The Music Court

As the year comes to a close, inevitably music magazines start making various lists of the top everything of that particular year. Yet, special cases call for special polls. As 2009 comes to a close, the end of a decade where we saw tragedy and, well, more tragedy and lots of stupidity, will also wrap up. 10 years which saw me turn from an immature 11-year-old to an immature 20-year-old. A lot has changed!

Anyway, I thought I would put together a bit of a different poll to start our round-up of the decade. The next three polls (eventually ending on new years eve) will also ask various questions about the decade that was. One-Hit Wonders are always the accepted term in music when talking about artists who had the hint of fire in their minds but over-exerted on the first song and then triumphantly fell off the face of the Earth. There are a lot of them. You know their songs, and since you lived in this decade you probably know who sang them, but, if I ask you in 50 years I doubt you will know. For example, “Ballroom Blitz.” Exactly. (It’s The Sweet by the way). Vote for who you think takes the cake to the record company, eats it all, and then cannot afford more cake. That was a miserable representation.

Links to all 7 songs!

“Who Let the Dogs Out” : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He82NBjJqf8

“Butterfly”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl6BiileOrg

“Bad Day”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk_9sEhV3vM

“Blue”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68ugkg9RePc

“Heaven”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuBmiu68ECU

“This is Why I’m Hot”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKV2981agEI

“You’re Beautiful”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjUaWiy_QXc

After several days of voting, 11 votes have produced John Williams’ epic “Star Wars” soundtrack as the clear winner in the minds of readers. I cannot say I disagree with the way that the voting went because the soundtrack is a staple in movie music. That being said, I still believe that the music in “The Godfather” is slightly better and less artificial. The “Star Wars” soundtrack has some great original pieces but I believe that Williams’ best work lies in a sampling of pieces from different movies (not just one movie).

Nino Rota, the prolific Italian composer who has written scores for over 150 Italian and American including “The Godfather,” wrote a tremendous score for the film that is currently rated as the second best film, behind Citizen Kane, on the American Film Institutes list of 100 films. The reason I believe Rota’s score trumps all other film scores is because “The Godfather” music satiates listeners with its extraordinarily real Italian sound and dripping classical beauty. The soundtrack is drenched with music that alludes to the rustic Italian sound but retains its stunning  originality.

This is expressed best in the “Godfather Waltz” which is one of the most known piece that repeats throughout the movie. Coppola, ‘, uses this song in perfect scenes and creates a musical and visual tapestry of the Italian-American struggle and mob scene. The music played in the songs first few seconds will forever be implanted in the minds of people who view the movie. They are simple,  but emit the feeling of almost being ensconced in the movie. And, how about the love theme. The strings are just beautiful. The song works in two ways. It is unquestionably melodic as heck but, it also gives off a bit of an odd unsettling feelings that portrays a perplexing juxtaposition. It works and, in my opinion, it does so better than any other movie soundtrack.

The Love Theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hQAO8QTnG8

The Godfather Waltz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQvc7Ne5mok&feature=related