Monday, November 22, 2010

Theme Music

Butterfly Wannabe



Theme Music

I just saw a commercial on TV that began looking like an ad for a big budget movie.  Then it turned into an ad for something else, saying that it wasn't a movie, it was what happened in real life.  But the music continued underneath the words.

It started me thinking.  One of the things that makes our lives mundane is that we do not live with underlying music.  Music somehow makes things more important.  Music also sets the emotional stage.

For instance, take a scene where the hero is walking slowly into the sunset.  If the music is serious, heavy music with low notes, you are likely to think the mood is sorrowful or at least serious.   With short high, quick notes, you are likely to think the mood is hopeful or maybe even funny.

So that started me thinking:  What if we all had theme music for our lives? 

Now, most of us would have different times when the music would be serious, and other times when it would be romantic, or comic.  But what is the underlying theme?  What would we hear most often?

I began wondering about my music.  What would it sound like?

Like everyone else, I have had my peak moments and my times in the Dark Pit.  And sometimes I make a marvelous martyr.  Unfortunately, I am one of those who takes myself far too seriously.  The music would often be dark and somber, heavy on the organ music.  Something suitable for a good Batman movie.   Over-dramatic.

But there is another part of me, that if I listen very carefully, can hear in the far distance a little Pink Panther music.  You know, the music of someone who takes themselves very serious but is really quite comic.  Frankly, I would far rather have the Pink Panther than Batman as my theme.  Being a tortured soul is not nearly as much fun as it is cracked up to be.

So once in a while, I stop the heavy music and listen for the light, mischievious steps of an off-color feline.  I hope to learn from it.  I hope to stop playing the nartyr or living in the Dark Pit.  I would rather dance in the Sunshine.

Let the music play on.



BTW, what is your music?





2 comments:

  1. I'd have to say Scott Joplin is my music most of the time LOL

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  2. You know, when I think about music and the movies, I tend to think that movies without music are badly acted. I'm not so sure. It could be that movies made without music are so low budget that the script is not good and the actors are not stellar. It could be that without music movies and their subjects seem boring.

    Then, I remember that I've seen many foreign films without music (or perhaps the music was so good that I didn't hear it) and I enjoyed those films. I wasn't bored. Then again, foreign dramas often use light, clothes, and set decorations to convey mood in addition to the acting, and the camera is often acts as another actor on the set. This is more like what we encounter in real life... life without a musical score.

    My stage is British/French country with a lot a light. (Though, my house is dark b/c of a medical protocol... I think the darkness tends to bring out the worst in most people just like the dark sets in a foreign film. Me? I've always loved dark, rainy days... my mood becomes quite silly.)

    I am comfortable with the messiness of life with a formal edge to me. It confuses people. What music would I add to that? I don't know. I guess it would depend on the perspective: mine or those who are confused. :D

    People are usually surprised to find that I like country music, and so I suppose that my musical score would contain a lot of country. Country music is often quite funny and upbeat even when describing the worst of circumstances. Humorous country perhaps best describes what I feel inside. I doubt, given people's surprise when they discover it's my preferred musical genre, that this is how others view me.

    I think the music to the Pink Panther better describes you than Batman.

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