Happy Belated New Year


 


I'm off to a rocketing start, aren't I?

Not much to say around here, except for something I have been thinking of for quite some time. I admit it comes straight out of that mythical place called "Left Field," but here goes.

With all of the ways we now have to blip past commercials and other televisionary bits we don't need, I have become intrigued by the fact that there are certain intro montages I will watch/listen to before the show, and certain ones I zip past on DVD or TiVo. Mythbusters? Unnecessary. House? Hearing the Massive Attack song without the lyrics now kind of makes me feel as if someone has played the first seven notes of a scale and left the piano (there's a probably apocryphal story about a composer who lived in a boarding house with another person who would come home late, drunk and do this. Composer would then invariably have to come downstairs and play the eighth note just to be able to go back to sleep).

But there are certain songs that really seem to set the mood and settle me into the experience (which, of course is the point), so much so that even though I've heard them dozens of times, I don't ba-boop past them to get to the actual story:

Doctor Who: This intro tune is so inextricably bound to its subject, it would feel very strange indeed to watch this show and not listen to the intro. Also, a nod to the haunting, wordless soprano vocals that have been played during the show itself - very beautiful, enhancing the theme of loss that comes with being a Time Lord or Companion.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I suppose I should seek out some more Nerf Herder, because the classic organ followed by swooshing, driving guitar really set the stage for the horror/humor/teen angst melange that this show wrought so well.

Six Feet Under: Moody, with the finicky oboe melody that almost reminds me of "Peter and the Wolf" in that it describes the Fisher family in the same way that the various parts in that children's classic did.

Battlestar Galactica: The opening vocals sound very similar to the in-show Dr. Who theme, with their soaring melancholy. The staccato beat of the martial drums are all BG, though. I also love the way they give a tiny peek at pivotal scenes during that ra-ta-ta-thump.

What about you? Are there themes you feel are integral? Ones that are listenable but not necessary (file Farscape and Dead Like Me under that category for me), and ones that are so downright obnoxious you can't bear to hear them?

Posted: Thursday - January 04, 2007 at 07:40 AM         | |

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