Category Archives: Music

Song of the Day: The Ecstasy of Gold by Ennio Morricone

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s song of the day comes to us from the classic score that Ennio Morricone wrote for Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly!  When we started our tribute to Morricone, there was no doubt that we would eventually include at least a few songs from this film’s soundtrack.  Today, we share The Ecstasy of Gold, which plays in the background of one of the greatest scenes in the history of cinema.  It’s hard to listen to this without thinking about Eli Wallach (as Tuco) joyfully running through that cemetery.

Here is The Ecstasy of Gold:

Previous Entries In Our Tribute To Morricone:

  1. Deborah’s Theme (Once Upon A Time In America)
  2. Violaznioe Violenza (Hitch-Hike)
  3. Come Un Madrigale (Four Flies on Grey Velvet)
  4. Il Grande Silenzio (The Great Silence)
  5. The Strength of the Righteous (The Untouchables)
  6. So Alone (What Have You Done To Solange?)
  7. The Main Theme From The Mission (The Mission)
  8. The Return (Days of Heaven)
  9. Man With A Harmonic (Once Upon A Time In The West)

 

Song of the Day: Man With A Harmonica by Ennio Morricone

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Once Upon A Time In the West (dir. by Sergio Leone)

For the first week of our tribute to Morricone, I kind of shied away from his best-known spaghetti western themes, just because I wanted to highlight some of his other films.  I wanted to remind people that Morricone’s genius wasn’t just limited to his work with Sergio Leone or the western genre.

That said, there’s a reason why Morricone’s western themes have become classics and that’s because they’re really, really good.  They capture the grandeur of both Leone’s visuals and his themes.  For all the credit that rightfully goes to Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Charles Bronson, the music of Ennio Morricone is one of the main reasons why we remember films like Once Upon A Time In The West and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly while forgetting about certain other westerns that were being made in Europe at the same time.  In Leone’s films, Morricone’s music is just as much of a character as The Man With No Name.

So, any tribute to Morricone has to include the music that he composed for Leone.  Therefore, today’s song of the day is a familiar one but a great one.  Here is Man With A Harmonica from 1969’s Once Upon A Time In The West:

Previous Entries In Our Tribute To Morricone:

  1. Deborah’s Theme (Once Upon A Time In America)
  2. Violaznioe Violenza (Hitch-Hike)
  3. Come Un Madrigale (Four Flies on Grey Velvet)
  4. Il Grande Silenzio (The Great Silence)
  5. The Strength of the Righteous (The Untouchables)
  6. So Alone (What Have You Done To Solange?)
  7. The Main Theme From The Mission (The Mission)
  8. The Return (Days of Heaven)

 

Music Video of the Day: Crazy Inside by TAKIA (2020, dir by Jonathan Guttmann)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This is an especially relevant song and video for our day and age.  I think almost everyone has gone a little bit crazy inside, whether it’s from rage or just feeling a little bit stir-crazy at being shut up inside.

Of course, some people handle the craziness by going online and acting like a jackass.  Other people handle it by creating.  In this video, Keka Martin handles it by dancing.  That, by the way, is how I’ve also been handling it all.  Ever since I realized that this lockdown isn’t going to be ending anytime soon, not a day has gone by that I haven’t found time to dance a little.  It helps to keep me calm and centered and, even more importantly, it takes my mind off of the craziness all around.

“But, Lisa,” you’re saying, “I don’t dance!”

Well, that’s okay.  You don’t have to dance.  Maybe you should write.  Maybe you should watch an old movie.  Maybe you should just listen to music or tell yourself an old joke.  The important thing is to remember that there’s more to life than just worry and anxiety.  There’s creativity and movement and joy.  None of those things have to end just because the world kind of sucks right now.  In fact, it’s important that they don’t end.  Keeping creativity alive is the only thing that stand between us and authoritarianism.

Enjoy!

Song of the Day: The Return by Ennio Morricone

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s song of the day comes to us from the soundtrack of Terrence Malick’s 1978 film, Days of Heaven.  Composed by Ennio Morricone, this is The Return:

Previous Entries In Our Tribute To Morricone:

  1. Deborah’s Theme (Once Upon A Time In America)
  2. Violaznioe Violenza (Hitch-Hike)
  3. Come Un Madrigale (Four Flies on Grey Velvet)
  4. Il Grande Silenzio (The Great Silence)
  5. The Strength of the Righteous (The Untouchables)
  6. So Alone (What Have You Done To Solange?)
  7. The Main Theme From The Mission (The Mission)

Song of the Day: The Main Theme From The Mission by Ennio Morricone

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s song of the day is the main theme from the 1986 best picture nominee, The Mission.  As with all of the songs of the day that I’ve featured this month, this was composed by the great Ennio Morricone.

Previous Entries In Our Tribute To Morricone:

  1. Deborah’s Theme (Once Upon A Time In America)
  2. Violaznioe Violenza (Hitch-Hike)
  3. Come Un Madrigale (Four Flies on Grey Velvet)
  4. Il Grande Silenzio (The Great Silence)
  5. The Strength of the Righteous (The Untouchables)
  6. So Alone (What Have You Done To Solange?)

Music Video of the Day: All Fired Up by Drastic (2020, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Would you prove your love for me by jumping out of an airplane?

Well, fear not.  I would never ask you or anyone else to do so.  What I can also tell you is that there are absolutely no circumstances in which I would jump out of an airplane.  I wouldn’t do it prove my love.  I wouldn’t do it for a million dollars.  I certainly wouldn’t do it for just the experience.  I’ve been told that skydiving is an amazing feeling but, as we all know, I don’t do heights.  Seriously, I have a hard enough time standing at the top of my staircase at home.  (Of course, I should point out that it’s a very steep staircase.)

What would I do to prove my love?  I would stand up in the back of a moving pickup truck.  That may not sound like much but seriously, it is.  It’s at least as dangerous as sky diving.  When I was growing up, all of my aunts and all of my uncles told me stories about people who had made the mistake of standing up in the back of a moving pickup truck and it never seemed to end well for them.  In fact, it kind of left me with a phobia about pickup trucks in general.  Whenever I’m stuck behind one in traffic, I’m worried that someone’s going to suddenly stand up in the back of it and accidentally fall out and crash through my windshield or something.  That would suck.  New windshields are not cheap.

Anyway, enjoy!

Song of the Day: So Alone by Ennio Morricone

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s song of the day comes from the score of the haunting 1972 giallo film, What Have You Done to Solange?  From Ennio Morricone, it’s So Alone.

Previous Entries In Our Tribute To Morricone:

  1. Deborah’s Theme (Once Upon A Time In America)
  2. Violaznioe Violenza (Hitch-Hike)
  3. Come Un Madrigale (Four Flies on Grey Velvet)
  4. Il Grande Silenzio (The Great Silence)
  5. The Strength of the Righteous (The Untouchables)