soundtrack – Page 6

Joyful, Joyful (from “Sister Act 2”)

“It’s been (31) years since we watched nightclub lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier turn into Sister Mary Clarence to avoid getting killed in Sister Act,” (ABC News). “Whoopi Goldberg’s character was put in protective custody, inside a rundown San Francisco convent, to avoid her gangster boyfriend’s goons after she witnessed a killing. There, she became the director of the church’s choir, taking the nuns from meek singers to a chorus so beautiful they sang for the Pope.

Sister Act burst into theaters at a time when movie soundtracks were stand-alone bodies of work. And this 1992 film was no different. It set the tone for other movie soundtracks that we’d also memorize later that year, including The Bodyguard, Aladdin, and Boomerang.“

“Joyful, Joyful,” from the 1993 sequel Sister Act 2, based on “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s 9th symphony, moves through several sections. The first section, featuring Lauryn Hill, states the rubato melody in Db major; at 1:29, the St. Francis Choir picks up the tempo into full-on contemporary gospel (E major, later rising to F major at 3:05).

Voctave | Goodnight My Someone

“Goodnight My Someone” is from Meredith Willson’s classic 1957 musical The Music Man. The song is our first glimpse in Marian Paroo’s desire to find love. MotD favorite Voctave featured a cover of it on their lullaby album, Goodnight, My Someone, which was released last year.

The track, which features soprano Kate Lott, begins in C and gorgeously modulates up a third to E leading into the last A section at 2:03.

As Long As You’re Mine (from “Wicked”)

Bookwriter Winnie Holtzman and composer Stephen Schwartz’s blockbuster 2003 musical Wicked celebrated its 20 year anniversary on Broadway last night. The show, based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, has played in sixteen countries and is one of only three Broadway shows to pass $1 billion in revenue.

“As Long As You’re Mine” is performed here by Jennifer Nettles and Annaleigh Ashford in a slower, reharmonized arrangement that is part of the “Out of Oz” series the show produced for YouTube. The song begins in Db and deceptively modulates down a half step to C at 1:38.

Top of the World (from “Tuck Everlasting”)

Natalie Babbit’s children’s novel Tuck Everlasting was adapted into a Broadway musical by Chris Miller (music), Nathan Tysen (lyrics), Claudia Shear and Tim Federle (book). The show, directed and choreographed by Tony-winner Casey Nicholas, was a flop, running for only 39 performances in 2016.

“Top of the World” comes near the middle of Act 1 as Jesse and Winnie survey the landscape from a tree. It begins in D and modulates to E at 1:53.

Neil Young | Theme from “Philadelphia”

“… Philadelphia (1993) gives us some star performances and was one of the first mainstream movies to address HIV/AIDS and homophobia with nuance and sensitivity,” (Collider.com). “The film was written by Ron Nyswaner and directed by Jonathan Demme.” From a review from Dan DeNicola: “Graced with splendid performances, this often stirring drama not only has its heart in the right place; it delivers a strong, convincing portrait, as well as a lesson about decency in a story aptly set in the City of Brotherly Love.”

Spoiler alert …

The film’s main character, attorney Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) succumbs to HIV after a hard fight not only for his life, but also for his rights after his law firm fired him due to his medical condition. But in the days before the drug AZT became available in the late 90s, HIV was nearly always a deadly disease. The film was quite a breakthrough and earned Hanks his first Oscar. “‘More people have stopped me on the street or come up to me in airplanes or sidled up to me in restaurants to talk about this movie than any other job I’ve done, and almost all of them have said something like, Thank you for doing it,’” (MentalFloss).

The film’s closing theme, Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” and the opening theme “Streets of Philadelphia” (Bruce Springsteen) were both nominated for Best Song Academy Awards in 1994; Springsteen’s track was the category’s winner. The short melody of Young’s track is a gently off-kilter seven measures of 4/4 featuring plenty of leisurely quarter-note triplets. The first and last iterations are in the same key, but there are many modulations among the repeated iterations in between.

Look For The Light (from “Only Murders In The Building”)

“Look For The Light” was written by Sara Bareilles, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul for the third season of the acclaimed Hulu series Only Murders In The Building, which premiered in August. The show stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez, and added Meryl Streep (who performs this song with Ashley Park) as a guest star this year.

The track begins in G minor and shifts up to Db at 1:33.

Booker T. + the M.G.’s | Hang ‘Em High

Booker T. and the M.G.’s arranged songs like mathematicians construct proofs: just enough to get the desired result, and nothing more. As the house band for Stax Records in the 1960s, the group appeared on dozens of hit recordings for acts like Sam and Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Wilson Picket, and Otis Redding. They also had a number of instrumental hits on their own, including “Green Onions,” “Time is Tight,” a cover of the Rascals’ song “Groovin’,” and “Hang ‘Em High.” Their classic lineup consisted of Booker T. Jones, usually playing the Hammond B-3 and occasionally on piano, drummer Al Jackson, Jr., bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, and guitarist Steve Cropper.

Perhaps the group’s grandest recorded moment came in 1969, when they released the album McLemore Avenue, their reinterpretation of the Beatles’ Abbey Road.

“Hang ‘Em High” (1968) was composed by Dominic Frontiere for the Western of the same name, a vehicle for Clint Eastwood. The first cover of the soundtrack theme was released by Hugo Montenegro; the Booker T. version came out a bit later. Frontiere was responsible for the music for many television shows from the 1960s through the 1980s, such as The Fugitive and The Flying Nun (!). He also composed soundtracks for a number of movies during that period. Just before “Hang ‘Em High”, he wrote the music for the cult classic goth-horror movie Incubus, whose dialog is entirely in Esperanto, and which starred a pre-Star Trek William Shatner.

There are half-steps up at 1:15. 2:11, and 2:39. The tune stays in that key from there on, including during the spartan-even-for-the-MG’s coda that begins at 3:08.

She Loves Me Not (from “Closer Than Ever”)

Closer Than Ever, a musical revue by Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire, opened Off-Broadway in 1989. The sung-through shows features songs about aging, midlife crises, second marriages and unrequited love, and many of them are based on the authors’ real-life experiences.

“She Loves Me Not,” the second song in the show, depicts a love triangle of two men and one woman. It begins in C major, shifts down to Bb at 1:05, and returns to C at 2:04.

Jerome Kern | Til the Clouds Roll By

Til the Clouds Roll By (1946) is described by IMDB as a “light bio-pic of American Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern, featuring renditions of the famous songs from his musical plays by contemporary stage artists, including a condensed production of his most famous: ‘Showboat‘ … unable to find immediate success in the U.S., Kern sought recognition abroad. He journeyed to England where his dreams of success became real …”

The film features Judy Garland, Lena Horne, Frank Sinatra, Cyd Charisse, Dinah Shore, Angela Lansbury, and many other stars. The trailer alone (below) is quite the production.

“Til the Clouds Roll By,” featuring June Allyson and Ray McDonald, starts in Db major, shifts to G major for the first dance sequence (0:56), Eb major at 1:49, and finally E major at 2:14.

Many thanks to regular contributor Jamie A. for this submission!

Camp Isn’t Home (from “Theater Camp”)

“Camp Isn’t Home” is the closing song from the film Theater Camp, which was released this summer. The song is written by Ben Platt and Noah Galvin, who both star in the movie, as well as Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, and Mark Sonnenblick. It begins in A and modulates up to B at 2:44.

The film is now available to stream on Hulu.