- The whole film represents Scorsese's finest use of period music, but the very first cue is awesomely ironic: cutting straight from the brutal pre-credit sequence, via Henry's opening line 'As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster', to Tony Bennett's version of "Rags to Riches", was pure brass balls.
- Henry, Jimmy and Tommy desperately cleaning up after Billy Batts' beating, to the swoonsome accompaniment of Donovan's "Atlantis". The first moment in the movie after which things are never going to be quite as good as they've been up until then.
- Jimmy sits at the bar smoking, watching someone who he knows he has to kill later on the same evening. Cue "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream. Pure badass.
- The bittersweet instrumental coda to Derek and the Dominos' "Layla", during the montage revealing the fate of everyone involved in the Lufthansa heist.
- The delirious, hyperkinetic collage of music during Henry Hill's worst day ("Jump into the Fire"
by Harry Nilsson, "Magic Bus" by The Who, "What Is Life" by George Harrison, "Monkey Man" by The Rolling Stones and "Mannish Boy" by Muddy Waters) has been highly praised by critics as one of the most effective uses of period music in film. - Sid Vicious's cover of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" closes the film very well.
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