10 original songs cut from 'La La Land' for who knows why
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's romantic musical La La Land is already off and running this award season.
After sweeping the Golden Globes (winning the most awards for one movie in the show's history), the film shows no signs of slowing down come time for the Oscars. But it wasn't always such a sure thing. The movie's soundtrack is undoubtedly an all-time great, but the tracks that were cut tell a slightly different story.
After doing some research, we found 10 original songs that, for one reason or another, didn't make the final cut of La La Land.
Some of them would have made the movie better, sure, but thankfully they'll probably be included in the director's cut.
1. "'Rebel Without a Cause' Is Pretty Good"
A beautiful 10-minute number in which Mia and Sebastian discuss the merits of Rebel Without a Cause. They both like it but agree that movies generally look nicer these days, due to technology. Why was it cut from the final film? Probably length.
2. "In Los Angeles Everybody Drives a Car to Work and That's What Causes the Traffic"
While walking the streets of Los Angeles, Mia and Sebastian dive into the city's infamous traffic problem. During a solo, Mia diagnoses the central cause of all the traffic: too many cars. This song was reportedly cut because it offended test audiences.
3. "This Is What a Plane Does, Based on What I've Seen"
Perhaps the film's most iconic scene is one in which Mia and Sebastian sing "A Lovely Night," while dancing with one another at sunset. While the choreography was kept in the final film, it was originally intended to be tied to a 15-minute song about how planes fly. Mia and Sebastian do plane noises at each other and disagree about "what a plane looks like when it takes off."
According to Hollywood insiders, the song made the film's main characters seem too "anti-planes" for American audiences so they changed it to the song about how night time is a good time.
4. "Let Me Describe to You in Great Detail How Foucault's Pendulum Works and Why, My Love"
Cut from the final film, this romantic scene takes place at the Griffith Observatory. In a melancholy ballad, Sebastian very clinically explains how Foucault's Pendulum demonstrates the rotation of the Earth. Mia says "I love that" and then they kiss a TON.
The song was cut because it was too risqué.
5. "The Epidemic of Insurance Fraud"
It seems crazy, but La La Land originally had a whole opening number about insurance fraud and how common it really is. At one point in the number, a host of extras intentionally damage their cars and try to collect insurance money. They are all arrested and tried in criminal court.
The song was cut with the intent to expand it into its own movie next year.
6. "Now That You Understand Jazz, Let Me Explain Chillwave"
This whole song is Sebastian explaining different types of music to Mia. He covers Chillwave, Folk Americana, Darkcore and Cosmic Disco.
7. "The Waiter's 'Soup Of The Day' Song"
A song where a waiter sings the soups of the day at a diner Mia and Sebastian go to. The waiter is played by Ed Sheeran and Ryan Gosling's character tells him he is ruining jazz.
8. "Just a List of Exhibitions in the Griffith Observatory for the Next 6 Months"
Barely even a song, this cut number set at the Griffith Observatory is about all the cool events they have coming up. It's a curated list of the real 2017 Griffith Observatory calendar events while Sebastian plays a synth in the background. The whole thing feels very specific to viewers from Los Angeles, but many test audiences loved the song nonetheless.
9. "I Named all the Little Keys on my Piano"
In another confusing cut, producers removed this song in which Sebastian reveals he has given all the keys on his piano human names and drawn little faces on them. The jazzy number helps define Sebastian as a man who really loves his piano and the movie is certainly hurt without it.
10. "The History of Public Transportation in the City of Los Angeles"
Mia and Sebastian read a wikipedia page out loud to the tune of "City of Stars." Cutting this song was a good choice because it is dumb and bad.
Topics Music
Max Knoblauch is the Assistant Humor Editor in the NYC office. He is a journalist, comedian and illustrator. More humor and art by Max can be found on his website.Follow him @MaxKnoblauch
