# Goodfellas (soundtrack)
**Goodfellas (Music from the Motion Picture)** is the soundtrack album to Martin Scorsese's 1990 gangster film *Goodfellas*, released by [Atlantic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-records) in 1990. The film itself is built almost entirely on pre-existing popular songs rather than an original orchestral score, and the album collects twelve of them, from [Tony Bennett](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-bennett)'s 1953 hit "Rags to Riches" to the piano exit of [Derek and the Dominos](https://www.edgepedia.org/derek-and-the-dominos)' "Layla".[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/goodfellas-mw0000311159) • [2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/goodfellas-original-motion-picture-soundtrack--mr0002961684)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Album | *Goodfellas [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]*, Various Artists, Atlantic Records, catalog 7567-82152-2[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/goodfellas-original-motion-picture-soundtrack--mr0002961684) |
| Release | October 1, 1990 (CD); Apple Music lists September 18, 1990[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/goodfellas-original-motion-picture-soundtrack--mr0002961684) • [3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/goodfellas-music-from-the-motion-picture/322025393) |
| Length | about 38 minutes across 12 tracks[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/goodfellas-original-motion-picture-soundtrack--mr0002961684) |
| Coverage | Only a fraction of the almost 45 songs heard in the film[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/goodfellas-mw0000311159) |
| Period span | Music from the '40s through the early '70s[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/goodfellas-mw0000311159) |
| Bookends | Opens with Tony Bennett's "Rags to Riches"; closes with "Layla (Piano Exit)" by Derek and the Dominos[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/goodfellas-mw0000311159) |
| Original score | The film uses no line of original music, only a mosaic of songs[4](https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/wp-content/uploads/CR2020_CATALOGO.pdf) |
## The album
The official twelve-track CD runs about 38 minutes and was issued on Atlantic as catalog number 7567-82152-2.[2](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/goodfellas-original-motion-picture-soundtrack--mr0002961684) The track listing is:[5](https://www.soundtrackinfo.com/tracks/goodfellas/)
1. "Rags To Riches" – Tony Bennett (2:51)
2. "Sincerely" – The Moonglows (3:08)
3. "Speedo" – The Cadillacs (2:24)
4. "Stardust" – Billy Ward & His Dominoes (3:14)
5. "Look In My Eyes" – The Chantels (2:20)
6. "Life Is But A Dream" – The Harptones (2:43)
7. "Remember (Walkin' In The Sand)" – Shangri-Las (2:18)
8. "Baby I Love You" – [Aretha Franklin](https://www.edgepedia.org/aretha-franklin) (2:38)
9. "Beyond The Sea" – [Bobby Darin](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobby-darin) (2:55)
10. "Sunshine Of Your Love" – Cream (4:13)
11. "Mannish Boy" – [Muddy Waters](https://www.edgepedia.org/muddy-waters) (5:24)
12. "Layla (Piano Exit)" – Derek And The Dominos (3:53)
AllMusic's review describes the selections as well chosen and not overused, ranging from Bennett's "Rags to Riches" through the Cadillacs' "Speedo", the Harptones' "Life Is But a Dream", Aretha Franklin's "Baby I Love You", and Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love", while calling the album a little on the short side at 38 minutes.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/goodfellas-mw0000311159) Apple Music frames the collection as a personalized reflection of Martin Scorsese's 1960s youth, in which cool cocktail crooners such as Tony Bennett and Bobby Darin sit alongside Cream's adrenalized psychedelia, with doo-wop capturing the movie's abrupt emotional turnarounds.[3](https://music.apple.com/us/album/goodfellas-music-from-the-motion-picture/322025393)
## Music as the film's score
*Goodfellas* contains no original composed music. The Il Cinema Ritrovato catalog describes Scorsese as editing the film's rhythms "with the precision of clockwork" and notes that he "does not use a line of original music, just a mosaic of songs, which reconstruct the musical 'foundation' of an era and a community".[4](https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/wp-content/uploads/CR2020_CATALOGO.pdf) Scorsese explained his approach directly: "When I talk about recreating the spirit of that world, the music is as important as the dialogue and the behavior."[6](https://sbiff.org/goodfellas/)
The songs function as a chronicle of the central character's life. In Reay's analysis of the film's compilation score, period-specific subgenres let the music "chronicle the life of the central character", [Henry Hill](https://www.edgepedia.org/henry-hill), from his youth represented by The Cleftones' "Can't We Be Sweethearts" (recorded 1956) to his going into hiding under a false identity at the end of the film, represented by the [Sex Pistols](https://www.edgepedia.org/sex-pistols)' punk version of "My Way" (recorded 1978).[7](https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/5443/1/Anthony_Hogg_PhD_Thesis.pdf) Reay also points out that for "Rags to Riches" it is the lyrics, rather than the musical style, that set the mood and state one of the film's main themes, a structural difference between popular songs and classical film scoring.[7](https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/5443/1/Anthony_Hogg_PhD_Thesis.pdf)
**Juxtaposition with violence.** Several commentators single out the film's pairing of wistful or romantic songs with brutal action. The sound engineer Tom Fleischman, who worked on the film, observed that a particular song sets the psychological tone of a scene and becomes its subtext, and that the pop songs make the characters and their actions appear more depraved and despicable by comparison.[8](https://cinemontage.org/tom-fleischman-goodfellas/) AllMusic's review describes the use of "Layla (Piano Exit)" against the backdrop of corpses, where the beautiful song emphasizes the brutality of the crime and of the gangster business itself.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/goodfellas-mw0000311159) A University of Glasgow thesis notes that *Goodfellas* and *Reservoir Dogs* both present scenes where upbeat pop songs soundtrack murders.[9](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/608/1/2008edmonstonephd.pdf)
## Production
Chris Brooks was the music editor on *Goodfellas*; in a 2015 Esquire interview marking the film's twenty-fifth anniversary he discussed the soundtrack, the relationship between music and emotions, and how Scorsese planned out the musical cues.[10](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/interviews/a34568/chris-brooks-music-editor-goodfellas/) The film takes its relentless tempo from a jukebox-like selection of songs on the soundtrack, including artists such as Tony Bennett, Muddy Waters, Aretha Franklin, and the Rolling Stones.[11](https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/culture/goodfellas-martin-scorsese-joe-pesci-robert-de-niro-mafia-the-irishman-a9655981.html)
## Reception and influence
The film's music practice has been treated as a distinct approach to scoring. Julie Hubbert's chapter "'Without Music, I Would Be Lost': Scorsese, Goodfellas, and a New Soundtrack Practice", in the Oxford Academic volume *Popular Music and the New Auteur* (2013), describes Scorsese's characteristic synthesis of carefully chosen soundtracks, jarring variations in pacing, and definitive subtext communicated through carefully chosen musical selections.[12](https://academic.oup.com/book/26544/chapter-abstract/195062099?itm_content=Oxford_Academic_Books_0) In a TIME poll of directors and composers on the best soundtracks, director [John Landis](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-landis) cited Marty Scorsese's use of rock and roll in *Goodfellas*, alongside [George Lucas](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-lucas)'s *American Graffiti* and Kubrick's use of "The Blue Danube" in *2001: A Space Odyssey*, as a terrific example of the "needle drop".[13](https://time.com/3507121/best-soundtracks/) The television series *The Sopranos* is described as inheriting *GoodFellas*' ironic use of popular music along with its demythologizing social texture.[14](https://sightlines.media/film/769/goodfellas-1990)
Because the film uses almost 45 songs while the album holds 12, much of the film's music does not appear on the official CD.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/album/goodfellas-mw0000311159)
## References
1. [Goodfellas [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] review, AllMusic (Steven McDonald)](https://www.allmusic.com/album/goodfellas-mw0000311159)
2. [Goodfellas [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] release details, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/goodfellas-original-motion-picture-soundtrack--mr0002961684)
3. [Goodfellas (Music from the Motion Picture), Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/goodfellas-music-from-the-motion-picture/322025393)
4. [Il Cinema Ritrovato 2020 catalog, The Profound Desire of the Gods entry](https://festival.ilcinemaritrovato.it/wp-content/uploads/CR2020_CATALOGO.pdf)
5. [Goodfellas Soundtrack complete album tracklisting, SoundtrackINFO](https://www.soundtrackinfo.com/tracks/goodfellas/)
6. [Goodfellas, Santa Barbara International Film Festival](https://sbiff.org/goodfellas/)
7. [Anthony Hogg PhD thesis, University of Gloucestershire](https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/5443/1/Anthony_Hogg_PhD_Thesis.pdf)
8. [Tom Fleischman on 'GoodFellas', CineMontage](https://cinemontage.org/tom-fleischman-goodfellas/)
9. [Introduction, PhD thesis, University of Glasgow](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/608/1/2008edmonstonephd.pdf)
10. [Goodfellas Soundtrack – Music Editor Chris Brooks Remembers Goodfellas, Esquire](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/interviews/a34568/chris-brooks-music-editor-goodfellas/)
11. [Goodfellas at 30: Does it stand the test of time?, The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/culture/goodfellas-martin-scorsese-joe-pesci-robert-de-niro-mafia-the-irishman-a9655981.html)
12. [Julie Hubbert, "Without Music, I Would Be Lost": Scorsese, Goodfellas, and a New Soundtrack Practice, Oxford Academic](https://academic.oup.com/book/26544/chapter-abstract/195062099?itm_content=Oxford_Academic_Books_0)
13. [The Best Soundtracks of All Time, As Chosen by Directors and Composers, TIME](https://time.com/3507121/best-soundtracks/)
14. [GoodFellas (1990) analysis, Sightlines](https://sightlines.media/film/769/goodfellas-1990)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Soundtrack albums (film, TV, games, and screen media) › Live-action film soundtracks › Song and compilation soundtracks*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license