In the opening scene of Martin Scorsese’s film titled Mean Streets, the film’s main character Charlie wakes up to a nightmare of the taunting words, “you don’t make up for sins in church, you do it in the streets”. Next, Charlie is filmed looking at himself in a dimly lit mirror. This moment of self reflection makes it seem as if Charlie is disappointed in the man he has become and the lifestyle he has chosen to live. The song Be My Baby by the Ronettes begins, and a reel of short films proceeds on screen, shown in a much smaller frame mimicking an at-home video. Clips of Charlie as a baby being baptized, as well as characters Johnny and Theresa are juxtaposed with the song, originally written about a woman’s love interest.
A possible connection between Charlie and his internal conflict with religion can be made to Scorsese’s song choice, where Charlie is symbolically begging god to be “his baby”, asking for forgiveness for his lifestyle full of sins. An interesting similarity between two groups–the mafia and the church– arises when Charlie’s feelings of obligation towards both religion and his mob ties become problematic for him. The song Be My Baby has an otherwise light hearted tone, but in the context of the story it is clear that it relates to Charlie’s need for approval from god and his feelings of guilt towards the mafia.
Another notable reason Scorsese used the song Be My Baby is likely to foreshadow Charlie’s relationship with both Johnny Boy and Theresa. Charlie is warned by his Uncle Giovanni, to stay away from Johnny Boy because “honorable men go with honorable men”. This creates an issue for Charlie because he truly cares about Johnny and feels morally conflicted. The lyrics, “And if I had the chance I’d never let you go” are representative of this complex relationship where Charlie continues to show compassion towards Johnny Boy, even when it gets difficult and complicated. Charlie is also in a relationship with Theresa, unbeknownst to Johnny Boy. This is a more obvious connection between Be My Baby and the context of the movie, and could be seen as Theresa’s way of calling to Charlie that she will “adore [him] ‘til eternity”. A strong theme of belonging and obligation are expressed in this opening scene, where friends, religion, and love create an internal battle for our protagonist Charlie.
Later on in the film, two barroom sequences are accompanied by Rolling Stones songs to give more insight to the characters Charlie and Johnny Boy. The first song, Tell Me, is similar to Be My Baby in that it can relate to Charlie’s complicated relationship with god. He wants gods “love again” and for god to accept him although it may be “hard to reason” with his lifestyle. Part of this scene was shot from behind Charlie, as he walks through the bar filmed with atmospheric subjective lighting marked with red, low light, symbolizing Charlie’s guilt and sin. It is interesting to note the way everyone in the bar smiled at him as he danced through the bar, yet he still seems to feel devilish because of a lack of connection with god. Charlie is also shown in this shot admiring a dancer at the bar, who he questions his feelings for because of the color of her skin. Charlie is then shown burning his own finger, symbolic of his internal struggle and now self-punishment for feeling attraction towards a black woman.
When Johnny Boy is introduced in the bar, a much more upbeat and lively song called Jumpin’ Jack Flash by The Rolling Stones is played, with lyrics representative of Johnny’s self-destructive tendencies. The line “I was crowned with a spike right through my head, but it’s alright” is particularly meaningful because it symbolizes Johnny who ignores the fact that his life is crazy, and falling apart and does whatever he wants to have a good time. This scene is also filmed with red atmospheric subjective lighting, in this case symbolic of the danger Johnny puts himself in and how he is in a sense a liability, who causes problems for both himself and Charlie.
