''Magnolia: Music from the Motion Picture'' is the soundtrack album to the 1999 film ''

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

'' by

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. He made his feature-film debut with ''Hard Eight (film), Hard Eight'' (1996). He found critical and commercial success with ''Boogie Nights'' ( ...

. Largely composed of songs by

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released more than a dozen albums as a solo artist and with other musicians. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyr ...

, it also features tracks by Gabrielle,

Supertramp Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending pro ...

and

Jon Brion Jon Brion is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, 'Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer. Brion has ...

. The album received positive reviews and was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in 2001.

Music

The music of Aimee Mann inspired the director

to write ''Magnolia;'' he said he "sat down to write an adaptation of Aimee Mann songs". The film also features a sequence in which the characters sing along to Mann's song "Wise Up". Mann originally recorded "Wise Up" to be used in the 1996 film ''

Jerry Maguire ''Jerry Maguire'' is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama sports film written, produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe; it stars Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger, and Regina King. Produced in part by James L. Brooks, it was inspi ...

'', but the director,

Cameron Crowe Cameron Bruce Crowe (born July 13, 1957) is an American journalist, author, writer, producer, director, actor, lyricist, and playwright. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, for wh ...

, felt the final version did not fit the scene he planned it for. Crowe said: "It was definitely heartbreaking to not be able to use it. Of course, Paul Thomas Anderson was smart enough to give it a bigger home in ''Magnolia''." Only two of the songs were written for the film: "You Do" and " Save Me". "Save Me" garnered Mann an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, losing to

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

's song "

You'll Be in My Heart "You'll Be in My Heart" is a song by English drummer and singer Phil Collins from the 1999 Disney animated feature ''Tarzan''. It appeared on '' Tarzan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack'' as well as various other Disney compilations. I ...

" from ''

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

''. The tracks "Deathly", "Driving Sideways", and "You Do" also appear on Aimee Mann's following album, '' Bachelor No. 2'', though the track "Save Me" replaces "Driving Sideways" on EU editions. "Nothing Is Good Enough", here an

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

, appears in lyrical form on that album. (''Bachelor'' also includes "Red Vines", a song Mann wrote about director Anderson.) The song "One", written by

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ove ...

and originally made popular by

Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup ...

, is played during the first five minutes of the movie, and contains several obscure musical references to other Nilsson songs. It opens with a sample of Nilsson saying "Okay, Mr. Mix!" taken from the start of his song "Cuddly Toy". This version of the song also includes lyrics from Nilsson's song "Together" sung in the background. ("Life isn't easy when two are divided / and one has decided / to bring down the curtain / and one thing's for certain / there's nothing to keep them together."). Furthermore, the opening vocal motif from Nilsson's song "Good Old Desk" is used as a background vocal line (at approximately 1:54 into the song).

Neil Innes Neil James Innes (; 9 December 1944 – 29 December 2019) was an English writer, comedian and musician. He first came to prominence in the pioneering comedy rock group Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and later became a frequent collaborator with the Mon ...

, from The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and

The Rutles The Rutles () were a rock band that performed visual and aural pastiches and parodies of the Beatles. This originally fictional band, created by Eric Idle and Neil Innes for a sketch in Idle's mid-1970s BBC television comedy series ''Rutland We ...

, and

Chris Difford Christopher Henry Difford (born 4 November 1954) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. He is a founding member and songwriter of the rock group Squeeze. Musical career Born in Greenwich, London, Difford has written ly ...

of Squeeze provide backing vocals. This track originally appeared on the '' For the Love of Harry: Everybody Sings Nilsson'' tribute album.

Reception

In a 2020 look back at the release, Alex McLevy of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' praised the film for widening Mann's audience and the unique way that the writing of the film coincided with the musician's songwriting. By February 2001, the soundtrack had sold 410,000 units in the United States.

Track listing

All songs performed by Aimee Mann, except where noted.

Charts and certifications

Charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1999 soundtrack albums Aimee Mann soundtracks Albums produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer) Albums produced by Jon Brion 1990s film soundtrack albums Reprise Records soundtracks