Let us rejoice & let us sing & dance & ring in the new, hail Atlantis!

One of my favorite parts of Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas" (1990) is the barroom scene in which Tommy (Joe Pesci) and Jimmy (Robert DeNiro) pummel Billy Batts (Frank Vincent) while Henry (Ray Liotta) looks on. As strange as it sounds, I think the scene is handled with a lot of sensitivity -- I mean, check out Henry's expression of angst as he rushes to lock the front door, and the way the three goodfellas, later in the scene, gingerly wrap Billy's twitching body in tablecloths.

But you know what really makes the scene come together for me? The music.

The song playing in the bar is "Atlantis" by Donovan, which is already great song by a great artist, but coupled with the onscreen action takes on a whole new meaning. The song is a psychedelic celebration of the once-bustling island which, after the flood, became submerged "way down below" the Atlantic Ocean. There's something about the way the song's volume increases at Donovan reaches the song's repetitive, but dramatic, climax, "Way down below the ocean, where I want to be, she may be, way down below the ocean, where I want to be, she may be..." that really makes this a really memorable film moment for me, a real classic.

It is strangely satisfying, ultimately, for such a delicate, contemplative song to be constrasted with such graphic, spontaneous, messy onscreen violence (the end of this scene is actually the first scene of the film, which accommodates a tantamount level of violence). The song's slow and dramatic build-up complements Billy's "Go home and get your shinebox" egging-on of Tommy, which is the spark that sets the wheels of violence in motion.

It was also Martin Scorsese's idea to use The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" in the opening scene of "Mean Streets." That genius!