The Virgin Suicides (soundtrack)

Sofia Coppola wanted the film's soundtrack to convey the feeling of adolescence in the suburbs, a theme to be reflected in the songs chosen from the time the film is set: 1975.^[3] Not wanting to rely only on hits from the early 1970s, she opted to combine songs of the period with a "consistently other-worldly soundtrack" in the score by Air, a band she had listened to while writing the screenplay.^[3] (The score Air composed for The Virgin Suicides was released as a separate album on February 23, 2000; the band would also go on to collaborate with the filmmaker on some of her subsequent projects.)

Coppola opined that this soundtrack, despite being filled with 1970s music, also had a modern feel. There is a song by the Canadian band Sloan, who formed in 1991; and two selections from Air, including "Playground Love (Vibraphone Version)", a new recording made especially for the soundtrack. She also found that she shared many of her suburban memories and experiences with Air's Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel, even though they grew up in a different country.^[3]

Brian Reitzell, the film's music consultant (and a former member of Redd Kross), said he wanted to select songs "that were not the songs that everyone thinks of at first, but ones that are a little more obscure. It was important to strike that intimate chord that transports you back to that period. But we also didn't want to be obvious with our choices. We didn't pick any stoner rock for the film, which is what everyone seems to be doing."^[3]

More information Review scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
NME	7.5/10[5]
Pitchfork	4.8/10[6]

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The soundtrack received positive reviews from critics. AllMusic contributor Gina Boldman wrote: "The soundtrack replays the myriad emotions of adolescence and those of the Lisbon girls in particular."^[4] Pitchfork's Mark Richardson gave context to the album's focus on the '70s in his review: "This soundtrack seeks to replicate the feel of mainstream mid-'70s radio, and to that end, it's a wild success. This is what it sounded like — from the banal pop of 10cc to the raw (okay, medium-rare) power of Heart to the epic romanticism of Styx. Forget disco, CBGB's, punk, and new wave. That stuff didn't play in Peoria until much later. For a real taste of what a suburban kid playing Space Invaders was likely to hear pumping over the arcade sound system, this collection is the real thing. The problem is, no one ever said mainstream '70s radio was particularly good. It was like the mainstream radio of any other time, with a few true innovators, a glut of imitators, and a handful of the truly awful. All are represented here in their proper proportions."^[6]

In his 2021 article on music and gender in Coppola's film for Our Culture Mag, Konstantinos Pappis wrote that "what’s certain is that the role of music is more than just affective or nostalgic; it inhabits a complex and often gendered perspective that may either reinforce or offer an alternative to and an escape from the gaze."^[7]

Clare Nina Norelli of Mubi.com gave a comparative analysis of the film's incorporated music and its score: "Within the film, rock and pop songs tether the narrative to the material world both diegetically and non-diegetically, connecting the boys to the Lisbon sisters and locating the action firmly within the film’s mid-1970s setting through its contemporaneous music choices [...] We hear these songs when the sisters give a small party at their home, attend their school dance, and when they engage in a moving telephone exchange with the boys that involves playing records to each other in order to express the inexpressible, allowing the music to speak where they cannot."^[8] She further described Air's work as "metaphysical, aligned with the heavens" and added: "Through its spacious, soaring, almost hymnal synth harmonies, pulsating rhythms, and bittersweet melodies, their score conveys musically the translucence of memory and invests the ethereal specters of the Lisbon sisters on screen with an added otherworldliness."^[8]

Credits taken from The Virgin Suicides liner notes.^[9]

• Sofia Coppola – cover art, liner notes
• Corinne Day – photography
• Dan Hersh – mastering
• Bill Inglot – mastering
• George McFetridge – design
• Jill Meyers – music business affairs
• Brian Reitzell – music supervisor

(*further US/UK vinyl reissues followed in 2023-24)