Music

The director of 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' explained why David Bowie's "'Heroes'" appears in the film instead of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide."

Published on September 27, 2022

TL;DR:

• Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” appeared in the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
• David Bowie’s “‘Heroes'” appeared in the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
• One of the songs was a much bigger hit than the other in the United States.

Fleetwood Mac‘s “Landslide” was referenced in the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower. In the film adaptation of the book, “Landslide” was replaced with David Bowie’s “‘Heroes.'” Subsequently, the director of the movie explained the change.

The director of ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ discussed the use of music in the movie

Stephen Chbosky wrote the novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower and directed its film adaptation. During a 2022 interview with Vanity Fair, Chbosky discussed the film’s relationship to music. 

“When I wrote the book, there were CDs — the iPod had not even been invented, let alone streaming and Spotify and Apple Music, et cetera,” he said. “Yet even though the delivery system of the songs has changed, remarkably, the songs have not. The way a young person will see the tunnel moment or my personal favorite scene in the entire movie, which is the first kiss scene between Charlie and Sam, no matter how they see it, it’s still the same moment.”

Stephen Chbosky wanted to use David Bowie’s ”Heroes” in the film instead of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Landslide’

In the book, “Landslide” plays during a pivotal scene. In the film, “Landslide” was replaced with “‘Heroes.'” Chbosky was asked whether he’d use “Landslide” instead of “‘Heroes'” if he remade the movie. 

“It would absolutely remain ‘Heroes,'” he said. “It fit perfectly. I always felt like one of the greatest things about art is that art at its best can become something of a whispered secret. It can be that playlist or that song or that story that is passed from one person to another. I know that as remarkable as David Bowie is, as amazing as that song is, for many, many, many people, the way they found it was Perks.”

How ‘Landslide’ and ”Heroes” performed on the charts in the United States

Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” was a minor hit. It reached No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for a total of 20 weeks. The track appeared on the album Fleetwood Mac. The album peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a week, remaining on the chart for 168 weeks.

Bowie’s “‘Heroes'” never charted on the Billboard Hot 100. It appeared on the album “Heroes.” The album reached No. 35 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 19 weeks.

“Landslide” was more popular than “‘Heroes'” but the latter appeared in The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

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