All this week we’ve been highlighting songs that were featured on the soundtrack to The Big Chill, that 1983 movie that followed a group of Baby Boomer friends adjusting to the death of one of their own and their sacrifices in adapting to lives as adults. Our final song from The Big Chill this week is “I Second That Emotion,” by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.
“I Second That Emotion” was written by Smokey Robinson and fellow Motown songwriter Al Cleveland. Released by Smokey and the Miracles in October of 1967, it peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Cash Box Top 100. It was the group’s highest-charting single since 1960’s “Shop Around,” which also hit #4 on the Hot 100.
In the movie The Big Chill, “I Second That Emotion” played under the scene following the friends’ last night together, with Sarah watching from a window as her husband Harold goes for a run and the others slowly wake. It’s the last tune before the closing credits.
There was a ton of great music, most of it from Motown artists, featured in The Big Chill. We’ve covered a surprisingly large number of them in this blog, many of them this week. The soundtrack included:
- “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (Marvin Gaye)
- “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (The Rolling Stones)
- “A Whiter Shade of Pale” (Procol Harum)
- “The Tracks of My Tears” (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles)
- “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” (The Beach Boys)
- “Tell Him” (The Exciters)
- “The Weight” (The Band)
- “Good Lovin’” (The Young Rascals)
- “Gimme Some Lovin'” (The Spencer Davis Group)
- “Bad Moon Rising” (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
- “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” (The Temptations)
- “When a Man Loves a Woman” (Percy Sledge)
- “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” (Aretha Franklin)
- “In the Midnight Hour” (The Young Rascals)
- “I Second That Emotion” (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles)
- “Joy to the World” (Three Dog Night)
- “My Girl” (The Temptations)
- “Quicksilver Girl” (Steve Miller Band)
The Big Chill was a big hit in 1983. Directed and co-written by Lawrence Kasdan, the film starred a bevy of up-and-coming stars, including Tom Berenger as Sam, the movie star; Glenn Close as Sarah, Harold’s loving wife and the dependable one of the group; Jeff Goldblum as Michael, the flaky journalist; William Hurt as Nick, the Vietnam War vet; Kevin Kline as Harold, Sarah’s husband and owner of a footwear chain; Mary Kay Place as Meg, the lawyer; Meg Tilly as Chloe, the dead man’s girlfriend; JoBeth Williams as Karen, a housewife and mother who lusts after old flame Sam; and Kevin Costner as the unseen Alex, who committed suicide before the movie started. (All of Costner’s flashback scenes were cut from the final film.) The movie got decent reviews and was nominated for three Academy Awards—Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress (for Glenn Close)—even though it won none. It became a favorite flick for many Baby Boomers who identified with the characters, even if not the details of the plot.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, the original 1983 trailer for The Big Chill. In a cold world, you need your friends to keep you warm.
