Songs from Scooby-Doo Films in My Music Library

We've been doing a lot of rankings on here lately, but I love doing editorial articles as well (I would say the Analysis of Technology's Evolution in Scooby-Doo article and the Another Perspective on Fake vs. Real Monsters are among my favorite pieces I've written on here). For this post, I wanted to do something completely different and random that's kind of a mix of rankings and an editorial article.

For those that don't know this about me...and you probably don't, because I think I've only mentioned it once in a comment section lol...besides Scooby, I'm also really into music. There are so many amazing songs in the Scooby-Doo franchise - The Hex Girls and the Where Are You chase songs being among my favorites - but I don't necessarily listen to those outside of watching the episodes they're in. There are several songs from Scooby-Doo that I will sometimes listen to outside of their respective episodes and films when I am listening to music. I thought it would be fun to outline those 12 songs here. I'll talk about them by ordering them from least favorite to favorite.

11. The Worst Day Ever by Simple Plan
From: "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman" - What's New, Scooby-Doo?
This is one of three Simple Plan songs that I listen to outside of the respective episodes. Unlike some of the forthcoming artists, What's New, Scooby-Doo? introduced me to the band. Although many people call the pop-punk era cringey, I actually kind of like some stuff from that genre...Paramore, Bowling for Soup, Avril Lavigne, Good Charlotte and Green Day come to mind. This is not one I listen to super frequently, but it's a nice track from Simple Plan and always makes me think of the episode whenever I listen to it.

10. Yikes by Jack Harlow
From: SCOOB! soundtrack
It's really neat to me how Jack Harlow appeared on a Scooby-Doo movie soundtrack right before he became famous. The song was released back in 2020 when he was outside freely (bonus points if you get that reference lol) before he released "What's Poppin" and "First Class," which are his most famous songs. I don't have much to say about this one other than the production is nice and quite spooky, and Jack sounds good here. It's not one I return to super often, but it is a good song and one I find myself listening to occasionally. It's also notable for being one of the only Scooby songs to have a bit of a risqué lyric, that being the random lyric about him driving the Mystery Machine while intoxicated lol. 

9. I Fly by Galantis & Faouzia
From: SCOOB! soundtrack
This is the song that Blue Falcon plays right at the end of SCOOB! during the dance party. I'd never heard of Faouzia prior to this song, and my only exposure to Galantis was his collaboration with Sofia Carson. This is a really cute song, and while it's not necessarily one I'll listen to a lot, it's such a feel-good song that I'll listen to it on occasion. The upbeat production is great and Faouzia has a very powerful voice.

8. Thank You by Big Brovaz
From: Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Soundtrack
This is among the more obscure picks on this list, but I've found myself listening to this occasionally. This is the song played during the end credits in Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. Scooby-Doo soundtracks seem to have a knack for being full of great, feel-good songs, and this definitely falls in that category. It's a very smooth R&B sounding jam, and I think all of the members of Big Brovaz do a great job with making their vocals flow smoothly with the production. Also, fun fact, this is actually a cover of a Sly and the Family Stone song from 1969, the year Scooby came out.

7. A Donde Vas by Carolina Lao
From: Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico
​I did a fun fact on this back in 2017, but if you don't remember it or weren't on the site back then, you may be surprised to find this out. You know that chase song in Spanish played during the pyramid chase in Monster of Mexico? It's actually a real song not made specifically for the film. It's on the debut album of Carolina Lao, an up-and-coming Spanish singer at the time. I believe this song was placed in the film to promote her album like they did with Lindsay Pagano and Simple Plan, and it would line up with that 2002-2003 time period where WB was doing that. I've been listening to this one often on lately, and I absolutely love her voice. The upbeat production and cheerful energy throughout the song make this one really enjoyable to listen to. This is definitely an underrated standout of Scooby-Doo chase songs, IMO.

6. You Don't Mean Anything by Simple Plan
From: "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman" - What's New, Scooby-Doo?
Next up, we've got another Simple Plan track which is the chase song from "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman." This is another song that always reminds me of the chase scene from that episode whenever I listen to it. The first time I listened to this, I was surprised to discover that the version we hear in the episode is actually not the full song! There is bridge and another chorus that's cut off in the episode, but it made it on their album. I find it really neat how WB struck a deal with several up-and-coming artists  (i.e. Simple Plan, Lindsay Pagano) during that early 2000s period to include them in an episode. It always felt very natural, and never felt forced in.

5. I'd Do Anything by Simple Plan
From: "It's Mean, It's Green, It's the Mystery Machine" - What's New, Scooby-Doo? 
This is the last of the Simple Plan songs that made my list, and it's my favorite of them. To me, this is quintessentially that early 2000s rock sound, and I absolutely love it. This reminds me so much of the chase scene in the episode whenever I hear it, and it remains a favorite of mine that I listen to semi-frequently. I also think it's really cool that this is the only Scooby-Doo chase song to be charting on the Billboard Hot 100 around the time when it was used in the episode.

4. Shining Star by Ruben Studdard
​From: Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Soundtrack
​I tried to find the official videos to link for all of these, but this one did not appear to have one, as you can probably tell by the image of the cartoon fish in the top left corner rather than a picture of Ruben lol. This is another smooth R&B jam that I love for how funky the production it is. I quite like Ruben's voice as well. Like the other Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed song that made my list, this is a cover of an Earth, Wind and Fire song of the same name from 1975.

I've also got a bit of a fun anecdote to share with this one. Back when I was in college, my math professor would always play music for a few minutes before class while everyone was coming in. I've never heard any of these other songs out in public, but oddly, my math professor would play this song at least once every couple weeks before class. I have no idea why, or if he was a Scooby-Doo fan or not, but it was really surprising to hear this haha.

3. On Me by Thomas Rhett & Kane Brown featuring Ava Max
​From: SCOOB! Soundtrack
This is another one from the SCOOB! soundtrack played during the end credits. While I consider myself pretty open in terms of music genre, I am generally not a fan of country. I enjoy "Be Like That" from Kane Brown and "Memory" to an extent, but I have not liked anything I've previously heard from Thomas Rhett. I have heard quite a few songs from Ava and have liked them. Surprisingly, Kane, Ava and Thomas have great chemistry together in the song. I will say it is a bit hard for me to tell Thomas and Kane's vocals apart due to the autotune haha, but overall I think their vocals sound great, and Ava's make a nice addition. The lyrics are once again very cute and feel good, and this is one I listen to more often than any of the previous ones. Also, fun fact if you didn't know, it appears there are two slightly different versions of this song. I was listening to the songs as I wrote my reviews up, and the music video version appears to make Ava's vocals at the end of chorus much quieter, whereas her vocals are the same volume throughout the whole chorus on the non music video version.

2. Summer Feelings - Lennon Stella & Charlie Puth 
From: SCOOB! Soundtrack
This is the final song off the SCOOB! soundtrack that makes my list. It's the only song here I believe that didn't actually appear in a film or episode to any extent, but it was on the soundtrack. I'd previously only heard Lennon Stella on "Takeaway" (her collaboration with The Chainsmokers and Illenium), but I've heard a lot of Charlie Puth's music and like him as an artist. I think they sound great together, particularly in the final chorus. The production is very bubbly and atmospheric, and it works really well with their soft vocals. This is a standout in terms of Scooby-Doo soundtrack material IMO.

1. You & I by Anarbor
From: Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Soundtrack
I've talked about how I like that pop-punk sound previously in this post with the Simple Plan songs, so it seems only fitting that the #1 song here is "You & I" by Anarbor. It's another obscure one that was played briefly during Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins when Scooby and Shaggy first meet each other (and it's also played during the end credits). This is the only song of the bunch where I have any comments about the music video, but this music video is so cute. You can tell the band really had a lot of fun dressing up as monsters and playing in an old spooky barn. To me, the best music videos are always the ones that either tell a story, or where you can really tell the artist/band is having fun. I'm honestly not much of a fan of music videos where the artist is just posing or mindlessly dancing around. It's the ones where you can really tell the artist was passionate about making it that are the most enjoyable for me, and this one certainly fit the bill. The tone of the song is so carefree and lighthearted that you can't help but love it. I really love Anarbor's vocals here...and clearly I'm not the only one, since WB has put their cover of What's New, Scooby-Doo? on pretty much every DVD menu since lol. My personal head canon is that one of the WB executives is up in their room full on head-banging to Anarbor's What's New, Scooby-Doo? cover every night lol.

This was definitely an unorthodox post, but I hope you enjoyed reading it!  I do have three more rankings posts written up that have been pre-written since October now (and I'll post them in the coming months), but I also don't want to get caught in the rut of having the monthly articles be rankings every single time. I plan to start doing some more editorial articles here at some point mixed in with rankings, just so there's a bit more of a balance than there has been lately. I really enjoyed writing this up and doing something different, so I'm excited to continue experimenting with different types of posts like this! :)