Deadpool 2
Courtesy of 20th Century Fox
“It’s a badge of honor, to be honest,” says Tyler Bates. The film composer, known for his work on the Guardians of the Galaxy and John Wick franchises, Dawn of the Dead, 300 and Sucker Punch — and also a producer, guitarist and writer on the last two Marilyn Manson records — is referring to the distinction of having created the first ever all-music film score to carry a parental warning sticker, for Deadpool 2.
With song titles such as “Weasel Interrogation,” “Holy S*** Balls” and “Make The Whole World Our B****,” the score — which is out May 11 on Sony Classical and available now for pre-order — matches the smart-ass spirit of the franchise, which stars Ryan Reynolds, as the unkillable title superhero, who’s as funny as he is deadly.
Bates says his favorite piece on the score is “You Can’t Stop This Mother F*****,” a gale-force orchestral number that features a full string and brass orchestra, battle drumming and a dead-serious choir singing “You can’t stop him/ You can’t stop this mother fucker.” This refrain is later followed by the repeated line, “Holy shit balls.”
Bates tells Billboard that the lyrics came about “very spontaneously — they weren’t planned even an hour before they [were recorded]” — when the film’s director David Leitch visited the studio during the recording session.
Initially, the choir had been given “faux Latinesque language so that they hit all of the percussive marks,” Bates explains. But when Leitch walked in on the session, Bates says, “I told him, if you’re inspired, we can always substitute what they’re currently singing with some subtext from the movie.” While the choir took a break, Leitch wrote lyrics, and an R-rated classical music piece was born.
Bates says that when he’s composing a film score, he always tries “to create a moment that everyone involved, most importantly the director, feels involved in and that becomes part of the memories of their lives and careers — with “You Can’t Stop This Mother F*****,” Bates says, I’m pretty certain that this is something Dave will remember for a minute.”