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TL;DR:

  • The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” appears early in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
  • David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” is also in the movie.
  • The Beatles make sense in the film but Bowie does not.

The Beatles‘ “Magical Mystery Tour” plays a vital role in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. In addition to establishing the time and place, it establishes Indiana Jones’ place in the world. Notably, Paul McCartney said the song was inspired by adventures from his youth.

The Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ shows the world passed Indiana Jones by

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny begins during World War II. Subsequently, the film cuts to 1969. We see Jones as an older man. He’s woken up by hippies playing music in the apartment next to his. They’re playing “Magical Mystery Tour” at full blast.

Then Jones goes and tells the hippies to turn down the racket. While “Magical Mystery Tour” appears in the film briefly, it shows that Indiana is no longer who he was during his 1930s heyday. He’s past his prime and can’t relate to the 1960s counterculture.

The Beatles make sense in the film, but David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ does not

Another classic rock song makes an appearance in the film: David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” It plays before we learn that the Apollo 11 mission is about to land on the moon. It’s a cute reference, but it doesn’t make much sense.

The scene takes place in the late 1960s. “Space Oddity” didn’t become a hit on the Billboard Hot 100 until 1973. On the other hand, “Magical Mystery Tour” was a famous song by the time the American space program made it to the moon.

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Paul McCartney said ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ was inspired by his youth

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said “Magical Mystery Tour” was inspired by his own adventures from his youth. “John and I remembered mystery tours, and we always thought this was a fascinating idea: getting on a bus and not knowing where you were going. Rather romantic and slightly surreal! All these old dears with the blue rinses going off to mysterious places.”

“Generally, there’s a crate of ale in the boot of the coach and you sing lots of songs,” he added. “It’s a charabanc trip. So we took that idea and used it as a basis for a song and the film. Because those were psychedelic times, it had to become a magical mystery tour, a little bit more surreal than the real ones to give us a license to do it.”

Paul said the tune also references drugs. “It employs all the circus and fairground barkers, ‘Roll up! Roll up!’ which was also a reference to rolling up a joint,” he revealed. “We were always sticking those little things in that we knew our friends would get; veiled references to drugs and to trips.”

Decades after Paul wrote it, “Magical Mystery Tour” is still being used to represent discovery.

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