Non-Orchestral/Pop Music in Star Wars as a Significant Element

When we started hearing about how Rogue One and subsequent anthology entries would experiment with the formula--which manifested in no opening crawl, etc--it set me thinking about the possibility that future films might take a different musical approach.

One of the ideas that crossed my mind was that of finger-picked acoustic guitar music, maybe with woodwind accents. I could imagine that sort of sound fitting a more intimate type of Star Wars story, without losing the 'composed score' angle that we associate so deeply with the saga. Or in a more daring direction, something like Johnny Greenwood's scores for Paul Thomas Anderson films. The latter might be a bit too abrasive, but could be interesting.

Alternatively, in thinking about how Batman films used to incorporate some cool pop songs back in the 90s--the movies weren't necessarily the greatest, but the soundtracks often were--it struck me that it might be a lot of fun for a Star Wars film to lean more heavily on pop songs than just as occasional, novelty cantina tunes. Even English/Basic-language songs, perhaps.

I certainly wouldn't want Star Wars as a whole to move away from its wonderful orchestral tradition, but as long as standalone films are trying out new things, music seems like prime experimental territory. Does anyone have any thoughts on the matter? Is this a borderline-heretical notion? Any ideas of artists whose music might be a great fit for Star Wars?

 

I'm for it if it isn't entirely replacing the SW feel through the music

 

Yeah, "Jedi Rocks" sounds too much like earth music, language of the lyrics aside. A certain 'alien' quality is nice. I recall reading in the liner notes to the 20th anniversary/special edition soundtrack for A New Hope that the idea with the original cantina themes was, "What would it sound like if aliens came across some old swing music--how would they interpret it?" Whereas "Jedi Rocks" sounds like aliens merely overdubbed vocals on an existing, vintage Earth recording. It works against the immersion.

 

Eh... Star Wars doesn't need to become yet another GOTG clone.

 

Some new musical styles would be nice. The only time I can think of of when it's been done majorly in SW was Downfall of a Droid in TCW. It has a techno style completely unlike anything else in the series, perhaps taking the 'droid' theme of the arc a bit too far . Even the second part of the arc has a more traditional score, suggesting that Kevin Kiner was being a bit experimental at the start (Downfall was the second episode produced).

 

The last time I saw a film where a pop song was used to an excellent effect was George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" for Kubo and the Two Strings. An instrumental version was used in the trailer, and Regina Spektor's cover was bloody brilliant. I doubt we'll get a pop song in a SW movie per se, but I would like an Enya song for a romantic moment like they did in the LOTR films.

 

Personally, I like it the way it is. I don't think Star Wars would be the same otherwise, and it could risk dating the movie.

 

The new-age "Enya" approach could actually work well for a Star Wars film if done properly (ie an original song written in a universe-building context like LOTR).

 

Exactly! Tolkien wrote beautiful lyrics, and it's good that Peter Jackson used them in the films.

 

Enya's songs did not use texts by Tolkien, though.

 

That's a good point in general, although I think that GotG is distinguished by using preexisting, older songs. New, original music wouldn't necessarily drawn that particular comparison.

 

I liked the source music that was playing in the background of Saw's Rebel hideout.

Or, how about this?

 

I really liked the background music in Saw's place. It was a welcomed differentiation from the classical music we are used to.

I can also see an Enya soundscapes style track coming in at some point.

Maybe, just maybe, not anytime soon, but maybe down the line, depending on the direction and tone a future SW work takes on, and the particular context, characters, and setting in which it used, something like downtempo trip hop to give sort of a cyberpunk feel to perhaps the introduction to a character or something, similar to how it is used here.



By no means am I an expert on this genre, and I'm not trying to give the impression that I am. Simple google search indicates it's a track called Dissolved Girl by Massive Attack. I've just always liked this scene and the mood and atmosphere the song brings. And I don't think it would be completely unwarranted to hear if we see a character enter some kind of Blade Runner mixed with Star Wars type of setting in a future film. Think Cassian's introduction on Ring of Kafrene, only in a more decrepit area of Coruscant, or something. Again though, way down the line.

 

I wouldn't like it, I guess I'm more of a traditionalist. Pop songs in SW? No way, not for me at all. "Cantina Band" was fine, even "Jedi Rocks" was (just barely) acceptable. I'm not against using some different instruments like guitar, piano, or even electric guitar like in AOTC if done right and not overdone, but definitely no "chart songs" to promote the movie . What I would welcome is some Asian influence (Chinese, Japanese, Indian or Middle Eastern traditional instruments for example). It could work if done right. Especially some of the Chinese classical music pieces could work really well in SW. Some of those are really epic in style and therefore not all that unsuitable, in contrast with some random pop songs. More use of drums would be nice as well. SW already has already become more "international" with the prequels anyway. Why not musically as well?

 

Not really interested. If it's in-universe, fine, but otherwise leave it to John Williams.

 

I'd love to have a full album of the Greatest Hits of the Modal Nodes.

 

TCW did this sort of thing early on.

 

Yep, they should take a cue from Lucas/Kiner and be more experimental outside of the Skywalker Saga. TCW never strayed completely from the symphonic stuff, but George urged Kevin to stay away from classic JW cues and explore new ideas. As a result, we got a largely symphonic score sprinkled with genres and instruments from all over the world, which fit the concept of exploring a plethora of worlds and cultures throughout the galaxy.

 

They should start episode 9 with Willie Scott singing Anything Goes.