The Music of Movies

One of my favorite parts of going to the movies, which I don't do much anymore because a) it's expensive and b) there's absolutely nothing worth seeing, is to see the previews. I love movie trailers because they either let you know that a movie you've never heard of before is worth seeing (or not) or they make you even more excited for a movie that you have been anticipating for quite some time. I've noticed that some of my favorite bands (Sigur Ros, Band of Horses and Arcade Fire) have more and more of their music showing up in movie trailers, commercials and TV shows which always makes me want to see the movie if only because of somebody's good taste of music.

Sigur Ros is this wonderfully eclectic and poetic Icelandic band who compose beautiful six minute musical masterpieces....and you can never understand a single word that they sing. Most of the time, they sing in Icelandic, but, as I've recently discovered, they've also created their own language which sounds fantastic set in musical form, almost like the sound of humpback whales. Which is rather appropriate that their music was first featured in Wes Anderson's quirky The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou during one of the most pivotal underwater scenes.


(This song is entitled "Starálfur," off their second album Ágætis byrjun . My favorite song from this album is "Svefn-g-englar" which I swore was used in this movie too, but it's been 4 years since I've seen it so I could be wrong....)

After seeing Life Aquatic, I borrowed all their CDs from my friend Danny (who had insisted we see the movie in the first place) and have since fallen in love with them. And you've heard them too. I hear them everywhere now, in commercials, TV shows, and especially, movie trailers. And everytime a movie trailer uses music by Sigur Ros, I'm instantly drawn to the movie. Because if they pick Sigur Ros' hauntingly poignant music to represent their music, then there might be something in it that will touch my heart as well.

You've most likely heard the song "Hoppípolla" off their fourth album Takk (my second favorite) in these movie trailers:

Disney Earth (during the second half)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qicARYcTe6w
(Sorry, I can't imbed everything anymore.)
Baby animals! This song was also used extensively in the BBC's mini-series, Planet Earth.

Slumdog Millionaire (halfway through)


Children of Men (again at the end)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NikEQy1XxDE

It's also used in several movies, including Penelope, in the final scene. Actually, Penelope is a repeat offender because they also use Band of Horses "The Funeral' at the end of their trailer.



And just today, I saw the trailer for Spike Jones' Where the Wild Things Are which features a re-recorded version of Arcade Fire's "Wake Up," one of my absolute favorite songs off their Funeral album.



P.S. If you like Sigur Ros, you should check out their music video for "Glósóli," again off Takk, which is an absolute stunning music video for a beautiful song....



...or the real music video for "Hoppipolla" (which means, I believe, puddle jumpers) which sees senior citizens behaving like children.



Excuse me while I go tear up just a little.