Well-Tuned: Let’s Talk Soundtracks
I saw the latest Batman flick the other day. It was the first time since the pandemic that I stepped inside a movie theatre. A weird feeling indeed. I enjoyed the movie. It kept my attention throughout, no lulls. It also featured a Nirvana song, played twice which was Something in the Way, from their groundbreaking album, Nevermind. It worked, really well as a matter of fact. Nice pick I thought to myself. The music supervisor on that movie captured the mood correctly in both instances with that song. Could she/he have picked something else? Of course. I can think of a few that would have worked too, but hey, I am not the music supervisor, I just like good music, especially when paired with a good movie. Pass the popcorn please!
I have always been intrigued by movie and tv soundtracks. When the right song is paired to a scene it can elevate it to something unforgettable. Iconic even. Think The Breakfast Club, Saturday Night Fever, Easy Rider. Each movie having one or more songs that lived on beyond the movie but yet is associated with it from that moment on.
Some examples:
Who can forget John Cusack’s Lloyd Dobler in the movie Say Anything, standing there in the rain, holding his boom box over his head. The song In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel playing for the girl of his dreams. The song had meaning to him, to the both of them. It was perfect.
How about the opening scene to Apocalypse Now? The jungle, the slow beginning of The Doors classic the End, the explosions coming as Jim Morrison begins to sing “This is the end” – it was the ideal song, impeccably timed to start that movie. I believe it set the tone really. Like in The Batman, it too made a pivotal appearance later in the movie.
Then there is Clint Eastwood’s “Spaghetti Westerns” that had their very own iconic soundtracks. They set the mood, the tension right before the six shooters blazed. I am sure you can hear the whistling in your head right now if you know what I am referring to.
Dueling Banjos. Do I really need to explain that one any further other than to say I have heard it referred to in disparaging ways when it comes to my home state, even though the river depicted in it was absolutely not in West Virginia? That scene ended up defining a whole region and its people in a very unkind manner that still resonates today by individuals that have probably never actually seen the movie.
I am sure Eric Clapton did not have it in mind when he, Duane Allman and the other members of Derek and the Dominos were putting the classic tune Layla together in Florida back in 1971. Or that the piano exit played by drummer Jim Gordon would become synonymous with the scene of everyone being found whacked in various ways in Goodfellas. Clapton wrote it because he was in love at the time with The Beatles’ own George Harrison’s wife (who Clapton eventually ended up marrying).
Do you really think the group Stealers Wheels ever intended for their song Stuck in the Middle With You released in 1973 to be remembered as the song playing while “Mr Blonde” cut off the ear of the cop in the cult classic Reservoir Dogs? Probably not, but it is.
Phil Collins was just about everywhere in the 80’s. His song In the Air Tonight brings memories of Crocket and Tubbs tearing across Miami in that black Ferrari Daytona in the television show Miami Vice. The car, the clothes, the song. Most recently Phil’s song was on the internet tied to a GIF of a kid on a bike running into some plastic garbage cans timed with Phil’s spectacular drumming! (It was actually kind of funny though)
Miami Vice used rock-n-roll not only in song but by featuring characters and storylines that starred actual musicians like the late Glen Frey, Collins and Ted Nugent. Some were better actors than others. One episode was based on Frey’s hit Smuggler’s Blues and he ended up playing the actual smuggler!
A few directors come to mind that are well known as much for the music in their movies as the movies themselves. Cameron Crowe, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese. Directors like Michael Mann, Spike Lee. They incorporate music into the scenes of their movies that end up becoming what one thinks of when they hear it outside of the movie.
Some directors will leave it to the music supervisor, some are more hands on. I can see that as being difficult on occasion. If you, the music supervisor, the one who’s job it is to find and pair music to scenes, is made to cede to the director on a song you do not necessarily agree with well, the old saying goes “the boss isn’t always right, but he’s still the boss” comes into play I suppose.
There are some movies that did not do well at the box office but had killer soundtracks. Think 1993’s Last Action Hero and its killer hard rock soundtrack or 1995’s Dead Presidents and its spectacular list of R&B, funk and soul that ended up released in two volumes.
One more that comes to mind is a Prince movie. No, not the classic Purple Rain. No, not that at all. In 1986, Under the Cherry Moon was released. My girlfriend back in high school, now wife of thirty-two years convinced me to go see it with my best friend and his girl. It was BAD, I mean horrible. We ended up walking out. Even today, if you ask what was the worst movie I ever saw, I will answer Under the Cherry Moon. The same goes for my buddy Rick, who I am still friends with to this day. The music was good, the movie was absolutely dreadful.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of examples of songs being appropriated by television, film and now apps like TikTok. That’s a big reason why many artists refuse to allow their music to be used in those mediums. Not only do they consider it as “selling out” they also do not want their creation distorted from what it is they believe it means, or used in such a way that it attaches itself to a television commercial or political rally. Politicians like to usurp songs for their rallies and campaigns much to the chagrin of the artists most of the time.
Of course, I know being a music supervisor is not all about just having good taste in music. There is more to that job than picking the right songs. There are rights to acquire, negotiating, budgets to adhere to, directors, composers to deal with. Saying all that, I would still love to have that job. While challenging I can imagine how satisfying it would be to see a soundtrack that you helped arrange become as successful as the movie or one of your picks becoming forever tied to a scene in the movie that is talked about years afterward.
Last week I wrote about road song playlists. One of the comments mentioned a good getaway song and that got me thinking. My reply to the comment was Motörhead and their classic song The Ace of Spades.
I can picture the scene in my head now as the song plays in the background. A driver in wait, idling in his black 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429. His partner comes running out of the bank and that is when the song begins with the familiar driving bass-line intro. He jumps into the car; the driver looks in his mirror to see the police bearing down on him. Timed perfectly with when the guitar arrives in the song, he lets out the clutch and floors it, laying a trail of blue smoke as he runs through the gears. As he barrels down the road, the late and great Lemme Kilmister starts to sing-If you like to gamble, I tell you I’m your man…You win some, you lose some, all the same to me! The camera focused on the car coming and going…The pleasure is to play , makes no difference what you say…I don’t share your greed, the only card I need is the Ace of Spades, the Ace of Spades…as the camera hones in chase.
Now if you know the song, you know how it just thunders along like a jackhammer as Lemme spits out Playing for the high one, dancing with the devil…Going with the flow, it’s all a game to me…as the driver downshifts into a hard turn to avoid the law on his tail. Seven or eleven, snake eyes watching you…Double up or quit, double stake or split, the Ace of Spades, the Ace of Spades. The camera set at wheel height now…You know I’m born to lose, and gambling’s for fools…But that’s the way I like it baby, I don’t want to live forever-And don’t forget the joker!
Now the song is into its frenzied guitar solo and the driver is pushing the Boss to its limits now…right at the edge…Pushing up the ante, I know you gotta see me…Read ‘em and weep, the dead man’s hand again..as the driver spins it around heading straight at his pursuers…I see it in your eyes, take one look die…as the camera switches back and forth between the steely driver and the cop’s eyes growing wider with fear as the driver approaches, chirping the tires at each gear..The only thing you see, you know it’s gonna be the Ace of Spades, the Ace of Spades…as the driver narrowly misses the collision and sends the police cruiser off the road and into a spectacular crash. The song comes to and end with a high-five and a wiry grin by the driver as he throws it into fifth gear and pulls away, the music replaced by the Boss’s throaty growl…camera focused on the rear end as it blazes into to sunset on that long straightaway out of town.
Aaaaand cut!
That song adds to the excitement and tension of the scene. A director would be able to balance how he wanted to present the shot rather easily to the tempo it provides. Can you see it? I sure can!
Music has a way of attaching itself to your memories, just like the scenes of a movie. The movies of your life. Out with your friends as a teenager on a Friday night with the tunes blaring from the dashboard, falling in love with that one song that gets tied to it forever, songs that make you think of someone in (or out) of your life, watching your first child born or just taking your car out and driving it like you stole it…there is always a soundtrack for whatever life presents you.
It is your soundtrack. Your playlist. You are the music supervisor of your own life. Enjoy it dear reader.
Till next time…
E Pluribus Unum
