Mood Music, Part 1

In an effort to move the fish head post to "below the fold" (just for Scott, disturbed as he is), I thought I would ramble on about a few of my favorite songs. And, for your listening pleasure, feel free to right-click and save as on the various links. I won't tell if you won't.

A quick glance at my music library might suggest that I have fairly eclectic tastes. It's a library in which the Chemical Brothers happily coexist next to Peter Cetera and George Strait doesn't mind hangin' out with Fourplay. Intermingled among these fairly well-known artists are lesser known composers who have scored, in my opinion, some of the best orchestral arrangements for motion pictures, which one might call "modern American classics." Now, I don't know much about classical music, but I'm betting if Beethoven or Schubert were alive today, they would be writing music for the movies.

Of course, everyone has heard of John Williams. The guy's composed the music for just about every blockbuster known to man, but my favorite songs from John Williams come from the movie Saving Private Ryan. I think I'm a fairly stoic individual, but man, did that movie make me cry! It still chokes me up to think of that scene where Ryan is standing at the grave of Captain Miller, remembering the captain's last words of "earn this," then turning to his wife and asking "[t]ell me I've lived a good life. Tell me I'm a good man." As I recall, Williams' Hymn to the Fallen provided the background for that moment. Another haunting song from that movie is Omaha Beach, made more so by the sight of the carnage that was Normandy on D-Day.

A lesser known, but just as talented composer is Trevor Rabin. You wouldn't imagine a member of the rock group Yes would compose such great movie music. The Great Raid is another favorite movie of mine, mostly because James Franco did such an awesome job of portraying Captain Prince. The story itself still makes my blood boil. The tide had turned in the Pacific and the Japanese started executing Allied POWs rather than repatriating them as part of their surrender. The 6th Ranger Battalion was sent in to liberate the POWs located at Cabanatuan, and successfully rescued all but one. Most of Rabin's score for the movie was intended to evoke a mood, but his Closing Titles, which accompanied images of the actual raid, left a lump in my throat.

Rabin also penned the score for National Treasure. I'm not a big Nicholas Cage fan, but I loved this movie mostly because of the subject matter--the Declaration of Independence. The more you know about how the Declaration came into being, the less romantic it seems, but damn, what an audacious way to commit treason and tell the king to pound sand! I thought Rabin's Ben captured the drama of the story, silly as it was, while his Declaration of Independence captured, in my mind, the essence of what was one of the most dramatic periods in our country's history.

David Foster is one of those composers you've probably never heard of, but have definitely heard his music. In addition to writing and producing for the likes of Michael Jackson (eww!) and Peter Cetera, he's also penned the score to movies like St. Elmo's Fire and Stealing Home, though some of his best work can be heard on The Symphony Sessions. Lisa and I took one of our first vacations to Williamsburg, Virginia, and the songs from this CD are the soundtrack to those memories. Piano Concerto in G and The Ballet both make me think of the history of Williamsburg, walking into the Capitol and imagining the words of Patrick Henry and George Mason echoing in its chamber. Conscience evokes the memory of crushed stone crunching beneath our feet on that cool autumn day, while Time Passing is the memory of evening light streaming through the trees.

As the title suggests, this is part one of my tour through my music library. Hope you enjoy the tunes. :)