John Cusack Originally Blasted Ska Music in ‘Say Anything’ Boombox Scene

John Cusack brought troubling stalker behavior, er, teen rom-com courtship to new heights in 1989’s Say Anything, standing outside the family home of valedictorian Diane Court with a boombox raised above his head. As everyone remembers, Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” was the song that Lloyd Dobler chose to wake the neighbors. But that scene could have sounded much different if Cusack had his way.

That’s because “In Your Eyes” wasn’t the first song director Cameron Crowe tried in the iconic scene. “No, not at all,” he told Dan Patrick in 2017. “In fact, that was a scene that was not working at all.”

What was the problem? Blame it on Cusack’s love of the ska-punk band Fishbone. Crowe was also a fan, which accounted for the original song blasting out of Lloyd’s boombox: “Bonin’ in the Boneyard.” Give a listen and dig the amorous vibes — what woman wouldn’t swoon to the strains of …

Got me bonin'…
I got me bonin'…
Got me bonin'…
Oh! Got me bonin' in the boneyard yeah!

It all made sense until Crowe caught a glimpse of an early cut. “When we looked at it in the editing room,” he realized, “it’s like, ‘Wow, it’s this powerful romantic scene, but he looks like he’s a stalker playing Fishbone outside of her house.’”

After deciding that “Bonin’ in the Boneyard” was “a little bit off,” Crowe began a search for a substitute tune. “Every song we tried didn’t work,” he explained. “It was just kind of ridiculous.”

Next, Crowe enlisted some songwriters to try their hand at the scene. The result was even worse, with tunesmiths turning in lyrics like: “Listen to me! Outside your window!” Ugh. “We’re like, no, no, no, that’s not working,” Crowe said.

The scene remained stuck in Fishbone hell until one day when Crowe was driving into the editing studio, listening to a playlist of songs from his own wedding. “‘In Your Eyes’ came on in my car, and It’s like, ‘Wait a minute! All these lyrics sound like the scene. Oh my god.’”

Crowe hit the gas and hurried the track into the editing room. The scene unlocked; the song was perfect. There was only one problem: Getting the rights to the tune.

Peter Gabriel had decided long before that he never wanted ‘In Your Eyes’ used in a movie. To make matters worse, Gabriel somehow got the mistaken impression that producers wanted the song for the John Belushi biopic, Wired. “There was a huge, kind of scary negotiation to get the song,” Crowe said. “That was its own battle.”

Some anonymous entertainment lawyer is the hero of this story, since “In Your Eyes” became the theme to countless proms instead of “Bonin’ in the Boneyard.” 

“We were so grateful,” Crowe said, “because that’s the only song that worked in that scene.”