Saturday, January 28, 2012

Song #103 of 9999 - Falling by Julee Cruise

Song #103 of 9999

Title: Falling
Artist: Julee Cruise
Year: 1990
Album: Floating Into the Night



Twin Peaks was as much about small-town living as it was about murder and intrigue. The pace of Twin Peaks, the fictional city, was probably not as glacial as the tempo of this song, whose instrumental version accompanied the opening credits, but it does seem fitting for a sleepy town where nothing much happened before the murder of Laura Palmer and the arrival of Kyle McLachlan's pie-obsessed special agent.

As much attention as David Lynch gives to the creation of his films, I'm guessing Angelo Badalamenti's score was practically dictated by the director. Having heard Lynch's own music, I'd bet the excessive reverb and shimmering airiness of Julee Cruise's vocal also emanated from his imagination (as did the lyric). Twenty years later, I doubt many of us have the attention span for this track or even the show itself; but, with it's echoing slide guitars, major sevenths and swelling synths, it is certainly an excellent example of dreaminess in pop.

2 comments:

  1. slide guitars and major sevenths? I seriously have never listened that close to this. When this was released, I heard it once, ignored it and promptly went back to my Guns n' Roses records.

    Sad really, in retrospect.

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  2. You didn't miss much, really. If a piece of music is used as the opening theme to a weekly TV show, one is forgiven for not recognizing it as a piece of art.

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