Before I went to see Where The Wild Things Are, I listened to the soundtrack on repeat for a few weeks. As a child I obsessed by the book. I turned to Max when I was mad, and now it seems the soundtrack has provided this new sense of liberation. I later compared the movie and its soundtrack. I would say they have a great marriage. The movie, visually appealing on its own, uses the soundtrack to build emotion but leaves you wanting to hear it in its entirety. I think that’s why the soundtrack follows where the movie goes chronologically by the track names-it allows you to understand the storyline.
There are a lot of combinations that went into the project for the Where The Wild Things Are soundtrack. Spike Jonze’s dark and rebellious vision sought out Karen O (front woman for The Yeah Yeah Yeahs) to head the soundtrack. Karen O enlisted the help of Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox, Liars’ Aaron Hemphill and a few others. All major contributors to current indie music, they found themselves a chorus of kids and got to work.
“All Is Love” is the single, and I would argue one of the most “kid friendly” songs due to the children chanting at the end of the track. However, it is when Karen O comes in on songs like “Capsize” and “Heads Up” that pull this well past the soundtrack for a children’s book. We return to Max and the monsters with “Worried Shoes” and “Rumpus.” “Worried Shoes,” and the appeal of the wide-eyed kid who plays Max, are where our tears and our heartbreak are born. “Rumpus” on the other hand, revives our childhood and has us screaming, “LET THE WILD RUMPUS START!” It truly makes us believe even in our twenties that we’re all Max and the wild is out there somewhere, even if we feel far matured. Karen O and the Kids rebel, using this record as a way to fight for Max, his monsters, and all our troubles. The sporadic use of the movie dialogue is what keeps this a soundtrack, but I must say that it could live as its own record. It holds enough emotional exclusion from the movie that it ignites our feelings past the story of Max and back to us.
No matter what your stance is on the book, the movie, the t-shirts, the dolls, etc., there is much-needed appreciation for the movie score that compliments a film adaption so well. Spike Jonze made it clear what he wanted out of Where The Wild Things Are, and found the right people to put the pieces together. It’s a soundtrack that doesn’t need the movie to support it. It incites enough emotion all on its own, that when paired with the movie, adds to the level of sincerity. There is bitterness and alienation felt in this soundtrack. It’s a trip we take to make the wounds hurt so they can heal in the end. The issues we have, alike or not to Max’s, spread through our own experiences. There is a lot to say for a soundtrack based on a kids’ book from 1963 that can do that to us.
Before I went to see Where The Wild Things Are, I listened to the soundtrack on repeat for a few weeks. As a child I obsessed by the book. I turned to Max when I was mad, and now it seems the soundtrack has provided this new sense of liberation. I later compared the movie and its soundtrack. I would say they have a great marriage. The movie, visually appealing on its own, uses the soundtrack to build emotion but leaves you wanting to hear it in its entirety. I think that’s why the soundtrack follows where the movie goes chronologically by the track names-it allows you to understand the storyline.
There are a lot of combinations that went into the project for the Where The Wild Things Are soundtrack. Spike Jonze’s dark and rebellious vision sought out Karen O (front woman for The Yeah Yeah Yeahs) to head the soundtrack. Karen O enlisted the help of Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox, Liars’ Aaron Hemphill and a few others. All major contributors to current indie music, they found themselves a chorus of kids and got to work.
“All Is Love” is the single, and I would argue one of the most “kid friendly” songs due to the children chanting at the end of the track. However, it is when Karen O comes in on songs like “Capsize” and “Heads Up” that pull this well past the soundtrack for a children’s book. We return to Max and the monsters with “Worried Shoes” and “Rumpus.” “Worried Shoes,” and the appeal of the wide-eyed kid who plays Max, are where our tears and our heartbreak are born. “Rumpus” on the other hand, revives our childhood and has us screaming, “LET THE WILD RUMPUS START!” It truly makes us believe even in our twenties that we’re all Max and the wild is out there somewhere, even if we feel far matured. Karen O and the Kids rebel, using this record as a way to fight for Max, his monsters, and all our troubles. The sporadic use of the movie dialogue is what keeps this a soundtrack, but I must say that it could live as its own record. It holds enough emotional exclusion from the movie that it ignites our feelings past the story of Max and back to us.
No matter what your stance is on the book, the movie, the t-shirts, the dolls, etc., there is much-needed appreciation for the movie score that compliments a film adaption so well. Spike Jonze made it clear what he wanted out of Where The Wild Things Are, and found the right people to put the pieces together. It’s a soundtrack that doesn’t need the movie to support it. It incites enough emotion all on its own, that when paired with the movie, adds to the level of sincerity. There is bitterness and alienation felt in this soundtrack. It’s a trip we take to make the wounds hurt so they can heal in the end. The issues we have, alike or not to Max’s, spread through our own experiences. There is a lot to say for a soundtrack based on a kids’ book from 1963 that can do that to us.
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