The song was featured on the "Awesome Mixtape" the protagonist, Peter Quill, receives from his mother upon her death—a cassette tape that is on his person when he is abducted by aliens on the night she passes away. This is one of the reasons why this Guardians of the Galaxy 2 death is so important: it gives us, the viewers, the opportunity to take a peek into who Meredith Quill actually was - through her musical tastes. And it tells us a story, too, that's not revealed until the second volume of the Peter Quill saga. Just look at the titles of the songs:
- Hooked on a Feeling (falling for Ego)
- Go All the Way
- Spirit in the Sky (Ego, obviously)
- Moonage Daydream, in which David Bowie says he is a space invader
- Fooled Around and Fell in Love
- I'm Not in Love
- I Want You Back (these two songs hint on inevitable relationship issues - they may or may not be revealed later)
- Come and Get Your Love
- Cherry Bomb (I'm the fox you've been waiting for)
- Escape (possibly referring to Ego leaving)
- O-o-oh Child (We'll get it together and we'll get it all done)
- Ain't No Mountain High Enough ("If you need me call me no matter where you are", giving us a hint that Star-Lord will become a hero in the end)
The second Awesome Mixtape also contains quite a few songs that fit perfectly into the story of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Once again, take a look at the track listing: ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky" is possibly a reference to Ego (or maybe to Yondu, considering the color), Cat Stevens' "Father and Son" is obvious, and the list could go on forever.
While it often seems nothing but a backdrop for the things happening on-screen, music - or rather the value of music in the eyes of the protagonist - has an important part in the second Guardians of the Galaxy movie, too. If at first, we all think of Yondu as a character that exploited young Peter instead of delivering him to his father, in the end, he proves to be much more: an affectionate person and a surrogate father for the small, skinny earthling.
The final gift he gives to Star-Lord is symbolic in this aspect. If the last gift he received from his dying mother was the second Awesome Mixtape, the parting gift he got from his surrogate father (who has proven that he loved him more than his true one) was the third, a Zune filled with 300 tracks. At the same time, we witness the destruction of Peter's beloved Walkman, which is once again symbolic. By taking revenge on Ego, Star-Lord can finally let go of the memory of his late mother and start something new. In a deleted scene, Traffic and Alice Cooper are mentioned, so maybe we can expect some more recent and "wilder" songs to make it in the third installment of the series as reflective of the difference between his mother's softer side and his surrogate father's more rebellious edge.
James Gunn has recently tweeted the following about the upcoming third installment's soundtrack:
I have it down to 181 songs. That list could get longer. https://t.co/byRjdfSa07— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 2, 2017
That's a lot of music to be crammed into a single movie, don't you think?
What songs are you interested in seeing shape the way Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is constructed? Tell us your mixtape suggestions in the comments section below!
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