"(500) Days of Summer is not a love story. It is a story of boy meets girl", begins the wry, probing narrator, and with that the film takes off at breakneck speed into a funny, true-to-life and unique dissection of the unruly and unpredictable year-and-a-half of one young man's no-holds-barred love affair.

(500) Days of Summer is the feature film directorial debut from Marc Webb, a noted music video director who has lensed clips for such artists as Regina Spektor, My Chemical Romance, Weezer, and Green Day. So it's no surprise that pop music plays an important role in setting the tone in (500) Days of Summer. In keeping with the film's playfully unorthodox nature, the soundtrack features a host of offbeat artists, including Regina Spektor, Feist, Black Lips, Doves, Carla Bruni, and The Smiths. In a key moment in the film, Tom (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is listening to the latter's song "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" on his iPod, while riding in an elevator with Summer (played by Zooey Deschanel), who overhears it and comments that she loves The Smiths.

The soundtrack for the film was released on July 14, 2009. The soundtrack peaked at #42 on the U.S. Billboard 200.[58]

1. "A Story of Boy Meets Girl" - Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen
2. "Us" - Regina Spektor
3. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" - The Smiths
4. "Bad Kids" - Black Lips
5. "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" - The Smiths
6. "There Goes the Fear" - Doves
7. "You Make My Dreams" - Hall & Oates
8. "Sweet Disposition" - The Temper Trap
9. "Quelqu'un m'a dit" - Carla Bruni
10. "Mushaboom" - Feist
11. "Hero" - Regina Spektor
12. "Bookends" - Simon & Garfunkel
13. "Vagabond" - Wolfmother
14. "She's Got You High" - Mumm-Ra
15. "Here Comes Your Man" - Meaghan Smith
16. "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" - She & Him