Help pick opening song for my film


(I've posted this desperate plea elsewhere on the net so I've you've responded to it already, no need to respond here. Thanks for understanding...I'm nearly out of time to make a selection.)

HELP!

I’m desperately looking for a song to replace Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” for the opening of my film. (See guidelines below)

I have limited time to research songs so if you have a bunch of ideas try to list only your top 5. Very famous standards are almost certainly too expensive for the budget available. Basically if Sinatra, or Dean Martin sings it I can’t afford it.

If you have the time please briefly mention why you think the song works and/or write out a bit of the key lyrics. If you have a specific performer/s in mind for the song title please note that as well.

If someone picks a winner as a gesture of gratitude I will send $100 bucks, a copy of the film when available and, if possible, a thank you in the end credits. If several people pick the same song the money goes to the first poster but the others will get the film and credit as well.

I prefer to remain relatively anonymous on AA so I'm going to keep the title of the film private for now. However, I'll say that the film is a professional production with well-known actors. This can be a fun opportunity to make a significant contribution to the project if for no other reason than posterity.

Below is a copy of guidelines I sent to a record label I’m working with but these guys usually are too corporate to offer this level of creative input.

** Guidelines**

OPENING TITLES SONG:

The opening song needs to have lyrics that help set up the plot of the film: A man hasn’t been able to stop thinking about his ex-girlfriend and decides to return to his hometown and ask her to marry him.

As an example: Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” was ideal but the rights are unavailable. The lyrics: “At first I thought it was infatuation…it’s lasted so long. Now I find myself wanting to marry you and take you home...you send me...”

Can you recommend songs with similar lyrics? The song doesn’t have to hit every point of the plot. I’ve listed some key elements below. A song with any ONE of the elements is fine but the more elements the better.

- A man wanting to marry a woman or more precisely an old flame
- A man unable to forget about a woman or his old flame
- A man returning home for a woman
- A man finally ready to marry
- A man 'deciding' he’s finally ready to marry
- A man with ‘something’ or someone missing in his life
- The romantic notion that two people are meant for each other.
- The idea of marriage as a romantic notion in general
- Buying a wedding ring

Other considerations for the opening titles song:

- Genre: Virtually any genre besides country, rap, hip-hop or punk is fine as long as the lyrics are easy to understand.

- Tone: Romantic. Positive.

- Pace: The song will be played underneath the opening montage of images. Sam Cooke’s version of “You Send Me” is about as slow as those images can support. A little bit slower is okay. Faster is fine

THANKS 'Goners!
kublakhan
One more - I Want You To know You Made Me Happy by the Rotary Connection - I know I am going way back.
Solace of You - Living Color
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
Crush - Dave Matthews Band
Satisfied - Ian Moore
Kahn!

1 - great to see your words again.

2 - in the five minutes I've had to think about it I keep coming back to Gabriel's 'In Your Eyes' ... out of budget I'm sure. I will be hanging with a bunch of my fellow musicians tonight and we'll brain storm. I'll forward the request to my wife also ... she is queen of obscure 80s tunes ... she can stump the band like no one I've ever seen.
Kubla, the Tommy Edwards song I recommended on AA, Please Love Me Forever (see that post for lyrics) is perfect. Tommy was sort of a poor man's Sam Cooke, sweeter voice but less range (musically and emotionally).

Paul, aka Pablo (my mother always called me that)