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Complete Tracklist
21 Tracks · 1962–1969 · Placed by Scene
Prologue & Act One — Summer 1969
| # | Song & Artist | Scene Placement |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Sound of SilenceSimon & Garfunkel | Opening image — Altamont the morning after. The camera moves over the wreckage: blankets, broken bottles, dried blood, a single trembling flower. Establishes the film's elegiac tone before rewinding to summer. |
| 02 | Dance to the MusicSly and the Family Stone | Spin City Records, Berkeley. The opening of Marcus and Lily's world — rattling glass on the turntable when they first see each other across the bins. |
| 03 | Try a Little TendernessOtis Redding | Marcus exits the record store with Lily's album under his arm, smiling to himself. The song accompanies his walk out into the Berkeley afternoon. |
| 04 | Since I Lost My BabyThe Temptations | Marcus's bedroom in Oakland. He and Lily sit on the floor together for the first time, listening to vinyl. The music is a lesson — he's teaching her to feel Motown. |
| 05 | White RoomCream | The jazz café — Marcus behind the bar, Lily and Sara arriving for the first time. She takes in the space slowly. Their first real conversation begins here. |
Act Two — Autumn 1969
| # | Song & Artist | Scene Placement |
|---|---|---|
| 06 | Stand By MeBen E. King | Lily flees her father's house barefoot in the night after he forbids the relationship. Marcus doesn't ask questions — he just grabs his keys. This song plays on the radio as the Chevy moves through the dark. |
| 07 | (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural WomanAretha Franklin | The secluded lake at night. Marcus parks. They sit on the hood. Aretha's voice wraps around them as they kiss for the first time — soft, then deeper. The scene of their first real intimacy. |
| 08 | Gimme ShelterThe Rolling Stones | The lake scene continues. As their intimacy deepens, the music shifts from Aretha into the Stones — primal, urgent. A storm is threatening. Used again later as Marcus and Lily arrive at Altamont. |
| 09 | You're All I Need to Get ByMarvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell | After the lake — Lily rests her head on Marcus's chest on the hood of the Chevy. His arm is around her. The song is a lullaby. She whispers a promise: Don't let them break this. |
| 10 | Your Precious LoveMarvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell | Marcus's bedroom — after a tense conversation with his mother, he re-enters and puts on Marvin Gaye, lip-syncing both parts to make Lily laugh. The weight in the room lifts. Temporarily. |
| 11 | JusticeDerrick Smith (original) | James's house party. Marcus takes a mic, guitar slung across his shoulder, and performs his own original song — looking directly at Lily as he sings. The room goes still. This is his gift made visible. |
| 12 | To Sir with LoveLulu | Marcus's car on a night drive. Lily faces him in the passenger seat and suggests they keep going after Altamont — just disappear together. The song holds the tenderness of the moment. |
| 13 | Little WingJimi Hendrix | The same drive, later. Lily leans her head on Marcus's shoulder. No more words. Just the hum of the engine and Hendrix's ethereal guitar. For one perfect moment, they've already left the world behind. |
Act Three — December 6, 1969 · Altamont
| # | Song & Artist | Scene Placement |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | California Dreamin'The Mamas & The Papas | Highway at sunrise — the four of them in Marcus's '57 Chevy, driving south toward Altamont. Windows down, Sara singing off-key, the sky gold and pink. The last truly joyful moment of the film. |
| 15 | Scarborough FairSimon & Garfunkel | Midday highway. Sara asleep against the window, James's feet on the dashboard. Lily's head on Marcus's shoulder, their hands intertwined. The song is dreamlike, almost otherworldly — a false peace before arrival. |
| 16 | All Along the WatchtowerJimi Hendrix | The Chevy crests the hill. Below: three hundred thousand people flooding a barren speedway. Hendrix rises from the massive speakers. Marcus whistles low. Lily says: We made it. |
| 17 | Black Magic WomanSantana | Early afternoon at Altamont. Santana on stage. Sara and Lily dance barefoot in the dust — still bliss, still beautiful. Marcus watches from the back and sees the Hells Angels gathering at the edges. |
| 18 | White RabbitJefferson Airplane | Jefferson Airplane's set. The colors feel sharper. The shadows longer. Grace Slick's voice is eerie over the crowd as the first violence erupts near the stage. Marcus locks his arm around Lily: Stay close. |
| 19 | Sympathy for the DevilThe Rolling Stones | The Rolling Stones take the stage as night falls. The bassline throbs through the ground. A Hells Angel singles out Marcus — the confrontation is racial, explicit, fatal. Marcus is stabbed as the song plays on. The dream ends here. |
| 20 | Under My ThumbThe Rolling Stones | Marcus dies in Lily's arms. The Stones keep playing, indifferent. His final words: You're my song, Lil. The music continues over her screams — cruel, relentless, oblivious. |
Epilogue & End Credits
| # | Song & Artist | Scene Placement |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Love Theme from Romeo and JulietHenry Mancini | Aftermath and funeral. The strings swell over Lily cradling Marcus in the dirt, over his coffin being lowered, over her placing his guitar pick in the soil. The parallel to Romeo & Juliet is intentional and complete. |
| 22 | A Change Is Gonna ComeSam Cooke | The final sequence. Lily boards a Greyhound bus at sunset with Marcus's denim jacket. James walks into the Black Panther meeting. Mrs. Johnson lights a candle. The bus disappears into the California hills. The song carries the last of the film's grief and its stubborn, surviving hope. |
Original Song — "Justice" by Derrick Smith
Marcus's original composition, performed live at James's house party, is the emotional pivot of Act Two. It is the moment Lily understands fully what Marcus is — and what the world stands to lose. The song plays again over the end credits in its full composition, serving as a final elegy for Marcus, for Lily, and for the generation whose idealism Altamont consumed. Written by Derrick Smith.