind Beneath My Wings,” the soaring Bette Midler standard that lives on as a tribute to everyday heroes; or “Iris,” the angelic power ballad that pushed the Goo Goo Dolls into the pop-rock stratosphere. “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” sings a footloose Deniece Williams, whose beloved ’80s dance track is probably better known in the clubs than on the screen, while Whitney Houston takes a tune from her Bodyguard movie debut and transforms it into its own girl-power anthem on “I’m Every Woman.”

“Play it Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By’” — and with that line, Casablanca’s Ingrid Bergman reveals how, of all the themes in all the movies in all the world, one sweet sentimental song can deliver an entire lifetime of heartbreak, redemption, and romance. Fast-forward a few decades and it’s still true, as Peter Gabriel’s atmospheric ode “In Your Eyes” wafts out from a boombox held high by a heartsick lover, or a gang of high-school misfits bond to the tune of the Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me).” With our Chick Flick Essentials, we make it easy to keep these celluloid sensations at your fingertips, from the seize-the-day potential of Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten,” to the steeped-in-love soul of Dionne Farris’ “Hopeless,” to the spine-tingling liftoff of Whitney Houston’s mega-smash ballad “I Will Always Love You.”