The Soundtrack of My Life

“Music is the soundtrack of our lives.” This phrase may be cliche, but it’s the truth. At almost any given point in my lifetime, I can recall what music I was listening to. Even now when I hear certain music, it’s like stepping into a time machine…which could be a good thing or a bad thing. When I hear a song I haven’t heard in a while, it brings back very particular memories and emotions. I guess it’s just like a scent that you connect with a certain place or person.

I may not be able to remember every exact song I ever listened to throughout my life, but I can think back to certain times and remember what I was listening to and how I was generally feeling at that time. In high school, I’d say I was pretty lost. I didn’t have many friends and I wouldn’t really place myself in any of your typical high school cliques. I was just…there. I went through many phases and discovered my passion for punk music, for which MxPx was my gateway band. The aptly named ‘My Mom Still Cleans My Room’:

I can remember the carefree days of my teenage years and the music I was listening to at the time, which complemented and fueled my rebellious, live forever attitude. I was hanging out with people I thought I’d be friends with forever, going to rock shows every weekend (and the occasional school night), and generally getting into trouble. The lyric in the following song by Goldfinger, “here I am doing everything I can, holding on to what I am, pretending I’m a superman” pretty much sums up most of my late teenage years.

After high school, came college. I went to a state college close enough to my parents house that I didn’t have to pay for room and board on campus. I was also working around 30 hours a week and thought I could manage a full school workload (6 classes) my first semester. I was wrong, and failed a class or two. I didn’t really have time my first few years of college for the whole ‘college experience.’ I also didn’t have any time for making new friends, let alone the female variety. I think I went a few years without having a girlfriend and I remember being depressed through a lot of my time at school. I remember listening to Face to Face’s ‘Ignorance is Bliss’ album a lot then. “And it feels like I might break, on this ordinary day. Why do we need to change when we were perfect yesterday?”

During my last year of college, I met my wife in North Carolina. It was during spring break and I was ready to let loose before I got out of school and had to get a ‘real job’. I remember being in good spirits a lot then. On our road trip to Daytona, I remember my brother and I hearing two songs constantly on the radio: Usher’s “Yeah” and Finger Eleven’s “One Thing”. The two of us though, seemed to have an unlimited amount of CD’s with us. I have fond memories of that trip and I remember listening to the album “Interventions & Lullabies” by The Format a lot.

The March after that fateful road trip, I moved down to NC to be with my girlfriend (now wife). I was working with a hotel in CT at the time and transferred down to another in the Charlotte area. I ended up working there for a lot longer than I expected and ended up living in a 500 sq. foot apartment (in a not-so-good area) for longer than I wanted. Since my girlfriend was still in school, on the soccer team and working part time, we hardly saw each other. Those were hard times for me; I missed my family and friends, I was homesick and depressed. I bought The Killers’ “Hot Fuss” album when it was released and I played it every chance I got. When I listen to it now, I still get an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

I’m glad I made the move because if I hadn’t, my wife and I would’ve never ended up together. In 2008 we ended up getting married. For the wedding guests, we burned CD’s with a collection of some of our favorite love songs on them. Of the twelve or so songs on the CD, and in addition to “our song”, this one still brings me back to that day whenever I hear it:

After being married, we ended up moving to the Boston area when my wife was accepted to Harvard. Needless to say, I was extremely proud of her when she was accepted (even more so when she graduated). Living in Salem and commuting in to the city became part of our daily life. On the train ride in each morning, I would have my iPod (later, an iPhone) and listen to music on my commute. Coldplay’s album “Viva La Vida” had come out shortly after we were married and I remember listening to this tune as I sometimes caught a glimpse of the sun rising on the way into work.

I never expected certain music to stick with me and affect me so much. A lot of the time, it’s just white noise while I’m busy on the computer, or something pumping through the car stereo speakers while I’m driving from place to place. When I look back however, I can see its true impact. Though this blog showcases just a small part of my complete ‘Soundtrack’, I know I will keep adding to it as the years pass.

My Top Ten* Favorite Scores

A great movie takes a lot of work. Once the production of a film has wrapped, and all the actors and crew have gone home, the arduous task of post-production begins. This is where the film is edited and also where audio mixing occurs. Once a film is edited, the sound department works their magic on the audio portion of the film. The composer creates the score, which sets the mood for the different events in a story.

In picking my favorites, I tried not to pick scores from movies that are overplayed on TV. I also did not duplicate any composers in my list, as I would have to expand my list to top twenty or thirty. I simply picked my favorites from certain composers. That being said, these are my top ten favorites…mostly from the past decade or so. (Click on the highlighted titles to listen on youtube.)

(11.) Danny Elfman – “The Batman Theme” Batman (1989): Ok, so I had to put this on here even though I already had my top ten picked. Since this was the first movie I ever saw in theaters, how could I not? The buildup to the title screen and then the camera floating around this dark, metallic object, with sharp edges…only to realize before the opening scene, that it was one long (close-up) shot of the Batman insignia. It’s a very dark theme which fits the tone of the movie/Burton’s vision. This sounds like it should be Batman’s theme song and that is why it works so well.

(10.) Brad Fiedel – “Main Title (Terminator 2 Theme)”  from Terminator 2: Judgement Day: The opening scene from Terminator 2 consists of slow motion shots of a playground engulfed in flames, and this song. The song and imagery of the opening sequence is ominous, and gloomy. After all, what’s being depicted on screen is the extermination of the human race. And to top it all off, at the end of the sequence, one of the Terminator robots appears in the flames looking very menacing. Right up to the drum crescendo at the end of the sequence, zooming into the red eyes of the Terminator, you’re captivated.

(9.) Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – “Hand Covers Bruise”  from The Social Network: This is probably the most simplistic composition in my list; it’s basically a droning sound with a few repeated notes played on a piano. The soft piano part, I think, represents the Mark’s demeanor throughout the film…cool and collected. The droning portion represents the underlying ruthlessness and sinister ways of that character in the movie. It’s a very foreboding piece and it sounds like it could be on a Nine Inch Nails album, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

(8.) James Horner – “A Gift of a Thistle”  from Braveheart: I haven’t seen this movie in a while, and I know it used to get played a lot on tv, but the music is one of the things I remember the most about it. This particular melody recurs, as in a lot of scores, throughout the movie on different tracks. Each time it presents itself in the movie, Wallace finds himself in love: the first time with Murron and the second time, with Princess Isabelle. This song represents pure love and it fits perfectly with this great movie. On a side note, I think it’s one of Mel Gibson’s best roles.

(7.) Jeff & Mycheal Danna – “The Blood of Cuchulainn”  from Boondock Saints: I do not care what anyone else says about this movie, I loved the story/script along with this piece. The acting (some of it) is a different story. This piece, to me, is epic and I feel deserves a lot more recognition. In the movie this song plays over shots of the two Irish brothers and it really helps show us, in a short amount of time, how close their relationship is.

(6.) Hans Zimmer – “Time”  from Inception: This movie was definitely impressive, and why not have a score to match it? Here’s an interesting fact from straight from the composer’s mouth: “All the music in the score is subdivisions and multiplications of the tempo of the Édith Piaf track (Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien). So I could slip into half-time; I could slip into a third of a time. Anything could go anywhere. At any moment I could drop into a different level of time.”

(5.) Alan Silvestri – “Cast Away Theme”  from Cast Away: This piece is one you can listen to and practically relive the whole movie in four minutes. The movie is so sad and when you hear this piece in the movie, you can feel the main character’s loss. It’s so good, it will make you cry.

(4.) Thomas Newman – “Any Other Name”  from American Beauty: I couldn’t have said it better myself, so I’ll use the words from one of the characters from the movie: “Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take it, like my heart’s going to cave in.” That’s what I feel when listening to this.

(3.) Mark Isham – “Sense of Touch”  from Crash: This piece accompanies the part of the movie where Don Cheadle’s character finally finds his brother, and where Ludacris’s character finds redemption. It’s an emotional song, which complements this part of the movie. I found out that the lyrics are from a Welsh folk song called ‘Fair Lisa’. Here is a description I found of the song: ‘It is a lover’s lament for the late Lisa, ending when the heartsick lover asks Lisa to guide him to where she is, so that he may be reunited with her.’

(2.) John Murphy – “Sunshine (Adagio In D Minor)”  from Sunshine: I heard this score before I even saw the movie, and I knew I had to see it. This plays when Kappa is trying to complete his mission of re-igniting the sun, though everything is going horribly wrong. The sequence is brilliant and this piece fits perfectly in the movie. I’ve also heard this used in the trailer for The Adjustment Bureau (which I have not seen) and it was also in the movie Kick Ass, when Hit Girl tries to save her father.

(1.) Clint Mansell – “Death Is the Road to Awe”  from The Fountain: Clint Mansell is probably my favorite composer, which is why it was hard for me to just pick one of his pieces. I think I picked right with this one, however. I’ll admit, I’ve only watched The Fountain once…and it was a long time ago, so I can’t remember how this song was used in the film. All I know is it is an amazing masterpiece and I cannot wait to hear what he comes out with next. Have a listen and you’ll hear why this is my number one.

These are my favorites, what are some of yours?