"You've got to hear this one song, it'll change your life, I swear."
It really did. Or rather the Garden State soundtrack did. At least in a small way. I'd never heard of The Shins before, or Iron and Wine, or Frou Frou and Imogen Heap, or The Postal Service or Ben Gibbard; all of which are now favorites of mine. And listening to those singers and musicians led to others that make up my CD collection and iTunes library.
But let's go back to the beginning for a moment. There is one song that really did change my life. When I was 11 I didn't really listen to music. Today that sounds like an absurd statement. How can you be a person and not listen to music? I didn't like the music my parents listened to (mostly tejano and country music) and I didn't like what my friends were listening to (Ace of Base and Coolio, go figure). So where did I pick up music from? Tom Hanks. Before I ever saw That Thing You Do! I had the soundtrack and loved the songs by The Wonders. What other bands could I listen to? They mention The Beatles in That Thing You Do!, would I like The Beatles? Yes. And then my life really changed.
Another red letter date in movies and soundtracks for me was the day I saw Magnolia and first heard the songs of Aimee Mann. Her songs fit the mood and tone of the movie very well. They're not just popular songs stuck into the movie to grab attention. In the sequences set to One and Wise Up the songs serve the images on screen beyond that cheesy "the lyrics mirror what's on the screen" cliche; the songs ground the mood and emotions of the characters and the scene. One of the best lines in the movie, said by Claudia (Melora Walters) to Jim (John C. Reily), is actually the first line of the song Deathly, slightly augmented: "Now that I've met you would you object to never seeing each other again?" I was blown away by the ending set to Save Me. I bought the soundtrack right away and have been an avid fan of Aimee Mann since. I was at the time and still am appalled that Save Me did not win Best Original Song at the Oscars that year.
Soundtracks have been a big part of my life ever since. A lot of movies have introduced me to music that I adore. Good Will Hunting introduced me to Elliott Smith, one of my all time favorite musicians. The Graduate is where I first heard Simon and Garfunkel. Though I'd heard some of his songs I wasn't a big Donovan fan until I heard Hurdy Gurdy Man in Zodiac. The many songs of The Rolling Stones have come to me by way of Wes Anderson and Martin Scorsese. I even picked up MGMT from the trailer to Sex Drive, which I did not see or want to see. The soundtracks of Once and Juno have been much played on my CD player since I first heard them in early 2008 and introduced me to The Swell Season and Belle and Sebastian, respectively. Every time I'm at the movies I always look forward to that list of songs that comes at the very end of the credits.
1 comment:
Keep up the great work. These posts are interesting and personal on a deep level. Of course, I'm familiar with these facts but it's still a fun read.
I share a lot of the same feelings mentioned here. Most recent would be the Donovan liking brought from Zodiac, which was my favorite movie of that year.
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