Music Is The Answer

How music shapes emotion and meaning in film and life

Music sets a film’s tone

Music can make or break a movie. When we listen to the soundtrack of Batman (Tim Burton, 1989) - written by Danny Elfman, and additional songs by Prince, it supports the film’s comedy and adds a fairytale effect. When we hear Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack for the Dark Knight trilogy (Christopher Nolan, 2006-2012), his use of deep strings gives the film a darker, more realistic tone and creates a threatening effect.

Bank robber ánd gentleman

In The Old Man and the Gun (2018), Robert Redford plays Forrest Tucker, a man who loves robbing banks. In fact, he is so hooked on it that he continues even in his seventies. The jazzy soundtrack naturally supports the heist genre. The slow piano music helps to shape the character of Forrest, with his relaxed way of working, and being a bank robber who is described as a very friendly, smiling gentleman.

Music as a mantra

Music can also be a source of inspiration. It can change people’s moods, or provide support in difficult life events and experiences. The melody and the lyrics can serve as a mantra.

Mariah Carey’s song Hero (1993) is about learning to trust yourself and discovering the hero within. Through both negative life experiences (“So when you feel like hope is gone”) and positive life lessons (“If you reach into your soul”), people can learn and grow into their future selves (“That a hero lies in you”).

David Bowie’s cover of Nina Simone’s Wild Is the Wind (1976) is a ballad about a love that feels stormy. There is a sense of desperation in the singer’s crying voice as well as in the lyrics (“Cling to me as the leaves on a tree”). This song can be the answer for people experiencing the same kind of turbulent love, offering recognition in their feelings.

Do we all like the same music?

People who are fond of Mariah Carey’s Hero might find Bowie’s Wild Is The Wind too melodramatic. At the samn time, people who appreciate Bowie could think Carey’s song is too sentimental—both missing the actual message or emotion behind the music. The way music resonates with people and provides answers depends heavily on personal musical preferences.

Our musical style is shaped by many factors: the artists or songs we listened to in childhood, the influence of family or friends, and the cultural context in which we grow up. It can also be defined by commercial music culture or popular media. And last but not least, our personal musical style can be shaped by our own values, what feeling we get by listening to the song or how we identify with the lyrics or the artist. Both Mariah Carey and David Bowie have strong personalities and a not straight forward path to being and staying successful. Both carry strong values and, despite writing some marketable hits, remain true to their own style.

Whatever your personal style of music is, music can give you many answers. 

Watch the movies mentioned

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