The Back to the Future fandom is a large group of different kinds of people, of all ages and nationalities. There are people in the fandom who saw the movie in the theatres when it came out, and then there are others like me who weren’t even a glint in their parents’ eyes when the films came out.

As a fandom that hasn’t really had any new content for literally 30 years now, I’ve seen the creativity of the fans who wanted some new BTTF content and decided to take it into their own hands and create something amazing.

In my many nights of getting lost in the rabbit hole that is YouTube and the internet in general, I found some incredible fan-made BTTF songs and music, that definitely quenched my thirst for new Back to the Future music content.

Today, I am going to share with you some of my favourite fan-made Back to the Future songs and performances, as an ode to the amazing talent and passion of the members of the BTTF fandom. These include original songs, parodies and unique performances of the trilogy’s music. So, here they are:

  1. “Lorraine (You Are My Destiny)” –  YouTube Channel SpiegelAndWolpow

Before the BTTF Musical was actually premiered to the public, many fans started to write their own songs for a possible BTTF Musical. This song is supposed to take place in the scene in which George is trying to ask Lorraine out to the dance in the café, saying “density” instead of “destiny”. I love how this song captures that scene perfectly, with Marty and others in the background of the café repeatedly singing “You Are My DESTINY” to try and get George’s attention, and then eventually giving up at the end and singing “Density”. It’s also extremely catchy and well-performed by the cast of singers. I remember when I first heard this it just made me get excited for the upcoming official musical! Extremely well done.

2. “Great Scott” – YouTube Channel CineFix

The channel CineFix often does original songs based on movies in its series “Homemade Movies”, and their BTTF original song is excellent. Director, composer of the song and actor of Marty in the video, Dustin McLean, is a self-proclaimed Back to the Future fan and it shows in not only the attention to detail in the video but also the cleverness of the lyrics of the song and how well they connect and emulate the actual script of the film. The song is meant to take place during the infamous clocktower scene, where Marty is trying to convince Doc to read his letter and tell Doc that he will be shot in 1985. The style of the song is classic musical style, with heavy influences from shows like Les Miserables. Also, the guy who plays Doc Brown, Piotr Michael, effortlessly does an excellent Christopher Lloyd impression. He does it so well that I almost had to look twice when I first heard the song. Overall, I love this, it captures the essence of BTTF whilst effectively translating an iconic scene into musical form. Awesome!

It’s also worth checking out the making of this video and the song, it’s really interesting how Dustin came up with the song and also shot the music video. Check it out here:

3. “Marty McFly” – YouTube Channel TheRachiohead

Majority of the Back to the Future fan songs I normally find are songs that could take place IN the actual movie. Like, they are supposed to be sung by the characters rather than the person who wrote the song, in a musical setting. So, this song is interesting as it is sung from the perspective of the composer, who obviously is a huge fan of the movies. “Marty McFly” is an ode to the beloved character, telling his story in the films whilst the singer dreams of being in a relationship with him. I was floored when I first heard this song, and admire the singer and writer. I would never be gain enough to admit my love for Marty McFly/Back to the Future in public, let alone in a song! But I think a song like this was needed, for all the people who love Marty McFly (and trust me, that’s a lot of people). I really like this song, it’s a fun one and something completely different to listen to.

4. “Back to the Future A Capella Medley” – YouTube Channel Gremgem

This is not an original song, but it is still an awesome display of musicianship using the songs from Back to the Future. This video takes several of the iconic songs from the trilogy (the Back to the Future theme, Earth Angel, Johnny B Goode, Back in Time, Doubleback and the BTTF 3 score), and arranges them into a short medley sung a capella (without backing instruments). I love everything about this video so much that I had to share it with you, even though it’s not an original song. The vocals are excellent, the harmonies are excellent, the flow between the songs is perfect! I have personally always wanted to do a BTTF medley in a choir setting, and this just got me excited to do that one day. Please listen to this, it’s amazing!

5. How I Met My Mother: A Back to the Future Parody Musical – GeekEnders

This show is EVERYTHING. Created by Canadian production company GeekEnders, this is a fully fledged BTTF musical, using iconic songs from musical theatre but with BTTF-themed lyrics. This show is so true to the original film, whilst also being rather self-aware with its jokes. The acting is superb, in particular the guy who plays Marty McFly (Henry Beasley) is SO good! The songs are really fun too, my favourites are “Great Scott Marty” (a parody of “Under the Sea”), “Notice Me, Calvin” (a parody of “Notice Me, Horton” from Seussical The Musical) and “The Time Car” (parody of “The Time Warp” from Rocky Horror Picture Show). Seriously, this show is awesome and makes me even more excited to see the real BTTF Musical. If you want something to hold you over during the theatre shutdown, watch this! You won’t regret it!

ACT ONE:

ACT TWO:

6. Some Fun Parody Songs:

There are many fun BTTF song parodies of popular songs that I just had to share. Some of these are so damn clever and fun to listen to, they are better than the real song! Here are some of my picks for great song parodies. Check them out!

  • “What Michael J Fox Say” (A Parody of “What Does the Fox Say”) – YouTube Channel Brian O’Sullivan
  • “Dear Future Doctor” (A Parody of Meghan Trainor’s “Dear Future Husband” – YouTube Channel Giddy N’ Gleeful
  • “1985” (A Parody of Bowling for Soup’s “1985”) – YouTube Channel weirdkorey

(Unfortunately, my all-time favourite of these was taken off YouTube only days before writing this post, so if you are the composer of “Back to the Future Original Song” on the ukulele, please re-upload the video! I love your song and would love to share it with the rest of the fandom 🙂 )

I hope you enjoy listening to these amazing creations from some extremely talented members of the Back to the Future fandom. I’ve certainly had fun listening to them over the years!

Please let me know if you know of any other original BTTF songs so I can share them with the fandom! I want to celebrate the incredible talent we have in our ranks.

Join me tomorrow for the final post of BTTF Week!

Happy listening,

BACK TO THE FUTURE WEEK

Day 1: Looking Back at the ‘Back to the Future’ Soundtrack

Day 2: Dissecting the Iconic ‘Back to the Future’ Score

Day 3:’ Back to the Future The Musical’: Are the Songs Any Good?

Day 4: An Ode to the BTTF Fandom: Looking at Some Fan-Made Songs

Day 5: 35th Anniversary Special: My ‘Back to the Future’ Story