I would play the radio on the way to the editing room and I would hear the music off the radio. When Hopper incorporated rock and folk songs from the 1960s into the soundtrack of Easy Rider’s jaunt across America, they not only provided an entertaining visual and aural experience, they also presented additional significance to the narrative-though in some respects the significance was accidental, as Hopper admitted: “It took me a year to edit it. For example, Hopper’s use of punk rock in his third directorial film Out of the Blue (1980) perfectly corresponds with the film’s nihilistic worldview, whilst the use of hip-hop in his fourth film Colors (1988) presents a realistic view of his protagonists and their relationship to Los Angeles gang culture. His use of music within his own directorial films placed within them cultural markers that offered commentary on the fictional narratives of the film and the factual events that surround the era in which the film was made. Hopper’s relationship with the key players of the 1960s music scene ( Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Neil Young were some of Hopper’s close friends) and knowledge of current trends in popular music greatly influenced his career as a film director. There are many ways in which Easy Rider still resonates five decades later, but it’s the film’s soundtrack-a collection of rock and folk numbers from the era that set a new precedent for film music-that has continued to influence subsequent film soundtracks. Their only goal is to get rich, get loaded, hit the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and as Billy exclaims, “retire in Florida.” These two are America’s lost sons, rebellious, done with the hokey past and waiting for the future to be born, whilst not actively participating in it. The film follows two hippie bikers, Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper) as they drift across the American landscape, chasing down the American Dream on their custom-built motorcycles. It’s also the gold standard for the way in which independent films can transcend the small audience draw and push into the mainstream, bringing so much acclaim and box office revenue so as to change the direction of films for decades to come. This month marks fifty years since the release of Dennis Hopper’s seminal directorial debut, Easy Rider, a film that still holds up as an assessment of America in the 1960s and its social ills. Happy 50th Anniversary to Easy Rider, which premiered in theaters July 14, 1969, and its accompanying soundtrack, originally released in August of 1969.Įditor’s note: The following represents an edited & expanded excerpt from Stephen Lee Naish’s book ‘Create or Die: Essays on the Artistry of Dennis Hopper’ available here.

Easy rider songs