Behind the Music of Baby Driver, With Director Edgar Wright (2024)

FAQs

Why is music important in Baby Driver? ›

“Baby Driver” blurs these lines in a way that few films have dared to attempt. Here, the music Baby listens to—the diegetic music—becomes an omnipresent force, guiding not only the protagonist's actions but also the editing, scene transitions, and even the timing of dialogues and gunshots.

“Baby Driver” teaches us that good and evil are subjective with plenty of gray areas in between. While a person's upbringing may result in negative behaviors, it's not always synonymous with the corruption of the person as a whole. Instead, it's the person's ultimate intentions that determine the goodness of an action.

The automotive scenes tend toward recently underexposed, revved-up '70s rock classics by the likes of Queen and Golden Earring, but the “Baby Driver” soundtrack also offers cuts of various styles and vintage from Beck, Brubeck, Barry White, the Beach Boys, and soul duo Bob and Earl, just to touch on Wright's B-list.

"Bellbottoms" by The John Spencer Blues Explosion: This track can be heard in Baby Driver when Baby waits for Buddy, Darling, and Griff as they rob a bank in the movie's opening arc.

In Atlanta, Miles, self-named "Baby", is a young getaway driver who lost his parents in a car crash that left him with tinnitus, and finds catharsis in music. He ferries crews of robbers assembled by kingpin Doc to pay off a debt as recompense for theft of a car containing Doc's illicit goods.

Debora prepares to ram it, but Baby stops her and surrenders, telling her she does not belong in the world of crime. At Baby's trial, Joseph, Debora, and several people Baby saved during the robberies testify in his defense. Baby is sentenced to 25 years in prison, with a parole hearing after 5 years served.

Baby, a music-loving orphan also happens to be the prodigiously talented go-to getaway driver for heist mastermind Doc. With the perfect soundtrack picked out for each and every job, Baby ensures Doc's violent, bank-robbing cronies, including Buddy, Bats and Darling, get in and out of Dodge before it's too late. He's not in it for the long haul though, hoping to nail one last job before riding off into the sunset with beautiful diner waitress Debora. Easier said than done.

Baby Driver / Film synopsis

Nevertheless, Baby's interactions with many characters leave them to think he is deaf. Baby Driver provides a brief flashback explaining how Baby got Tinnitus. While Baby does have a hard time hearing certain people and things, he is not deaf.

Wright told Entertainment Weekly that it was around the time of directing “Blue Song” that he got the inspiration for Baby Driver. When Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams saw the video, he told Wright it would be an incredible feature, giving Wright the extra boost he needed to really attack it.

Diegetic means that the music is happening within the scene, so what you are hearing, the characters are hearing, too. In the case of Baby Driver, sometimes it's only the lead character listening to it, because he's got headphones on, but essentially, the song is playing as source in the scene.

What is the sound in the Baby Driver? ›

In Baby Driver, the sound is primarily diegetic as everything comes from Baby's headphones or a car radio. It may be heightened so we can hear it clearly, but we still know where the music is coming from. The counter to that is non-diegetic sound, which is a sound that isn't part of the on-screen world.

Viewers learn, partway through the movie, that Baby suffers from tinnitus (a constant whine in the ear, result of a car crash when he was a child) and so listens to music to drown out that whine.

Plus, the iPod is iconic and if Edgar Wright had used smart phones instead of iPods the movie would have been outdated before it even hit the editing room. So Edgar Wright chose to use an already vintage but iconic music player and give us Apple geeks something to talk about.

Sky Ferreira version

American singer and songwriter Sky Ferreira released a rendition of the song for the soundtrack of the 2017 film Baby Driver, in which she plays Baby's mother. It was produced by Nigel Godrich.

Wright told Entertainment Weekly that it was around the time of directing “Blue Song” that he got the inspiration for Baby Driver. When Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams saw the video, he told Wright it would be an incredible feature, giving Wright the extra boost he needed to really attack it.

In Baby Driver, the sound is primarily diegetic as everything comes from Baby's headphones or a car radio. It may be heightened so we can hear it clearly, but we still know where the music is coming from. The counter to that is non-diegetic sound, which is a sound that isn't part of the on-screen world.

So to give you an idea of the film's set-up – Baby is a young getaway driver on the streets of Atlanta. He has tinnitus and to drown out the incessant ringing he listens to music.

Music plays a powerful role in the lives of young children. Through music, babies and toddlers can come to better understand themselves and their feelings, learn to decipher patterns and solve problems, and discover the world around them in rich, complex ways.