Harold and Maude Hal Ashby

The music in Harold and Maude[33][34] was composed and performed by Cat Stevens. He had been suggested by Elton John to do the music after John had dropped out of the project.[35] Stevens composed two original songs for the film, "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" and performed instrumental and alternative versions of the previously released songs "On the Road to Find Out", "I Wish, I Wish", "Miles from Nowhere", "Tea for the Tillerman", "I Think I See the Light", "Where Do the Children Play?" and "Trouble" (all from his albums Mona Bone Jakon and Tea for the Tillerman). "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out" remained unreleased on any album until the 1984 compilation Footsteps in the Dark: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2.

Additional music in the film is sourced from well known compositions. "Greensleeves" is played on the harp during dinner. The opening bars of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 are heard during the scene of Harold floating face-down in the swimming pool. The Sunnyvale HS Marching Band plays "The Klaxon" by Henry Fillmore outside the church following a funeral.[36] A calliope version of the waltz "Over the Waves" by Juventino Rosas is played at the amusement park. Harold and Maude waltz together in her home to "The Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss II.

The soundtrack album charted at number 173 on the US Billboard 200 in July 2021.[37]

1972 soundtrack

The first soundtrack was released in Japan in 1972 on vinyl and cassette (A&M Records GP-216). It omitted the two original songs and all instrumental and alternative versions of songs and was generally composed of re-released material that was in the film, along with five songs that were not in the film.[38]

Track listing

• Side one
  1. "Morning Has Broken" (not in the film)
  2. "Wild World" (not in the film)
  3. "I Think I See the Light"
  4. "I Wish, I Wish"
  5. "Trouble"
  6. "Father and Son" (not in the film)
• Side two
  1. "Miles from Nowhere"
  2. "Lilywhite" (not in the film)
  3. "Where Do the Children Play?"
  4. "On the Road to Find Out"
  5. "Lady D'Arbanville" (not in the film)
  6. "Tea for the Tillerman"

2007 soundtrack

The second soundtrack was released on December 28, 2007, by Vinyl Films Records as a vinyl-only limited-edition release of 2,500 copies. It contained a 30-page oral history of the making of the film, comprising the most extensive series of interviews yet conducted on Harold and Maude.[33]

Track listing

• Side one
  1. "Don't Be Shy"
  2. "On the Road to Find Out"
  3. "I Wish, I Wish"
  4. "Miles from Nowhere"
  5. "Tea for the Tillerman"
  6. "I Think I See the Light"
• Side two
  1. "Where Do the Children Play?"
  2. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out"
  3. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (banjo version)"—previously unreleased
  4. "Trouble"
  5. "Don't Be Shy (alternate version)"—previously unreleased
  6. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (instrumental version)"—previously unreleased
• Bonus 7" single
  1. "Don't Be Shy (demo version)"—previously unreleased
  2. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (alternative version)"—previously unreleased

2021 soundtrack

A Record Store Day limited edition, available in yellow or orange vinyl, was released July 2021. It contained all the main songs from the 2007 album, but omitted the bonus material.

• Side one
  1. Don't Be Shy
  2. On The Road To Find Out
  3. I Wish, I Wish
  4. Miles From Nowhere
• Side two
  1. Tea For The Tillerman
  2. I Think I See The Light
  3. Where Do The Children Play?
  4. If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out
  5. Trouble

2022 soundtrack

The full soundtrack album received its first regular wide commercial release on February 11, 2022, to commemorate the film's 50th anniversary. The entire album was remastered at Abbey Road Studios. The disc includes previously unheard audio masters discovered in the Island Records/A&M archive for the two original songs Stevens wrote for the film, "Don't Be Shy" and "If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out." While there was an LP, this was also the album's first-ever release on CD.[39]

• Side one
  1. "Don't Be Shy"
  2. Dialogue 1 (I Go To Funerals)
  3. "On the Road to Find Out"
  4. "I Wish, I Wish"
  5. Tchaikovsky's Concerto No.1 in B
  6. Dialogue 2 (How Many Suicides)
  7. Marching Band / Dialogue 3 (Harold Meets Maude)
  8. "Miles from Nowhere"
  9. "Tea for the Tillerman"
• Side two
  1. "I Think I See the Light"
  2. Dialogue 4 (Sunflower)
  3. "Where Do the Children Play?"
  4. "If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out" (Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort vocal)
  5. Strauss' Blue Danube
  6. Dialogue 5 (Somersaults)
  7. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out"
  8. Dialogue 6 (Harold Loves Maude)
  9. "Trouble"
  10. "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out (ending)