Comments on: Soundtracks #5 – Art Without Context Loses Most of its Meaning

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:38:55 +0000

I loved the Grosse Pointe Blank soundtrack too, particularly how it worked in the context of the film itself.

Harry, I’m sorry to say it but High Fidelity was not my favourite film:
John Cusack: “Why do people hate me? Why do people not like me? Why do none of my relationships work out?”
Answer: “‘Cause you’re a whinging bastard and you never stop fucking moaning about yourself!”
Cusack’s Bird: “You might be a tedious, self-regarding, moaning cunt, but even though I’m remarkably fit I don’t think I can do any better so you’ll have to do.”
John Cusack: “Why is someone so lovely with me? Why am I so lucky? When is it all going to go wrong? I don’t deserve this.”
Toad: *Loads shotgun*

Cheers Shane, I am really pleased with how it’s worked out actually. There’ll be an accompanying Toadcast on the weekend too. Exciting exciting!

*Rushes off to hide from Harry’s retaliation!*

By: shane

shane — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:09:29 +0000

nice series this, toad.

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:43:47 +0000

You’re right Grosse Pointe Blank does very well with it’s soundtrack by easing it in to the film. When you hear a song, there is almost never a reason it wouldn’t be playing anyway, be it the car radio, the reunion DJ, the bar. It’s quite ingenious. That’s where High Fidelity actually succeeds as well (in a soundtrack only). Bull Durham is the only one where music is not normally part of the plot where is dropped in and still works.

I know there are more examples but my brain is steadfastly refusing to call them to mind.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:12:05 +0000

The High Fidelity soundtrack was a great collection of some cool tracks; but the very premise of the story allowed Hornby in the first instance, then the film-makers, to refer to any old music without worrying too much about context. The reason we're so ready to discuss High Fidelity on this particular website is simply that both that particular book/movie and this site share the same artistic media their basis of reference: classic, "cool", original, often-slightly-left-of-field rock and pop. Without changing the storyline of High Fidelity much, you could change the setting to a video-game store or an ice-cream parlour, and it's unlikely we'd be discussing it here. In fact, change the setting to a video rental store, and you wouldn't be far away from Kevin Smith's Clerks. I think this is kinda what Matthew was going for in his last post on this thread. Although I disagree that The Piano was a good stand-alone listening experience outside the context of the movie. Other than the signature theme of the movie; The Heart Asks Pleasure First, which, to me, is breathtakingly majestic, haunting and utterly lovely, the rest of the soundtrack really needs to be hung upon the visuals to work effectively. To finally arrive at my point, I think it is possible to use familiar music on a soundtrack without it diverting your attention or removing you from the movie. An example of this would be that other John Cusack vehicle that keeps music close to its heart: Grosse Pointe Blank. There are a number of scenes where classic 1980s songs are used to tie up the film's plot with its nostalgic mood. However, one particular scene springs to mind; during the reunion party when Cusack's character, Martin Blank, has bumped into an old schoolfriend and her newborn baby, and Blank is asked to hold the child. The scene is accompanied by Queen & Bowie's Under Pressure, and Blank appears to have something of an epiphany staring into the baby's eyes while the music swells to a climax. No doubt the scene symbolises something to do with recognising the value of life and, as the song goes, love daring you to care for people. Yes, it is a bit schmaltzy, but it's a pivotal moment for the character, and I feel the choice of music helps drag the viewer into the scene and not the opposite. That may of course be helped by the fact that the scene suggests the characters can hear the music too (The song seems to be being played during school reuinion dance), nevertheless it's a key moment in a movie which, for me, succesfully absorbs its soundrack of pre-exiisting songs into the fabric of the film itself.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 22:54:38 +0000

Well if you want to sell a whole album of a soundtrack it has to be a good collection of stand-alone music. For that much overtly good music to be in a film I can’t imagine how it wouldn’t overwhelm the actual movie unless it was an integral part of the actual message of the film – High Fidelity, The Piano, The Blues Brothers, The Big Chill and so on.

It is very, very hard to make a soundtrack album with more than one or two decent songs if the music isn’t one of the central themes of the film.

One that does spring to mind is A Life Less Ordinary, which was so stylised that the intrusive music really suited it. Normally it would have been too insistently interrupted, but in a movie like that it went quite well.

By: Harry

Harry — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 21:43:42 +0000

Come on, The High Fidelity Soundtrack is great (So is the movie, jerk!). “I will now sell five copies of the Beta Band’s 3 EPs”

I think a soundtrack is most successful when the movie acknowleges it’s existence in the context of the movie itself. High Fidelity, Once and maybe Rocket Science all do this (off the top of my head), and their soundtracks are all fucking brilliant.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:39:01 +0000

I have used the soundtrack from Amelie for similar luring-of-innocents purposes actually. I think most of that sound track works as a stand alone piece. The tail end of it comes across as a bit, well, flat. Should have included it in the post but, I used it in the last one.

By: Campfires & Battlefields

Campfires & Battlefields — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:07:40 +0000

This post makes me think of Peter Gabriel’s “Passion,” the score/soundtrack to “The Last Temptation of Christ.” I seem to recall, Matthew, that “world music” makes you think of greasy, aging hippies trying to insinuate their crabbed organs into the supple flesh of impressionable co-eds. I am generally inclined to agree, but I make an exception for this score. The piece of music that accompanies Scorsese’s slow-mo image of the beaten, exhausted Christ carrying the cross through the streets of Jerusalem, being mocked and taunted by the crowd as he slouches toward his death, is just skin-crawlingly evocative. That part of the score works very powerfully as an adjunct to the film, but also works tremendously well as a stand-alone piece of music, as does the score in general. It’s been more than 20 years now since this piece of music was written, but I still go back to it every few months. Yet I haven’t seen the film since it was in theaters. Has anyone?

I’m listening to it right now. Ah. That’s the stuff. Good ol’ Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Hmmm. Any co-eds about?

By: megan

megan — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:14:11 +0000

I’m finding this whole Soundtrack Series very interesting. I have soundtracks from movies I’ve never seen because I just love the music.

I’ve thought it was very odd that today, some artists write and record songs specifically for movie soundtracks and those artists are known ONLY for that one particular song for that one movie. It’s so odd to me.

Also, it annoys me to some extent that artists become popular overnight due to a song or two in a movie (The Shins on the Garden State album comes to mind). I loved The Shins long before they were on the soundtrack and hated going to a show after the album came out and having kids sing along to the two songs from the movie. Poseurs.

Just a personal beef of mine.