Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum

music in the background

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nakymaton:
goadra just brought up the lyrics to "I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall" by Merle Haggard, which is playing in the background while Ennis is eating pie in the Greyhound station. She mentioned how they reflect Ennis's mood at the time, and it struck me that a lot of the background music seems to have been very, very carefully chosen to fit the scene.

Here are the lyrics.

Most of my life, I've almost been a winner.
I've come so close but never really won.
Just when I thought I finally made it,
I found myself back where I started from.
I hate to say I'm giving up but I believe,
Losin's just become a way of life for me.
Losin' wouldn't be so bad at all,
But I'm always on a mountain when I fall.

Then you came along and had me, had me believin',
For once in my life my luck had finally changed.
And now you say you're gonna leave me,
Seems everything I do winds up the same.

I hate to say I'm giving up but I believe,
Losin's just become a way of life for me.
Losin' wouldn't be so bad at all,
But I'm always on a mountain when I fall.

Losin' wouldn't be so bad at all,
But I'm always on a mountain when I fall.

Yeah, Barbara, you're right about fitting the mood...

Then you came along and had me, had me believin',
For once in my life my luck had finally changed.
And now you say you're gonna leave me,
Seems everything I do winds up the same.

!!!

serious crayons:
Wow! That fits so perfectly I was half expecting to see I'm nothing, I'm nowhere!


--- Quote ---And now you say you're gonna leave me,
Seems everything I do winds up the same.
--- End quote ---

Is this a clue in the "would Jack quit Ennis?" mystery? (Hope not.)

nakymaton:

--- Quote from: latjoreme on September 25, 2006, 10:05:38 am ---Is this a clue in the "would Jack quit Ennis?" mystery? (Hope not.)

--- End quote ---

I don't think so. I don't think anything in the movie is as straightforward as that. Sometimes the background music says something about the dynamic that's on the screen, sometimes it provides a bitter contrast. ("It's So Easy to Fall in Love," for instance. Yeah, speak for yourself, Linda. ;) )

I think what gets me about the background music is that it's really very typical of country music. (Old joke: what happens when you play country music backwards?) All these open declarations of love. All these broken hearts... it's like country roads must be littered with more broken hearts than beer bottles. And then here are these two guys who are hiding all these same emotions.

I feel really stupid and insensitive for saying this, but... you know, unless a love song is performed by an openly gay singer (I'm thinking in particular of Melissa Etheridge), I've usually thought it was referring to two people of the opposite sex. And, duh, it doesn't have to be. The quiet contrast between the music in the background and the struggles on the screen really drive that home for me.

serious crayons:

--- Quote from: nakymaton on September 25, 2006, 10:56:53 am ---I don't think so. I don't think anything in the movie is as straightforward as that. Sometimes the background music says something about the dynamic that's on the screen, sometimes it provides a bitter contrast. ("It's So Easy to Fall in Love," for instance. Yeah, speak for yourself, Linda. ;) )
--- End quote ---

True. I was kidding. Unfortunately, the movie (or story) never provides those kind of definitive clues that tell you for sure that your interpretation is correct. Even though some people seem certain that they know, by piecing together clues in the movie, what the "right" answer is to such questions as whether Jack quit Ennis, or whether Jack was murdered, I think the movie, like life, provides little conclusive evidence.


--- Quote ---I feel really stupid and insensitive for saying this, but... you know, unless a love song is performed by an openly gay singer (I'm thinking in particular of Melissa Etheridge), I've usually thought it was referring to two people of the opposite sex.
--- End quote ---

Don't be too hard on yourself, Mel, I think it's kind of natural to hear music lyrics from your own perspective (in fact, I generally think lyrics are specifically about ME). But it is interesting how, when I listen to the BBM soundtrack, the opposite phenomenon occurs -- the lyrics, though ambiguous, always seem specifically about two men!

nakymaton:
I love "King of the Road." I don't remember when I learned all the words to it, or why. But I've got a special place in my heart for any song that mentions Bangor, and then last year I found out that my maternal grandfather "rode the rails" during the Depression, looking for work, just like the guy in the song.

I like the duet between Rufus Wainwright and Teddy Thompson on the soundtrack, too. It takes the song from being about one guy to being about two.

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